Why the Queen gets to say who Prince Harry will marry

We’ve got some sobering news for people hoping that Prince Harry will put a ring on it soon and propose to Meghan Markle (that’s all of us right?). Harry’s grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II technically gets to decide who Prince Harry marries, not Harry himself.

We know this is a lot to process (considering Prince Harry is a 32-year-old grown man and everything), but it all comes down to a law that’s been around for hundreds of years. The Royal Marriages Act of 1772 gives the British monarch veto power over marriages within the family. While the law has been revised a few times, it’s definitely still a thing. As it stands now, the law applies to the first 6 people in line for the throne. Since Harry is 5th in line (behind Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince George and Princess Charlotte), it looks like he’ll need to get permission from his royal grandmother before he ties the knot.

This scenario will definitely sound familiar to anyone who’s binge-watched The Crown (again, isn’t that all of us?). Back in the 1950s, when Queen Elizabeth II was a young twenty-something monarch, her sister, Princess Margaret fell in love with a man named Peter Townsend. Townsend was a war hero, a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force and had worked for Margaret and Elizabeth’s father, King George VI. Townsend was also divorced, which was much less common back then.

When Group Captain Townsend proposed, Princess Margaret was all set to walk down the aisle. But as a member of the royal family, she needed permission from the Queen (her sister) before she could accept. Um, AWKWARD.

Since the Church of England didn’t allow divorced people to remarry at the time, the Queen was torn. The situation was even more complicated by the fact that all of this went down less than 20 years after King Edward VIII (Elizabeth and Margaret’s uncle) abdicated the throne to marry Wallis Simpson, also a divorcée. The Queen’s cabinet advised her in no uncertain terms to deny the marriage. In the end, she did just that. Princess Margaret and Peter Townsend never married. It made us cry ALL THE TEARS at the end of The Crown, Season 1.

So here we are, more than fifty years later, and Queen Elizabeth II might end up having to make the same decision about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

We’re going to go ahead and say it: Meghan would make a wonderful princess. In addition to acting on the hit TV show Suits and acting as Editor-in-Chief of her super gorgeous lifestyle blog, The Tig, Meghan is a humanitarian. In her role as a World Vision Global Ambassador, she travels all over the world helping people in need. Which basically means she’s already handling the job description of a princess, while also being a television star and writer at the same time. Girl can multi-task.

But Meghan isn’t of royal descent, and she’s been divorced — which complicates things. Traditionally, royals only marry royals. But Prince William paved the way for commoners to marry into the royal family when he tied the knot with Kate Middleton. Princess Kate SLAYS at the whole royal thing, which might work in Meghan’s favor.

As far the matter of divorce, things have also eased up a bit there. The Church of England no longer forbids divorced people from remarrying. Also, Prince Charles himself has been divorced, as has his second wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. Charles and Camilla are next in line for the throne. So, we’re thinking the divorce issue probably isn’t a deal breaker either.

It would be interesting to see how the Queen would handle this decision now that over half a century has passed since Princess Margaret wanted to marry Peter Townsend. Even though both of them went on to marry other people, Princess Margaret considered Group Captain Townsend the love of her life. Her sister’s refusal to allow them to marry broke her heart.

The good news is that so far, the Queen seems to approve of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as a couple. We can’t say we’re surprised. Prince Harry is definitely a charmer and the Queen is said to adore him, so it wouldn’t be much of a shocker if he got his way.

We’re rooting for you, Harry and Meghan!