Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will return to London today, one day after tying the knot at Windsor Castle in a ceremony that melded Hollywood glamour and African-American culture with centuries-old royal traditions.
The couple will move to the cozy, two-bedroomed Nottingham Cottage on the grounds of London’s Kensington Palace, where they have lived since announcing their engagement in November 2017.
But they are putting their honeymoon on hold.
True to Markle’s public assertion that she intends to “hit the ground running,” the pair—now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex—will make their first official appearance as a royal couple at a 70th birthday patronage celebration for Prince Charles on Tuesday.
The party, which will be held in the gardens of Buckingham Palace and attended by nearly 6,000 guests, will honour the heir to the throne’s nearly 400 patronages, 20 military affiliations and the charities that he supports.
While the Queen was spotted attending a morning church service in Windsor on Sunday, the newlyweds were nowhere to be seen.
They capped off an entire day of celebrations on Saturday with an intimate, black-tie evening reception for 200 of their closest family members and friends at Frogmore House, a 17th-century English country house that is part of the Crown Estate and about a half-mile from Windsor Castle.
The party, hosted by Prince Charles, featured an impressive fireworks display that lit up the sky over Windsor and was expected to be where Prince Harry and Markle would share their first dance.
The two travelled to the event in a 1968 silver blue Jaguar E-Type Concept Zero convertible with the top down and a licence plate that marked their wedding date, after first changing into new outfits.
Earlier in the day, they and 600 guests attended a luncheon at Windsor Castle hosted by the Queen, where Elton John performed a few of his hits and guests feasted on canapés and a lemon elderflower wedding cake with buttercream icing.
Attendees of the luncheon said that both Prince Charles and Prince Harry gave speeches that moved guests to tears, according to the Telegraph, a British newspaper.
Authorities said that more than 100,000 well-wishers came out to the streets of Windsor to catch a glimpse of the couple after they were proclaimed husband and wife.
Their wedding ceremony in a medieval chapel at Windsor Castle was attended by celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, American tennis star Serena Williams, David and Victoria Beckham and Markle’s co-stars from the television series “Suits.”
The newlyweds have not yet announced a destination for their honeymoon. Namibia is the bookmakers’ favourite.
