Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Didn’t *Actually* Get Married in Their Backyard After All
The British press decided to pick apart this part of the interview, too.
During their March 7th sitdown with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said that they were married three days before their actual May 19th, 2018, televised wedding. But now, a spokesperson for the couple is walking back on their statement to Winfrey, saying that the backyard wedding was actually just a private vow exchange rather than a legally binding marriage.
“Three days before our wedding, we got married,” Meghan told Winfrey on March 7th. “No one knows that. We called the Archbishop and we just said, look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world. But we want our union between us, so the vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury.”
On Monday, March 22nd, a spokesperson told Today that, in actuality, the Sussexes privately exchanged personal vows a few days before their official/legal wedding on May 19.
According to Today, the bit about the backyard wedding was a point of contention in the British press (among other parts of the interview) due to the fact that two or more witnesses must be present for a U.K. wedding to be legally binding. And the public must have access to a wedding in order for any objections to be lodged.
A March 15th report in the U.K.’s Sun said that Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby “does not do private weddings,” according to Newcastle vicar Rev. Mark Edwards. “Meghan is an American, she does not understand.”
Justin had a private conversation with the couple in the garden about the wedding, but I can assure you, no wedding took place until the televised national event, Rev. Edwards said a spokesperson for the Archbishop told him.
The Sun also reports that all Church of England weddings must take place in a house of worship for them to be legitimate, so therefore, Meghan and Harry were mostly likely not legally wed days before their official wedding.
With larger issues breached in the conversation between Meghan, Harry, and Winfrey, the actual date of their wedding is the least concerning. But hey, the British press will pick apart Meghan Markle stories from now until eternity, so what did you expect?
