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| Chris Jackson/Getty Images |
Yesterday, we got an official announcement, photos, an interview, and a big ol’ diamond ring, and now today, we know a lot more about when and where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding will take place.
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| Charles and Camilla’s service of prayer and dedication at St. George’s, April 2005 (CHRIS ISON/AFP/Getty Images) |
Kensington Palace announced today that the wedding will take place in May 2018 at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor. (We’ll get a more specific date later.) The venue is an important one for the royal family. Along with many historical royal weddings, christenings, and funerals, Prince Charles and Camilla celebrated their wedding with a blessing service at Windsor in 2005, and the Earl and Countess of Wessex were married there in 1999.
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| Charles and Camilla walk down the aisle at St. George’s, April 2005 (CHRIS YOUNG/AFP/Getty Images) |
Don’t let the word “chapel” fool you — St. George’s holds 800 people! It’s also the home of the Order of the Garter, and it’s the final resting place of many monarchs and royals, including Harry’s great-grandmother, the late Queen Mother. Fun (?) fact: Meghan and Harry will have to walk over the tomb of King Henry VIII on their way to the altar. Ah, history.
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| Peter and Autumn Phillips’s Windsor wedding, May 2008 (IAN MCILGORM/AFP/Getty Images) |
Harry’s plans echo those of his cousin, Peter Phillips, who married Autumn Kelly at St. George’s Chapel in May 2008, exactly ten years before Harry and Meghan’s scheduled nuptials. The May date also means that the Duchess of Cambridge, who is due to give birth in April, will likely be able to attend.
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| The Wessex wedding on television screens at a London store, June 1999 (MAGALI DELPORTE/AFP/Getty Images) |
We also learned a few more things. The royal family is paying for much of the ceremony. There are tentative plans to televise the service (as was done for the weddings/blessings of Edward and Charles), but no details are apparently in place yet. Meghan will be baptized and confirmed into the Church of England before the wedding, and the service will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Queen and members of the royal family will attend the ceremony.
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| DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images |
And we’ll get to see Harry and Meghan together again very soon: they have their first official joint engagement scheduled for Friday, when they’ll pay a call to Nottingham Academy to see the work of Full Effect, a project “offering children and young people inspiration and opportunities to raise aspirations.”
If any of you missed the big engagement interview from yesterday, here’s the royal family’s official link to it! Harry and Meghan chat about their relationship, the engagement ring, the royal family — and even the corgis, who have apparently already cozied up to the animal-loving future duchess.
Oh! And I almost forgot: I was a guest on the BBC 5 Live Breakfast Show this morning to discuss Meghan, Harry, and the engagement ring. If you’d like to listen, the program will be available for streaming online for the next 29 days. You can access it at this link. My short segment begins around the 1:25:00 mark. Enjoy!
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