AN EMOTIONAL WEDDING FOR HARRY AND MEGHAN
Couple will be known as Duke and Duchess of Sussex
PRINCE Harry and Meghan Markle were pronounced husband and wife yesterday by the Archbishop of Canterbury in a glittering union that brought a measure of modern Hollywood glamour into the 1,000-year-old monarchy.
Markle entered the chapel unescorted, dressed in a flowing white gown created by British designer Clare Waight Keller, and wearing a veil and diamond tiara.
Prince Charles, heir to the throne and Harry’s father, accompanied Markle to the altar from the middle of the chapel, with her father too ill to attend.
Harry, looking nervous, appeared to say: “Thanks, Pa” to Charles and “You look amazing!” to his beaming bride.
Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, 61, shed tears. A gospel choir sang American soul singer Ben E. King’s 1960s hit Stand by me.
“There’s power in love,” black United States bishop Michael Bruce Curry told a congregation that included Queen Elizabeth, senior royals and celebrities.
“Do not underestimate it. Anyone who has ever fallen in love knows what I mean,” Curry said in an energetic, passionate address that quoted US civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King.
After exchanging vows to love and to cherish “till death us do part”, Harry, 33, sixth in line to the throne, placed a ring of Welsh gold on Markle’s finger.
“In the presence of God, and before this congregation, Harry and Meghan have given their consent and made their marriage vows to each other,” Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby intoned.
“They have declared their marriage by the joining of hands and by the giving and receiving of rings. I, therefore, proclaim that they are husband and wife.”
The marriage brings Markle, three years older than Harry and born and raised in Los Angeles, into one of the world’s grandest royal families, known as “the Firm”.
While the ceremony incorporated the traditions of a monarchy that traces its history back to 1066, Markle brought a sense of modernity.
She did not vow to obey her husband; Harry, unlike other senior male royals, will wear a wedding ring; Markle’s father was unable to attend due to reported heart surgery; and Curry gave an impassioned address on the “feeling-bomb” of love.
“When love is the way, we actually treat each other like we are actually family,” he said.
Tens of thousands of fans lined the route Markle took towards the castle, waving British flags and cheering as her Rolls-Royce limousine drove past.
Air traffic controllers for the nearby Heathrow Airport closed the airspace over Windsor for 15 minutes before the ceremony.
Hours before, Queen Elizabeth had bestowed the title of Duke of Sussex on her grandson, a step that meant the actress, former star of TV drama Suits, became a duchess when she married Harry.
Under clear skies and glorious sunshine, a military band in scarlet uniforms and bearskin hats entertained excited fans gathered behind barriers.
Police armed with semi-automatic rifles patrolling streets and watching from rooftops.
Among celebrity guests, American actor George Clooney and his wife, Amal, were joined by former soccer star David Beckham, his fashion designer wife, Victoria, and James Corden, British host of the American TV chat show The Late Late Show.
Other guests included tennis ace Serena Williams, the siblings of Harry’s late mother Princess Diana, singer Elton John, who sang at Diana’s 1997 funeral, British actor Idris Elba, and two of Harry’s ex-girlfriends.
The chapel was adorned with white roses, which were Diana’s favourite flowers.
“This is a moment when we can all celebrate the rebirth of the royal family,” said Kenny McKinlay, 60, who had come down from Scotland for the wedding.
“It’s a time when all the nation can come together rather than being divided. It’s a day when you can be proud to be British.”
Tens of thousands of fans crammed the narrow roads here, about 30km west of London.
Visitors had to pass through police search points set up around the castle.
To some Britons, the wedding of a senior member of the royal family to a divorcee, whose mother is African-American and father is white, embodied a modern Britain where race or background are no bar to even the most elite and traditional of institutions.
Markle’s own father Thomas, 73, a former lighting director for TV soaps and sitcoms, pulled out of the ceremony this week, telling the US celebrity website TMZ he had had heart surgery on Wednesday.
The service was conducted by Dean of Windsor David Conner with Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican Church, overseeing the exchange of vows. Curry gave the wedding address while Lady Jane Fellowes, Diana’s sister, delivered the reading.
Prime Minister Theresa May, who along with other politicians was not invited to the wedding, sent good wishes to the couple, adding: “To all of those joining the national celebration with street parties and other events, have a wonderful day.”
Harry and Meghan will carry out their first official engagement as husband and wife next week.