2018 British royal wedding
The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was held on Saturday 19 May 2018 in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom. The groom is a member of the British royal family; the bride is American and previously worked as an actress, blogger, charity ambassador, and advocate.
On the morning of the wedding, Prince Harry's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, conferred upon him the titles of Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel. Upon her marriage, Markle became a princess of the United Kingdom and gained the style Her Royal Highness and titles Duchess of Sussex, Countess of Dumbarton and Baroness Kilkeel. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, officiated at the wedding using the standard Anglican church service for Holy Matrimony published in "Common Worship", a liturgical text of the Church of England. The traditional ceremony was noted for the inclusion of African-American culture.
Announcement of engagement.
Prince Harry is the second son of King Charles III (then the Prince of Wales) and Diana, Princess of Wales. He and Meghan Markle, an American actress best known for her role in the Canadian-American legal-drama television series "Suits", began their relationship in mid-2016. According to the couple, they first connected with each other via Instagram, though they have also said that they were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend in July 2016. The relationship was made public by the press on 31 October 2016, and it was officially acknowledged on 8 November 2016, when a statement was released from the Prince's communications secretary addressing the "wave of abuse and harassment" directed toward Markle.
On 27 November 2017, Clarence House announced that Harry would marry Markle in the spring of 2018. They were engaged earlier in London after Harry asked Markle to marry him in Kensington Palace's north garden. The Prince gave Markle a bespoke engagement ring made by Cleave and Company, the court jewellers and medallists to the Queen, consisting of a large central diamond from Botswana, with two smaller diamonds from his mother's jewellery collection. At the same time, it was announced that they would live at Nottingham Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace following their marriage.
Harry's grandparents Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip expressed their delight at the news, while congratulations came in from various political leaders, including the British prime minister, Theresa May, and the leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn. After the announcement, the couple gave an exclusive interview to Mishal Husain of BBC News.
During the public announcement of the engagement at Kensington Palace's Sunken Gardens, Markle wore a bottle knee-length emerald green dress with bow detailing at the cinched waist by Italian label P.A.R.O.S.H and a white trench coat by Canadian brand Line the Label. Hours after the announcement, the website of Line the Label crashed down due to the number of people who were trying to order the coat.
Markle is the second American and the first person of mixed race heritage to marry into the British royal family. The engagement announcement prompted much comment about the possible social significance of Markle becoming a proudly mixed-race royal.
Under the terms of the Succession to the Crown Act 2013, the first six persons in the line of succession require the Sovereign's consent in order to marry. Harry was fifth in line at the time of his engagement. The Queen's consent was declared to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom on 14 March 2018.
Although Markle attended a private Catholic school in her early years, she was not raised Roman Catholic. On 6 March 2018, she was baptised and confirmed into the Church of England by the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, at St. James's Palace. Although Markle was divorced, the Anglican Church has permitted marriage to divorced persons with a living former spouse since 2002. After the engagement, Markle began the years-long process of becoming a British citizen. She retained her U.S. citizenship during the process, which was expected to create tax complications if she were to acquire dual nationality. The couple was invited to celebrate Christmas 2017 with the royal family at the Queen's Sandringham estate. The official engagement photographs were taken by Alexi Lubomirski (a former assistant to Mario Testino) at Frogmore House, and were issued by Kensington Palace on 21 December 2017. In two of the three photographs that were released to the public, Meghan is shown wearing a black tulle gown with gold embroidery by Ralph &amp; Russo.
To mark the wedding of Harry and Meghan, the Royal Mint produced an official UK £5 coin, showing the couple in profile. In May, a set of commemorative postage stamps, featuring the couple's official engagement photographs, was issued by Royal Mail.
Wedding.
Planning.
Unlike the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, the wedding day of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was not declared a bank holiday. The wedding was on the same date as the FA Cup Final, which Prince Harry's brother William normally attends in his role as President of the Football Association. Holding the royal wedding on a weekend is a break with the royal tradition of having weddings on a weekday. On 12 February 2018, Kensington Palace announced that the ceremony would commence at 12:00 Midday BST.
Venue.
The wedding took place on Saturday, 19 May 2018, at St George's Chapel, Windsor. The chapel had previously been the venue for the weddings of Prince Harry's uncle, the Earl of Wessex, as well as that of his cousin, Peter Phillips, and for the blessing of the marriage of the then Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, Harry's stepmother.
Cost.
The royal family announced that they would pay for the wedding. The costs for the cake, the florist, and the catering had been estimated to be £50,000, £110,000, and £286,000 respectively, and the overall cost was expected to be around £32 million. The security costs were expected to be lower than those of the 2011 wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. By the end of May, it was estimated that the security costs were "between £2 million and £4 million". The police and crime commissioner could also apply for special funding if the costs were to exceed 1% of the Thames Valley Police force's annual budget, but at the time the cost was "well below the £4 million required to make a claim". The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead reportedly spent £2.6 million on cleaning the town and roads. It was predicted that the wedding would trigger a tourism boom and boost the economy by up to £500 million. It was later estimated that the wedding generated £1 billion for the British economy, including an additional £300 million brought in by foreign tourists for travel and accommodation and £50 million spent on merchandise and souvenirs.
Wedding attire.
The wedding invitations specified a dress code for men of "Dress Uniform, Morning Coat or Lounge Suit"; for women, "Day Dress and Hat".
Bride and bridesmaids.
The wedding dress was designed by the British designer Clare Waight Keller under the aegis of the fashion house Givenchy. It was made of "double-bonded silk cady cushioned by an underskirt in triple silk organza" and had a boat neckline, long sleeves and sweeping train. The silk veil was long and was embroidered with 55 flowers, representing the 53 countries of the Commonwealth, as well as Wintersweet, which grows in front of Nottingham Cottage, where she and Harry lived, and the California Poppy, the state flower of California. It was secured by a diamond bandeau tiara, made in 1932 for Queen Mary and lent to Markle by Queen Elizabeth II. The centre brooch had been a wedding gift from the County of Lincoln in 1893. The tiara is a platinum band, made up of eleven sections, a detachable centre brooch with interlaced opals and diamonds. The shoes were also from Givenchy, and had a pointed couture design.
Other ensembles worn by the bride included white gold and diamond earrings and bracelet made by Cartier. Markle's hair was rolled up with "face-framing fringe tucked behind her ears", and was done by Serge Normant. Dior make-up artist Daniel Martin did Markle's makeup for the occasion. The look was described as "a soft brown eyeshadow" with minimal makeup on the face. Her nails were painted in a "neutral pink-y beige" for the ceremony. The bride's bouquet, designed by Philippa Craddock, contained "forget-me-nots, scented sweet peas, lily of the valley, astilbe, jasmine and astrantia, and sprigs of myrtle from a plant grown from the myrtle used in the Queen's wedding bouquet". The flowers were chosen by the groom who handpicked forget-me-nots in honour of his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
After the wedding the bridal bouquet was placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey, following royal tradition that began with Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. For the customary bridal themes of "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue", Markle had a piece of fabric from Diana's wedding dress sewn into her dress (the "old"), her bracelet and earrings (the "new"), the Queen's tiara (the "borrowed"), and a piece of fabric from the dress she wore on their first date stitched into the veil (the "blue"). The young bridesmaids also wore high-waisted silk dresses designed by Clare Waight Keller which had puff sleeves.
Groom, best man and page boys.
Prince Harry and the Duke of Cambridge wore the frock coat uniform of the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons) in which both were commissioned, and Prince Harry served for 10 years, including in combat in Afghanistan. The uniforms were made by Dege &amp; Skinner, gentleman's tailors and uniform makers, of Savile Row, London. The groom asked for and received the Queen's permission to keep his beard, as beards were then only permitted under exceptional circumstances in the British Army. Prince Harry wore the rank of major with the star of the Royal Victorian Order, of which he is a Knight Commander, along with the ribbons of the Royal Victorian Order, Operational Service Medal for Afghanistan, Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, and Army Air Corps wings.
Prince William, also with the rank of major, had the cypher on his shoulder straps and gold aiguillettes on his right shoulder (indicating his position as an aide-de-camp to the Queen), and wore the star of the Order of the Garter, the ribbons of the two jubilee medals, and his RAF wings. The pageboys wore uniforms by Dege &amp; Skinner that resembled the uniform of the Blues and Royals worn by the groom and best man. Each page boy had his initials on the shoulders in place of rank badges.
Wedding party.
On 26 April 2018, Kensington Palace announced that Prince Harry had selected his older brother, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, as his best man. There was initially no confirmation as to whether Prince William would miss the FA Cup Final, which he would normally attend in his role as President of The Football Association, or if he would be able to attend both the wedding and the football match. A statement from Kensington Palace that the timing of the wedding would not clash with the match was released in December 2017. However, it was confirmed that the Duke would not be attending the final that day.
There were suggestions that the bride's friend Jessica Mulroney, daughter-in-law of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, would be her matron of honour. In early May 2018, there was confirmation that there would be no maid or matron of honour, and that the bridesmaids and page boys would all be children. A total of ten bridesmaids and page boys were chosen, with the bride and groom each selecting five: two of Markle's godchildren, seven-year old Rylan Litt and her six-year-old sister Remi, as well as Brian, John and Ivy Mulroney, the three children of her friend Jessica Mulroney, were chosen by the bride, while Prince Harry's nephew and niece, Prince George and Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, as well as his godchildren Florence van Cutsem, Zalie Warren and Jasper Dyer, were selected by the groom.
On 18 May 2018, Kensington Palace announced Prince Charles would accompany Markle down the aisle, after she confirmed her father, Thomas Markle Sr., would not be attending the wedding due to his recent heart surgery. The bride spent the