There were so many bombshells in the Meghan Markle and Prince Harry interview — dealing with race, mental health, the press, the fact they’re having a baby girl (!!!) — it’s easy to lose track of one.
However, there was one wild reveal we can’t get out of our heads, something that would have been one of the biggest stories of 2018 — if we’d learned it in 2018 that is.
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Meghan revealed to Oprah Winfrey in their massive interview, seemingly offhand:
“I was thinking about it, you know our wedding — three days before our wedding, we got married. No one knows that.”
WHUT?? That’s right, the couple got secretly married! They eloped! Meghan explained:
“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.”
Harry added proudly:
“Yeah, just the three of us.”
So that whole earth-shaking event we watched on May 19, the UK social event of the decade, was just a big reality show for the world to watch? Or… was it the other way around? Was the big dog and pony show the real wedding while the romantic garden rendezvous was a little show just for the two of them, courtesy of the Archbishop?
Obviously legally they can’t have gotten married twice, so what’s their real wedding date? When is their anniversary? Will the REAL Royal wedding please stand up??
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There was even a lively debate among British clergy on Twitter after the reveal (because obviously EVERYONE was watching the interview live even though it began at like one in the morning in the UK). Reverend David Green, the Vicar of St. Mary’s, West Malling, took the question very seriously, tweeting:
“I think the Archbishop needs to clarify what did or did not happen three days before.”
But Reverend Tiffer Robinson of Suffolk had his mind already made up; he tweeted in response:
“You seriously think there is even a chance that they had a legal wedding in a garden with no witnesses three days before their royal wedding with the Archbishop of Canterbury?”
Green persisted:
“You can’t get married twice. So what was the thing three days before? And if it was a marriage, what on earth are we doing ‘playing’ at prayer/holy matrimony for cameras. She clearly thinks something happened with ABC (Archbishop of Canterbury) 3 days prior. So it would be helpful to clarify what it was. Plus this is something she claimed that can be verified by separate testimony (i.e. Lambeth). If it’s BS, that helps assess the rest of the interview too.”
Legally, it seems the big wedding was the real one. The Church of England requires two witnesses, and both the Duke and the Duchess very clearly stated it was just them and the Archbishop. So it appears more likely the perfect little “just the two of us” wedding was the show — one just for Harry and Meghan. So this bombshell is a lot less explosive than it seemed at first.
But you know what? It’s an awfully romantic story, and it quite frankly sounds like a good idea for couples who are super nervous about the big day! Have your time just for you, then have the big party with the families (and George Clooney if that’s how you roll). What do YOU think of Meghan and Harry’s secret wedding??
[Image via Anthony Stanley/WENN/Royal Family/YouTube.]