By Joshua Olomu
Britain’s Prince Harry, grandson of Queen Elizabeth, on Saturday tied the knot with Hollywood actress Meghan Markle at a glittering ceremony at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
The Rt Rev. David Conner, Dean of Windsor, conducted the service, and the Most Rev. Bishop Michael Curry, the 27th presiding bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, from Chicago, gave an address at the wedding.
Lady Jane Fellowes, the sister of Prince Harry’s late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, gave a reading.
The couple who exchanged vows and rings before the Queen and 600 guests, will now be known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
During the service, the couple pledged themselves to one another, saying: “For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part.”
Prince Harry’s ring is a platinum band with a textured finish and Markle’s has been made from a piece of Welsh gold, and wearing a wedding dress by British designer Clare Waight Keller.
The bride was walked to the altar by her father-in-law, Prince Charles, following her earlier announcement that her father, Thomas Markle ,was having health challenges and would not attend the royal wedding.
Her mother, Doria Ragland was the only family member at the service, and there was a touching moment when Prince Charles offered her his hand as she was asked to witness the signing of the marriage register.
Harry and Meghan Markle were pronounced husband and wife by the Archbishop of Canterbury in a glittering union that brought a measure of modern Hollywood glamor 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.
In a ceremony that combined modernity and the ancient rituals of a royal house that dates back to 1066, Prince Charles, heir to the throne and Harry’s father, accompanied Markle to the altar from the middle of the chapel.
Harry, looking nervous, appeared to say: “Thanks, Pa” to Charles and “You look amazing!” to his 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 U.S. bishop Michael Bruce Curry told a congregation that included Queen Elizabeth, senior royals and celebrities such as U.S. mogul Oprah Winfrey, singer Elton John and former soccer star David Beckham.
“Do not underestimate it. Anyone who has ever fallen in love knows what I mean,” Curry told the congregation in a powerful, energetic address that quoted U.S. civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King.
The newlyweds will be known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, putting them in the senior ranks of British royalty.
But alongside tradition, there was innovation, by British royal standards. Markle, 36, did not vow to obey her husband; Harry, three years her junior, will wear a wedding ring – unlike other senior male royals.
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.
To others, it was an irrelevance or mild distraction from the schism of Brexit, which has deeply divided the UK, polls suggested that most Britons would not bother tuning in.
But in Windsor, tens of thousands of fans lined the Long Walk promenade leading to the castle, waving British flags and cheering as Markle’s Rolls-Royce limousine drove past.
Air traffic controllers for the nearby Heathrow Airport, one of the world’s busiest, closed the airspace over Windsor for the 15 minutes before the ceremony.
Hours before, Elizabeth had bestowed the title of Duke of Sussex on her grandson, a step that meant the actress, star of the 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 patrolled streets and watched from rooftops.
Notable international celebrities at the wedding include Oprah Winfrey, tennis superstar Serena Williams, ex-England soccer star, David Beckham and his fashion designer wife, Victoria, James Corden, British host of the American TV chat show “The Late Show” and rugby star Jonny Wilkinson.
Other celebrity guests are Elton John, who sang at Diana’s 1997 funeral, British actor Idris Elba, and two of Harry’s ex-girlfriends.
Politicians, including Prime Minister Theresa May, were not invited, as it was not a state event.
However, the former Prime Minister, Sir John Major, is among the invited guests, as he is a member of the Order of the Garter.
The chapel was adorned with white roses, Diana’s favorite 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.”
The royal couple, who met on a blind date in 2016 and fell in love in a tent under the stars in Botswana, tied the knot in a castle that has been home to 39 English monarchs since 1066.
With security tight, tens of thousands of visitors had to pass through police search points set up around the castle to cram into the narrow roads of Windsor, about 30 km west of London.
Markle’s own father Thomas Markle, 73, a former lighting director for TV soaps and sitcoms, pulled out of the ceremony, telling the U.S. celebrity website TMZ he had had heart surgery on Wednesday.
Confusion over his attendance marred the build-up to the wedding, which had been choreographed for months by royal aides, and his name still appears in the order of service.
The service was conducted by the Dean of Windsor with Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican Church, overseeing the exchange of vows.
The service was conducted by the Dean of Windsor with Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican Church, overseeing the exchange of vows.
Lady Jane Fellowes, Diana’s sister, delivered the reading.
After the ceremony, the newlyweds are expected to greet some of the 1,200 members of the public invited into the castle grounds before starting a carriage procession through Windsor.
A reception will be held in the castle’s St George’s Hall before 200 guests join the couple at an evening event at the nearby Frogmore House mansion.
Harry and Meghan will carry out their first official engagement as husband and wife on Monday.
The British remain broadly supportive of the monarchy, albeit with a sense of mild irony about the pomp and pageantry that accompanies it, though most have deep respect for Queen Elizabeth after her 66 years of service as head of state.
Harry, along with brother William and his wife Kate, are at the forefront of efforts to modernize the monarchy by talking openly about their feelings.
“It is patently obvious the more you say, the more you can be examined,” said royal historian Hugo Vickers.
“Everything moves on gradually – but there are certain risks, and there is a lot to be said for maintaining the mystique.”
