Charles to step in for Meghan’s dad
PRINCE Charles, the heir to the British throne, will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle at her glittering wedding to his son Prince Harry today after her own father had to pull out because of ill health.
Her father, Thomas, told celebrity website TMZ he was not coming because he had had a heart operation days before the ceremony, in a family drama that has played out under the glare of global media attention.
“Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George’s Chapel on her Wedding Day,” Prince Harry’s office at Kensington Palace said in a statement.
“The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to The Royal Family in this way.”
The statement implied that Ms Markle would still enter the chapel alone with her bridesmaids and page boys, as the Quire is located about half-way down the church. The actress said on Thursday she was sad her father could not make it. Her mother took tea with Britain’s Queen Elizabeth, Prince Harry’s grandmother, on the eve of the wedding that will be watched by millions across the world.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, 96, would be at the wedding having undergone hip replacement surgery last month.
Outside the ancient stone walls of Windsor Castle, home to the English royal family for nearly 1,000 years, well-wishers mingled with tourists and swarms of television crews under swathes of British and American flags.
Prince Harry will marry Ms Markle, a star of the TV drama Suits, in the castle’s 15th-century St George’s Chapel at a ceremony that begins about 11am GMT today.
After the hour-long ceremony, the couple will take part in a procession through the town’s ancient streets on a 19th century Ascot Landau carriage pulled by four Windsor Grey horses.
Police are expecting more than 100,000 people to throng the streets outside the castle, the oldest and largest inhabited fortress in the world, and have said there would be tight security for the event.
Ms Markle’s African-American mother, Doria Ragland, met the 92year-old monarch yesterday after the yoga instructor charmed her daughter’s future father-in-law when they met on Wednesday, a source close to the royal family said.
After the schism of Brexit divided the United Kingdom and triggered a wave of doubt about its future place in the world, the glittering union of one of the most popular royals and an elegant US divorcee may offer some distraction.
The British remain broadly supportive of the monarchy albeit with a sense of mild irony about the pomp and pageantry that accompanies it, though many have deep respect for the current monarch after her decades of service.
For some black Britons, the prospect of a mixed-race royal princess has increased interest in the monarchy, which has so far been all white. A black American bishop is to give the address at the wedding.
“Meghan will bring a new perspective to the royal family,” royal biographer Claudia Joseph said. “Obviously she comes from a very different background and that’s hugely important to take the royal family into the future.”
But for some other Britons, the event has as much relevance as the union of two distant super stars. Many will not even bother to watch the wedding despite massive media interest.
Prince Harry, 33, a former army officer and one-time royal wild child, met his bride-to-be on a blind date in July 2016 after being set up through a mutual friend. Ms Markle, 36, said she knew little about her royal date while Prince Harry said he had never heard of Markle or watched her TV series.
However, it was love at first sight, and after just two dates, he whisked her off to Botswana for a holiday, camping under the stars.