With just a couple of weeks to go before the royal wedding, Kensington Palace has revealed a number of new details about the big day, including the fact that Meghan Markle won’t have a maid of honour.
In a media briefing on Friday, Prince Harry’s Communications Secretary Jason Knauf said Markle will have friends supporting her throughout the day but there won’t be anyone filling the role of a maid or matron of honour. There had been rumours Markle’s close friend and stylist Jessica Mulroney, wife of CTV Your Morning’s Ben Mulroney, would be chosen after she flew to London in January to help Markle select a wedding gown.
Last week, Kensington Palace announced that Prince William would be Prince Harry’s best man at the wedding on May 19. The roles were reversed when Prince William married Kate Middleton in 2011.
Knauf also shared that Prince Harry and Markle will be spending the night before their wedding apart out of respect for tradition. In fact, the first time the prince will gaze upon Markle in her wedding dress will be when she’s walking down the aisle as there are no plans for a “first look” or photoshoot before the ceremony.
On the actual day, Markle will be accompanied by her mother Doria Ragland when she travels by car to Windsor Castle. Her father, Thomas Markle, will walk her down the aisle at St. George’s Chapel. There had been immense speculation about whether Markle’s father would accompany her down the aisle because she reportedly has a closer relationship with her mother.
Her parents will have “important roles” in the wedding and Markle is “delighted” to have them by her side, Knauf said.
The palace said Markle’s parents will travel to London a week before the wedding to meet Prince Harry’s family for the first time; including, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, and Prince William and his wife Catherine. There was no mention of Markle’s siblings during the briefing.
There won’t be a rehearsal dinner before the wedding, but the palace said there would be private, family-related events leading up to the big day.
On Prince Harry’s side of the family, Knauf confirmed that Diana, Princess of Wales’ three siblings Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes, and Earl Charles Spencer would attend the wedding. Lady Jane will also give a reading during the ceremony.
“Prince Harry and Ms. Markle both feel honoured that Lady Jane will be representing her family and helping to celebrate the memory of the late Princess on the wedding day,” the palace said in a release.
Knauf confirmed that 600 guests have been invited to attend the ceremony inside the chapel, but said that no official guest list would be released. There will also be another 2,640 invited members from the public who will watch the day unfold from the grounds of Windsor Castle.
After undergoing a hip replacement surgery last month, Prince Philip’s attendance at the wedding has been in question. Kensington Palace refused to confirm if he would be there and deferred the question to a representative from Buckingham Palace at the briefing, who also declined to answer.
Following the ceremony and reception, the bride and groom will spend their first night together as husband and wife at Windsor Castle, the palace said. Knauf refused to reveal where and when the couple would be embarking on their honeymoon, but he did say it wouldn’t take place right away. The newlyweds will attend their first royal engagement together a week after the wedding, the palace said.
Prince Harry and Markle will live in Kensington Palace, where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge already reside, after they’re married. The couple currently live together in Nottingham Cottage, on the grounds of Kensington Palace.
