It was confirmed yesterday that the Queen will attend Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding next spring.
As the Head of the Church of England, which teaches that marriage is a lifelong institution, it was thought that the Queen may not attend her grandson’s wedding as his fiancée Meghan is a divorcee, and this will be her second marriage.
The Queen did not attend Prince Charles’s wedding in 2005 to Camilla Parker-Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall, for that reason. Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall received a blessing at St. George’s Chapel, the same venue Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have chosen for their wedding, after their civil wedding at Windsor Guildhall.
The Earl and Countess of Wessex, and Peter and Autumn Phillips have also married at St. George’s Chapel.
Buckingham Palace confirmed yesterday in a press release that the Queen will attend the wedding, and that the Royal Family will foot the bill, the same as they did with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding in 2011, to pay for the church service, music, flowers and reception.
At the time of Prince Charles’s wedding, The Queen reportedly told a friend – who told The Telegraph – that “she has to put her role with the Church before her role as a mother” and that she didn’t feel her position as the Supreme Governor of the Church “permits it.”
Divorcees are now able to remarry in the Church of England when the law was changed in 2002 to allow remarriages at the discretion of priests. The Archbishop of Canterbury will perform the wedding service of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and has given his blessing, saying that he was “absolutely delighted to hear the news” when their engagement was announced.
Princess Anne, the aunt of Prince Harry, famously remarried in the Church of Scotland as she couldn’t remarry in 1992 in the Church of England.
It’s true the queen did not attend the civil ceremony but she and Prince Philip were present at St. George’s Chapel when Charles and Camilla got married. Nothing special about their appearance this time around as it looks like St.Goerge’s Chapel has been deemed to service the rejects of rf 😀