The big event that was the Royal Wedding between Prince Harry & Meghan Markle went off yesterday without a hitch! Well sort of...the only mishap if you even want to call it that, was that there was a 15 minute delay for Meghan's departure from the Cliveden House to Windsor Castle. We're still not sure what the cause of that was, but nonetheless, I would say there were no mishaps despite the strict rules around the timeline. That's pretty good if that was the only mishap. (that we know of). This is a brief timeline of the way the day went...
*Windsor Time*
9:53am-10:53am---Guests started arriving-celebrity guests such as Oprah, George & Amal Clooney, Victoria & David Beckham, Elton John, James Blunt, Serena Williams, James Corden & wife Julia Carey, and others.
11:16AM---Members of the Royal Family start arriving
11:19am---Meghan Markle Departs in a burgundy Rolls-Royce with her mother Doria Ragland in route to Windsor Castle
11:34am---Prince Harry arrives at Windsor Castle with his Best Man, his brother William, the Duke of Cambridge. They walk on foot passing by the crowds and waving.
11:45am---The Rolls-Royce carrying Meghan arrives to the Long Walk in Windsor. She is greeted by screaming spectators as she proceeds.
11:53am---Doria (Meghan's Mother) was dropped off at the chapel followed by Prince Charles & Camilla
11:55am---The Queen & Prince Philip arrive at Windsor Castle. They both exit the vehicle standing. It's good to see Prince Philip up and moving around after his recent surgery.
11:59am---Meghan Markle finally arrives at Windsor Castle just in time for the Royal Wedding!
Ms. Meghan Markle decided to walk the Nave of the Chapel by herself. This decision on her part is true to her character of being a feminist. However the Nave is basically the first section of the chapel or first part of the chapel. Once Meghan arrived at the second, more intimate section of the chapel for her final decent down the aisle, she was joined by her Father-In-Law Prince Charles who then escorted her to Prince Harry. Meghan made history in doing this as she was the first royal bride to ever walk partially solo down the aisle.
The ceremony itself was not as traditional as past royal weddings. Meghan & Harry chose to have a gospel choir, The Kingdom choir, sing "Stand by Me" accompanied by Reverend Michael Curry who delivered the sermon in such a passionate and modern way. It wasn't as stoic as one might have thought. The sermon was met with some laughs and smiles as the Reverend made the sermon a very engaging one. In addition, this modern royal wedding put diversity on display, which set Meghan and Harry's wedding apart from that of past royal weddings. The Kingdom Choir, Reverend Michael Curry, as well as chosen musical performer/cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason are all of African American decent. This royal wedding truly was "the people's wedding".
There were a couple moments (okay the whole ceremony but some in particular) that made us all tear up and melt. One of which was when Prince Harry turned to Meghan in the middle of the ceremony and told her "You look amazing. I'm so lucky". Cue the waterworks.
All in all the ceremony lasted roughly around an hour with the procession, sermon, vows, and musical accompaniments. The Royal Family was of course right up front and it was good to see the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip alert and well next to all his family for the royal gathering.
12:49pm---Prince Harry & Meghan Markle are officially married!
The Queen gave both of them upon their marriage the title of Duke & Duchess of Sussex. Ms. Markle is actually the first person to ever hold that title of Duchess of Sussex. Their duties will be to continue their youth advocacy work. His Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex was named the Youth Ambassador by the Queen and so he along with his wife Meghan, will continue that work along with work amongst many other charities that the couple are passionate about. In addition, they will continue to attend royal engagements, and job tasks that the palace assigns them.
In marrying into the Royal Family, Meghan has now had to give up a lot, or at least more than she had prior to being a married woman. She had to give up her social media accounts, like her Instagram, and of course she no longer can be an actress, having to now fulfill the duties of a Duchess and all the royal obligations that go with that.
1:06pm---The Duke & Duchess depart Windsor Castle
In true fairytale fashion, the Duke & Duchess left the castle by horse-drawn carriage. The procession went down Long Walk of the Windsor Castle grounds, greeting the hundreds of people gathered to catch a glimpse of the newlyweds. That's not before the couple's first kiss as a married couple though! We didn't get to see the couple's first kiss until they were on the outside steps of Windsor Castle. There was no kiss included in the ceremony inside the chapel so they showcased their first kiss as a married couple for the world to see once they got outside.
The couple were seen off by members of their family looking on as they entered their carriage to make their procession around the grounds. They then will be heading back to Windsor Castle later on for an afternoon reception hosted by The Queen.
A little about Meghan's wedding attire:
Her stunning and modest ceremony dress was designed by Clare Waight Keller, a British Designer. The veil had flora representing all 53 Commonwealth countries. Her dress was originally rumored to be by Ralph and Russo, the same designer who created the dress she wore for her engagement shoot. No one guessed it would be a Clare Waight Keller dress. Then the gorgeous tiara she wore was the Queen Mary's Diamond Bandeau, which looked absolutely stunning on her! The tiara, like the dress, was quite a surprise. We knew the Queen was gifting her with borrowing a tiara from the Royal collection, but we had no idea which one she would choose. The full look had to be approved by the Queen, which of course we know it was. Prince Harry's was approved as well. He wore his military service uniform, more specifically, the frockcoat uniform of the Blues and Royals.
Following their procession and activities around the grounds of Windsor Castle, Meghan & Harry did change out of their ceremony outfits and into other clothes for the reception that evening that was hosted by Prince Charles. For her second dress, Meghan choose to wear a Stella McCartney gown. They left in style too!
I was very impressed with the guests and their attire. I personally have to say as beautiful as a lot of the dresses and fascinators were that I saw. I have to vote for my personal "best dressed" aside from the married couple of course! Prince Harry & Meghan were obvious the best dressed but when it comes to guests, my vote for best dressed couple was Amal & George Clooney. I thought they were both dressed so elegantly. Coordinating but not too matchy. Take a look!
As for "Best Dressed" single guest, not couple as a whole, I have to vote for Oprah Winfrey! That hat was magical! It was like bam, here's Oprah! It was a church going hat for sure. It wasn't too loud that it would over shadow the Royals but it was still attention grabbing, flattering, and pretty. See below!
All in all, the Royal Wedding was everything we hoped it would be and more! It was full of excitement and surprises. We didn't know what Meghan would wear, we didn't know all the guests, or really how the ceremony would go down. Would there be any mishaps or mistakes? Would Meghan's estranged family somehow show up? It went very smoothly and we're glad it did!
CONGRATULATIONS to the new Duke & Duchess of Sussex!
-Producer Lightning