Stand by me
There were tears, laughter and a fabulous gospel choir as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot in a beautiful and poignant ceremony.
In their engagement interview, Prince Harry said he really missed having his mother around to share in his happiness. But Meghan Markle reassured her fiancé, “she’s with us”. And so it was that the first thing to greet Prince Harry as he walked up the West Steps to enter St George’s Chapel was a beautiful white floral tribute arch to his mother Diana, Princess of Wales. The floral theme of lush green foliage and white peonies (Meghan’s favourite flower), coupled with white garden roses (Diana’s favourite) and a medley of additional white blooms all gathered from Savill Garden in nearby Windsor Great Park by florist Philippa Craddock was continued inside the chapel.
Prince Harry and Prince William arrived first, Harry looking nervous and incredibly dashing; William, calm and smiling, supporting his younger brother as he has since Harry was born – and christened in this very chapel.
When Harry’s bride, Meghan, arrived in that impeccably elegant Givenchy gown with its exquisite embroidered silk tulle veil trailing behind her, she made a powerful statement. She walked up the aisle on her own, a confident, modern, independent woman, followed by her 10 attendants of six bridesmaids and four pageboys, who ranged in age from two to seven.
Halfway up the aisle, Meghan was joined by the man who an hour later would become her father-in-law, the Heir Apparent Prince Charles. The break in protocol came in the wake of Meghan’s father, Thomas, pulling
When Harry saw Meghan he said, “you look amazing” and lifted his bride’s veil.
out of the ceremony following heart surgery, but it was a lovely touch of which no doubt Thomas would have approved. The Prince of Wales welcomed this American bride to the House of Windsor, watched on by her mother, Doria Ragland, who had earlier been driven in the car with her daughter to the castle.
Doria couldn’t hide her emotion and started to well up, and there were moments when Prince Harry also looked to be brushing aside tears. “Thank you, Pa,” he said to his father as an incredibly composed Meghan joined him at the altar.
When Harry saw Meghan he said, “you look amazing” and lifted his bride’s veil. Then the couple held hands tightly and their beautiful wedding ceremony ensued.
The service was a clever union of traditional royal pomp and Church of England solemnity, led by the
Dean of Windsor. The marriage was solemnised by the Archbishop of Canterbury, with US Bishop Michael Curry delivering the address with passion and. St George’s Chapel has probably never seen anything like the Chicago-born preacher, whose address was powerful, outspoken and raised the roof. It was followed by the Kingdom Choir singing a poignant rendition of Stand By Me.
Diana’s sister, Lady Jane Fellowes, delivered a reading and, as with all the sermons, the theme of love conquering all prevailed. The whole ceremony was sealed with a kiss at the top of the steps in front of thousands of invited guests inside Windsor Castle grounds, hundreds of thousands of members of the public lining the streets and billions watching on TV around the world.
The theme of love conquering all prevailed and the whole ceremony was sealed with a kiss.