10 Wedding Traditions Prince Harry And Meghan Just Didn't Care To Follow

May 25, 2018

What a beautiful wedding the world witnessed as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle united to become the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It was a royal wedding of rebellious firsts as these two decided to marry on their own terms and in their own style, but did anyone expect anything less of the lad known for not following the beaten path?

Here’s how these two broke royal protocol to usher in a more modern treatment for their special day. 
 

They opted to include common folk on their guest list. To be specific, 2,640 everyday folk were invited to witness the bride and groom arriving at Windsor Castle.

Of those, 200 were from charities and organizations the couple holds near and dear and 1,200 were youth having shown strong leadership skills, avid servers within the community, and the like from all corners of the country. 
 

While they chose a Saturday wedding, royal weddings are traditionally hosted on weekdays so that commoners throughout the country may have a public holiday out of it. April 29, 2011, a Friday, was the date Prince Harry’s older brother married, but there won’t be a bank holiday from this royal wedding. 
 

Markle was raised Catholic, including attending an all-girls Catholic high school. She is a divorcee, although her father-in-law broke ground there. She’s also of mixed ethnic background. And, she’s from the U.S., not the UK. 

While all of this breaks tradition and makes her have some firsts in British royalty, Prince Harry, as sixth in line for the throne, didn’t cause a constitutional crisis like King Edward VIII did when he decided to abdicate his throne to marry Wallis Simpson, a divorcee. 

While the Act of Settlement of 1701 was amended in 2015 to allow royal interfaith marriages, Markle was still reportedly baptized into the Church of England some months ago in a secret ceremony. 
 

Welsh gold is what royals normally wear when it comes to jewelry, but tradition is that the groom doesn’t don any wedding ring. Prince Harry not only went for the wedding ring, he went for one made of textured platinum, not Welsh gold. 
 

Markle opted not to be ‘given away.’ The public already knew that Markle’s father would not be walking her to the altar. It was expected that her mother might do the deed. Instead, the future Duchess of Sussex walked herself down the aisle.

She did meet her future father-in-law, Prince Charles, about midpoint, where he completed her journey to the altar. 

 

British custom is for the groom to face the altar, not the bride, as she walks to him. Prince Harry lovingly watched his bride-to-be the entire time. 
 

A senior member of the Church of England is customarily asked to preside over royal weddings. Not this time. Episcopal Priest Bishop Michael Curry, of Chicago, Illinois, delivered the sermon, and he even quoted the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his delivery. 
 

Cakes of royal events have always been white icing atop multi-layered fruitcake. That’s the standard, whether it be a christening or a wedding. Not this wedding, though. This cake was Swiss meringue buttercream icing atop a lemon and elderflower cake, albeit the elderflower syrup was made from elderflower trees at the Queen’s Sandringham residence.

That has to count for something, right? 
 

No balcony kiss here, but it would’ve hardly made sense for them to travel the 20 plus miles to Buckingham Palace just for a public kiss when this wasn’t a state wedding.

Oh, was there a kiss of firsts, however. The happy couple embraced for a sweet kiss on the steps of the St. George's Chapel, which has never been done by any royal couple. 
 

While not a first in rebellion because the Duchess of Cambridge and Princess Diana both did the same, Markle amended her vows to exclude “obey” from it. 


So, what did you think of the royal wedding between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex? Was it too far away from tradition or a needed step toward a modern British Monarchy? Show this article to your friends and family and let us know what you think about royal traditions!