Harry and Meghan's wedding to blend royal tradition with Hollywood glamour
WINDSOR (Reuters) - Prince Harry weds US actress Meghan Markle on Saturday in a lavish ceremony that unites the pomp of British royalty with Hollywood glamour.
Hundreds of millions of people across the world are expected to tune into watch the wedding of Queen Elizabeth’s popular grandson and the American star of the TV drama “Suits” at the 15th Century St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
More than 100,000 fans will cram the narrow streets of the town 20 miles (30 km) west of London, dominated by the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world, a home to 39 English monarchs since 1066.
“I love all the regalia, all the hoo-hahs, the procession with the cavalry,” said Jane Tofolo, 50, from southwest London, who shook hands with Harry when he held an impromptu walkabout with his brother and best man outside the castle on Friday evening.
“It will be spectacular because us Brits do all that very well.”
Harry, 33, is sixth in line to the British throne. Markle, 36, is a divorcee whose mother is African-American and father is white.
For many, the wedding is a fairytale. For some black Britons, it illustrates the breakdown of barriers in modern Britain.
To others, it is an irrelevance. Polls have suggested that most Britons will not bother tuning in to watch the event.
The hour-long ceremony begins at 1100 GMT, with weather forecasts predicting blue skies and sunshine.
The bride will arrive at the church with her mother, Doria Ragland, 61, with whom she was spending Friday night at a luxury hotel. Harry was staying at another hotel with elder brother and best man Prince William, whose daughter Charlotte and son George will be among the bridesmaids and page boys.
A reception will be held in the castle’s St George’s Hall before 200 guests join the couple at an evening event at Frogmore House, another grand mansion in the grounds.
The prince and his new wife, who are expected to be given a new title by the queen to mark their marriage, are not immediately leaving on honeymoon and will carry out their first official engagement as husband and wife next week.
Educated at the exclusive Eton College, a stone’s throw from Windsor, Harry, the younger son of the late Princess Diana, gained a reputation as a royal wild child.
He admitted smoking cannabis, getting drunk when underage in a pub, scuffled with paparazzi outside a London nightclub and drew outrage by dressing as a Nazi officer at a party.
But he turned his image around after joining the army, where he spent 10 years and included two tours of duty in Afghanistan.
Last year, he spoke openly of his emotional torment following the 1997 death of his mother in a Paris car crash. Aged just 12, he walked solemnly behind her coffin in the funeral cortege.