‘Prince impressed my date, now she’s my wife’
As the Household Cavalry prepare for the wedding, one former comrade is ready to return a favour
WHEN a young man from the Household Cavalry hoped to impress his date while strolling through Windsor, he could have had no better wingman than Prince Harry.
Leaning out of his car window to shout a friendly greeting, the Prince left the object of Frankie O’leary’s affection open-mouthed with shock … and deeply impressed.
Fast-forward to 2018 and that young lady is now his wife, with Corporal of Horse O’leary to return the favour as he takes a starring role in Prince Harry’s own wedding.
COH O’leary, who got to know Prince Harry as his radio operator in Afghanistan in 2007, will be riding at the front of the carriage carrying the newlywed Prince and Meghan Markle around Windsor.
Describing the Prince as “a man of courage, a man of honour, a genuinely honest, kind man”, he joked that he had “pulled a cracker” in Ms Markle.
COH O’leary joined colleagues at the Hyde Park Barracks, Knightsbridge, yesterday, where the ceremonial regiment is preparing for its official role at the wedding. They will provide a staircase party at St George’s Chapel and a mounted escort for the carriage ride through Windsor.
Asked for his memories of serving with the Prince, he said he showed the same love of a joke and trying to keep spirits up as any other fellow soldier, coping with being tired and hungry with that “touch of British officer class”.
On how his former superior – for whom he used to make sausage and beans for breakfast every day – had changed, he admitted: “He’s got a really untidy beard. If he was still serving, he’d be in trouble.” But none of his memories compared with how the Prince accidentally helped while he was on one of his first dates with Niina, walking back to barracks in Windsor.
“He [Prince Harry] saw me walking with a young lady. Unbeknown to me, he was driving on his own, going for a spin, like you do as an English prince.
“He wound the window down and said ‘see you later, Frank’. I said, ‘see you later, Sir’. I carried on walking. The young lady was a few steps behind with her jaw on the floor like: ‘was that …?’ “I played it cool. She’s now my wife.” COH O’leary will be one of 24 soldiers and two officers in the escort on May 19, with Corporal Major Dan Snox- ell, who was in Prince Harry’s troop for more than a year, joining the Cavalry lining the chapel staircase.
Lt Col James Gaselee, the CO of the Household Cavalry, whose sister was a bridesmaid at Prince Charles and Diana’s wedding and whose father trained Charles as an amateur jockey, will command the travelling escort and will be at the side of the carriage.
♦ The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall have spoken of their excitement for the upcoming royal wedding, saying Ms Markle is a “great girl”.
During a visit to a market in France, where they are on tour, the Prince said: “It’s obviously marvellous and I’m sure it’ll be a very special day for everybody.”
‘I carried on walking. The young lady was behind with her jaw on the floor. I played it cool. She’s now my wife’