Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Have Permission to Get Married at Westminster Abbey
By Josh Duboff. Photos: Getty Images.
We know what you’re probably thinking, reading this headline about a potential Prince Harry-Meghan Markle wedding venue: wait, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle aren’t even engaged yet! And you’re right, they’re not. But, in all likelihood, they will be soon. Harry and Meghan are making great efforts to fly to each other’s respective towns to see each other as often as possible—and Markle has arrived in London this week to attend Pippa Middleton’s wedding with the prince on Saturday. She also popped up in the stands at one of his polo matches a few weeks ago—which is about as royal of an outing as a couple can go on. The consensus seems to be: Meghan Markle is, in all likelihood, going to be marrying into the family.
But there has been some question as to whether or not Markle and Harry would be allowed to marry at Westminster Abbey, as the Queen and Prince Philip, and Prince William and Kate Middleton did, given that Markle is divorced (Markle was married to producer Trevor Engelson from 2011 to 2013). But now we know—thanks to an unusual statement from Westminster Abbey—that they, in fact, can, if they so desire.
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A spokesman for Westminster Abbey said, according to the Daily Express, “The Abbey follows the General Synod Ruling of 2002. Since then it has been possible for divorced people to be married in the Church of England.” Additionally, the spokesman confirmed that the fact that Markle’s father is Jewish would not in any way impede her getting married there. (Interestingly, while a royal is free to marry someone of the Jewish, Buddhist, or Muslim faith, it was outlawed for a royal to marry a Catholic individual and still “keep their right to the throne” until an amendment was added in 2015.)
Per the Express, the couple would still need to get a “special license” for the wedding from the Archbishop of Canterbury, and also Harry would need to get permission in particular from the Queen.
This story originally appeared on Vanity Fair.
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