Innholdsfortegnelse for Royal Wedding i The Royal Family Souvenir Series

On Saturday 19 May, Meghan Markle turned to Prince Harry, fixed her big brown eyes upon his twinkling blue ones, and boldly pledged, ‘I will.’ With the world as witness, a defining moment in history was made. Together, this beautiful couple are the perfect proof that when true love strikes, origins do not matter. Meghan breaks the traditional royal mould in almost every way imaginable: a divorced actress and outspoken feminist with a successful career, this 36-year-old is American, mixed race and was raised by a single mum. Fifty years ago, this union would have been unthinkable. Yet thrillingly, in 2018, not only has the Queen warmly welcomed Meghan into the very heart of the Royal Family, but there has been an outpouring of international joy and affection for this…

In her Daddy’s eyes, she was always a princess. But Meghan Markle’s Californian upbringing was a world away from London’s Kensington Palace. Social worker Doria Ragland, and lighting designer Thomas Markle, welcomed their only child – nicknamed ‘Flower’ – into the world on 4 August 1981. When she was two, Meghan’s parents separated, amicably, and she lived with Doria in a modest apartment above a garage in the Miracle Mile, a racially diverse Los Angeles suburb. ‘I never saw them fight,’ Meghan recalls. ‘My dad would come on Sundays to drop me off and we’d watch [popular US show] Jeopardy! Eating dinner on TV trays, the three of us… We were still so close-knit.’ Growing up, Meghan – like Harry – was especially close to her free-spirited, independent mum, who…

‘I was bowled over when Ms. Markle called me to ask if I would play during the ceremony – of course I immediately said yes!’…

Twenty years may have passed since Princess Diana’s death, but the deep bond she shared with her beloved Harry has never faded. When he was growing up, she was never far from his side – whether chasing him around the garden as a cheeky toddler, squeezing his hand on his first day at school, or racing him down the daredevil ski slopes they both found so thrilling. ‘He’s a complete joy,’ Diana gushed, affectionately nicknaming him ‘My Little Spencer’, on account of his flame-coloured hair, from her side of the family. Yet her youngest son inherited much more than just her fair looks. As he grew, he also exuded the same combination of charisma, warmth, compassion and mischief. Neither mother nor son were academically gifted pupils. ‘Harry is constantly in…

Signing up to be a member of the Royal Family, and a life of intense public scrutiny, is not a decision to be taken lightly, as Harry is well aware. But Meghan, he is confident, is more than capable for the task ahead. ‘It’s obviously a huge relief to me because she’ll be able to deal with everything else that comes with it,’ he’s admitted. ‘She’ll be really unbelievably good at the job part of it. ‘I know that I’m in love with this girl, and I hope that she’s in love with me, but we still had to sit down on the sofa and have some pretty frank conversations to say, you know what you’re letting yourself in for… it’s a big deal and it’s not easy for anybody.…

GAZE OF PURE ADORATION “With their job making them separated by their rank, royals on engagements can tend to be what’s called ‘lonely in a crowd’, which is why working with a partner who can throw him looks like this will have such a profound effect on Harry. Not only is Meghan’s gaze a perfect example of ‘the look of love’ but it also emphasises Harry’s new role in a team of two. Meghan is confident and eloquent enough to front her own meet-and-greets and interviews, but by being around to throw looks like this back at her prince, she will manage to flatter, flirt with him and boost his confidence while they’re out together on royal duties.” TOTALLY BESOTTED “There is no Hollywood-style ‘flaunting’ of her prince from Meghan,…

Harry: ‘I’d never watched Suits, I’d never heard of Meghan before, and I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her. And there she was sitting there… I was like OK, well, I’m going to have to up my game… sit down and make sure I’ve got good chat.’ On first meeting Meghan Harry: ‘The fact that I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly is confirmation to me that all the stars are aligned, everything was just perfect.’ Meghan: ‘It was just a choice…very early on when we realised we were going to commit to each other, we knew we had to invest the time and the energy and whatever it took to make that happen.’ On why they don’t see their short courtship as…

1981 Rachel Meghan Markle is born on 4 August in Los Angeles, California, to Doria Ragland, a social worker and yoga instructor, and Thomas Markle Snr, a successful TV lighting director. 1984 Prince Harry is born on 15 September at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington. On 21 December he’s christened Henry Charles Albert David by the Archbishop of Canterbury at St George’s Chapel, Windsor. 1989 Harry has his first day at school, starting at London’s Wetherby Prep, like his brother William. Meghan attends the Hollywood Little Red Schoolhouse, a private primary school. 1992 Harry’s parents Charles and Diana separate. Meghan’s parents have already split up by now. Aged 11, Meghan successfully campaigns to change the wording of a sexist TV advert. 1997 Harry, two weeks shy of turning 13, walks behind…

2.8m was the calculated number of people in Britain and America alone who had written status updates on Facebook about William and Kate’s 2011 wedding in the 24 hours before the service began. £26,000 was expected to be spent on sausage rolls and hot tea for the 2,640 members of the public who’d been invited into the grounds of Windsor Castle for the big day. £50,000 is the amount Harry and Meghan are thought to have shelled out on their lemon and elderflower wedding cake, created by bakery-cafe owner and food writer Claire Ptak. £6m is the estimated total cost of security for Harry and Meghan’s wedding. This extremely high figure is due to the current terror threat and the complexities of providing security in Windsor, compared to London. Windsor…

There is nothing quite like a royal wedding to lift the nation’s spirits. From the sumptuous outfits to the oh-so-British spectacle of pomp and ceremony, it’s hard not to feel a little swell of patriotism – and a surge of goodwill – with these historic milestones. Whether you’re watching on TV at home, or you’re in the thick of the crowds waving a Union Jack, it’s as if the whole country has been invited to the party – and put their best foot forward for the occasion. And have you noticed how a royal wedding seems to come along when the British public most need one? In 1947, when Princess Elizabeth (now our Queen) wed her dashing Philip Mountbatten (the Duke of Edinburgh) she provided a tired, war-worn nation with…

They have access to the world’s richest opportunities, but this fiercely outward-looking couple will not be content living in the lap of luxury. Working for those less fortunate is at the very heart of what this couple is about. Their shared passion for humanitarian work is what drew them together: ‘It was one of the first things we started talking about when we met,’ admitted Meghan. ‘The different things we wanted to do in the world, and how passionate we were about seeing change. I think that’s what’s got us to date two!’ Long before meeting Prince Harry, Meghan had already volunteered in Rwanda, worked as an ambassador for World Vision in India, and been an advocate for women’s rights for the UN. ‘It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, any…

‘ALL THE STARS WERE ALIGNED’ Prince Harry commented that ‘all the stars were aligned’ when he met Meghan. But are they actually astrologically compatible? Debbie Frank was the astrologer for Princess Diana for many years and drew up charts for her boys when they were children. Here, Debbie talks us through Harry and Meghan’s star signs and their influence on their union… HARRY’S SPIRITUAL SIDE Debbie says: “Harry is everyone’s favourite royal. He and William are both very in touch with their intuition, just like their mother was. The fact that Harry publicly talked about ‘the stars being aligned’ shows how fate and astrology are part of his outlook.” HARRY THE EARTHY SOUL “Harry – born 15 September – is an incredibly earthy soul. His sun and Mercury are in…

From the moment he entered the world, with a fierce cry and a shock of flame-red hair, 6lb 14oz Prince Harry was ruffling feathers. The royal child had kept everyone waiting; Princess Diana was five days overdue when she waddled into St Mary’s Hospital, in the early morning of Saturday 15 September, 1984. With Prince Charles by her side, at 4.20pm Henry Charles Albert David – the ‘spare’ to William’s ‘heir’ – finally arrived. Murmurs that his parents wanted a girl are nonsense. Diana was instantly smitten, and Charles beamed to the crowds at Paddington – ‘I don’t care what sex he is, so long as he’s OK, I couldn’t be more delighted.’ From the start Kensington Palace insisted he would be known simply as ‘Harry’, which very much suited…