The moment Prince Charles agreed to walk Meghan down the aisle, revealed by Harry and Camilla

The Prince of Wales walking Meghan Markle down the aisle - PA
The Prince of Wales walking Meghan Markle down the aisle - PA

The Duke of Sussex has shared a touching insight into how his father told him he would do "whatever Meghan needs" on their wedding day, as he agreed to walk her up the aisle.

The Duke, who married Meghan Markle on May 19 at Windsor Castle, said the Prince of Wales immediately agreed to escort the bride after her father pulled out of attending the wedding.

In a moving tribute, he said he was “very grateful” to his father for stepping in.

The Prince had stepped in at the 11th hour after the bride’s father, Thomas Markle, pulled out of attending the wedding citing ill health, following revelations he had colluded with the paparazzi.

The Duke of Sussex, as he has been known since the wedding, told the BBC of his father: “I asked him to and I think he knew it was coming and he immediately said, ‘Yes, of course, I’ll do whatever Meghan needs and I’m  here to support you’.

“For him that’s a fantastic opportunity to step up and be that support, and he’s our father so of course he’s going to be there for us.”

Asked about the moment the cameras in the chapel caught him mouthing “thank you, Pa” to the Prince as he escorted Ms Markle to the altar, he joked: “I’ve been brought up well. You’ve got to say thank you.

“Just because he’s my father that doesn’t mean I can just go, ‘Okay, that’s all, I’ll take it from here’.

“I was very grateful for him for being able to do that.”

The Duchess of Cornwall, who had watched the ceremony in the quire of the chapel, where she and the Prince had their own wedding blessed in 2005, said: “I think that was very touching.

“Sitting where I was, you couldn’t hear what he said. But afterwards watching it on the television, I think it was a lovely gesture.

“A lot of people seeing my husband actually take the bride’s mother [Doria Ragland] by the hand to sign the register  is something that moved everybody.

“It’s the things he does behind the scenes that people don’t know about. I don’t think people realise quite how kind he is.”

The moment, in St George’s Chapel, won much praise from the British public as one of the most endearing moments of the Prince’s later life.

He has said to have formed a close bond with the Duchess of Sussex, helping the couple to choose the music for their wedding.

Ms Ragland, who sat alone in the quire at the wedding, also met the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh and the Cambridges while in the UK for the wedding, and has since been invited back to join her only daughter at an official engagement to launch her cookbook.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have recently announced they are expecting their first baby in the Spring, with the excited Prince admitting her has toasted the news “several times”.

Sign up for Your Royal Appointment  our weekly newsletter with everything you need to know about the Royal family.