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Crowds gather for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's glittering marriage ceremony

rooster59

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rooster59

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Crowds gather for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's glittering marriage ceremony

By Michael Holden and Cassandra Garrison

 

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Fans of the royal family camp outside Windsor Castle prior to the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Windsor, Britain May 18, 2018. REUTERS/Phil Noble

 

WINDSOR, England (Reuters) - Prince Harry and U.S. actress Meghan Markle marry on Saturday in a lavish ceremony that unites the traditional pomp of British royalty with Hollywood glamour, injecting new life into a monarchy striving to stay relevant in the modern age.

 

Millions are expected to watch when Elizabeth's popular grandson and the American star of the TV drama "Suits" tie the knot at the 15th Century St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, the oldest and largest inhabited castle in the world.

 

As dawn broke over its ancient stone walls, excited crowds began to assemble, many draped in British and American flags.

 

"I just think it will be magical. There will be so much shouting and cheering and noise. I love the royal family," said Ronda Musgrove, 59, who camped overnight on the street opposite.

 

More than 100,000 fans are expected to cram the narrow roads of Windsor, about 20 miles (30 km) west of London. Security was tight and visitors had to pass through police search points set up around the castle, home to 39 English monarchs since 1066.

 

The world's media has been gripped by the union of Harry, 33, the sixth-in-line to the British throne, and Markle, 36, a divorcee whose mother is African-American and father is white, and hundreds of TV crews have descended on Windsor.

 

To some black Britons, the wedding is a fairytale which personifies the breakdown of barriers and reveals a more modern Britain where a person's background is no obstacle to even the most elite and traditional of institutions.

 

To others, it is an irrelevance or mild distraction to the schism of Brexit which has deeply divided the United Kingdom, and polls have suggested that most Britons will not bother tuning in to watch the event.

 

The hour-long ceremony begins at 1100 GMT.

 

The bride will arrive at the church with her mother, Doria Ragland, 61, with whom she was spent 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.

 

MARKLE'S MODERN OATH

 

Markle will enter the chapel unescorted. Then Harry's father and heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles will walk his future daughter-in-law down the aisle.

 

Her own father Thomas Markle, 73, a lighting director for TV soaps and sitcoms, pulled out this week, telling the U.S. celebrity website TMZ he had undergone heart surgery on Wednesday.

 

Confusion over his attendance marred the build-up to the wedding, which had been carefully choreographed for months by royal aides and his name still appears in the order of service.

 

On Friday, Ragland met the 92-year-old monarch and her husband Prince Philip, 96, who will be among the senior royals in the 600-strong congregation. It will also include a smattering of celebrities, including fellow cast members of Markle from "Suits".

 

The service will be conducted by the Dean of Windsor with Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the spiritual head of the Anglican Church, overseeing the exchange of vows. A black U.S. bishop, Most Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, will give the wedding address.

 

In a sign of modernity for the royals, Harry will wear a ring while Markle will not vow to obey her husband. Senior male British royals do not traditionally wear rings.

 

Interspersed with traditional hymns, a choir will perform American soul singer Ben E. King's 196o's hit "Stand by me".

 

After the ceremony, the newlyweds are expected to greet some of the 1,200 members of the public specially invited into the grounds of the castle before setting off on a carriage procession through Windsor.

 

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.

 

His easy-going manner with the public is reminiscent of Diana, and he has picked up her campaigning baton with work on the welfare of military veterans, helping those with AIDS, and mental health issues.

 

WILD CHILD TURNED POPULAR PRINCE

 

He met Markle on a blind date in July 2016 set up through a mutual friend. Harry said he had never heard of his future wife or watched her TV series, and she said she knew nothing of the prince.

 

But after just two dates, he whisked her off to Botswana for a holiday, camping under the stars.

 

"The fact that I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly was confirmation to me that all the stars were aligned, everything was just perfect," Harry said when their engagement was announced last November.

 

Harry's gilded upbringing is in stark contrast with Markle's. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and her parents divorced when she was six.

 

After a number of minor roles in films and on TV, she won the role as Rachel Zane in "Suits". She ran a successful lifestyle blog, thetig.com, and has worked as a humanitarian campaigner. In 2011, she married film producer Trevor Engelson but they divorced in 2013.

 

The intense spotlight on her father this week was indicative of the limelight she now faces.

 

Harry, who has long had a testy relationship with the media, issued a public rebuke to journalists when they were dating, accusing some of sexism and racism. His mother's limousine was being chased by paparazzi just before her fatal crash.

 

Over the last 20 years since Diana's death, the royals have enjoyed much better media coverage with a sophisticated PR operation helping to turn round the perception of a hopelessly out-of-touch institution where the tribulations of the queen's children were played out in national newspapers.

 

Elizabeth famously described 1992 as an "annus horribilis" (horrible year) after three of her four children’s marriages failed, including Charles' marriage to Diana, and part of Windsor Castle was badly damaged by fire.

 

The British remain broadly supportive of the monarchy albeit with a sense of mild irony about the pomp and pageantry that accompanies it, though many have deep respect for Elizabeth, after her 66 years of service.

 

Harry, along with brother William and his wife Kate, are at the forefront of an effort to modernize the monarchy by talking openly about their innermost feelings.

 

"It is just a maxim it is patently obvious the more you say, the more you can be examined," royal historian Hugo Vickers said. "Everything moves on gradually but there are certain risks and there is a lot to be said for maintaining the mystique."

 

 
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-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-05-19

 

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Basil B Ruby Member

Basil B

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1 hour ago, rooster59 said:

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.

rumoured to have spent his last night as a bachelor playing billiards...

 

with friends from Vagus.

 

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petermik Platinum Member

petermik

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7 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

I like to think of myself as a UK Brit with a soft spot for the Royals, but 24 hours solid TV of it ? and worse of all - the Thai TV stations are streaming it. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

 

 

The "off" button not working then   :whistling:

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sirineou Star Member

sirineou

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wake up this morning in the US and turned the news on to see that's happening in the world. All news networks all royal wedding all the time. Royal pain in the arse if you ask me.

WHO CARES?  I am happy for them, and all of you who care, now leavr me alone.

Now give me my news .Grrrrrrrrrrrr

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Basil B Ruby Member

Basil B

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Posted (edited)
55 minutes ago, RichardColeman said:

I like to think of myself as a UK Brit with a soft spot for the Royals, but 24 hours solid TV of it ? and worse of all - the Thai TV stations are streaming it. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

 

 

It's over...

 

Now the bloody football. :shock1: Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Edited by Basil B
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thaibeachlovers Star Member

thaibeachlovers

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Some people were interviewed that had slept there for days to get a good position, so they could see the couple in a carriage for about 30 seconds. All us that watched on tv had a better look, and got to see inside the chapel during the ceremony.

Well, good luck to them, as they had good weather for it, but I preferred it from the comfort of my room with toilet facilities.

The wedding dress apparently cost a few thousand quid, but didn't exactly wow me.

The female commentators, as expected, oohed and ahhed over it though.

The couple had a lovely day for it, and nobody stuffed it up, so a good omen, but of course time will tell. At least Phil won't be sticking his beak in and ruining it for her like he did with Andy's wife.

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roo860 Diamond Member

roo860

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wake up this morning in the US and turned the news on to see that's happening in the world. All news networks all royal wedding all the time. Royal pain in the arse if you ask me.
WHO CARES?  I am happy for them, and all of you who care, now leavr me alone.
Now give me my news .Grrrrrrrrrrrr

Not asking you.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

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AlexRich Gold Member

AlexRich

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6 hours ago, CharlesSwann said:

Good to see the royals keeping up the pageant. That's what they're for.

 

Far too much religious twaddle in the ceremony though.

 

The American preacher was too much for me ... I thought he might just give out telephone numbers you can call to give donations ... in the name of the Lord, of course. No place in a UK Royal wedding.

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Enoon Gold Member

Enoon

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2 hours ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

Does she have to show a council tax bill and answer secret questions about the Biometric Residence Card before sitting the Life in the UK test?

 

 

There have been many articles in the UK press detailing that she will be going through the same process as anyone else and that she will have to live in the UK for 3 years before taking the test.

 

As that process and test will never be part my (or anyone elses' that I know) life, I don't know what the references to council tax and biometrics mean.

 

Neither do I want to know.

 

 

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Enoon Gold Member

Enoon

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8 minutes ago, ChiangMaiLightning2143 said:

Proof of a address and insulting trick questions used by Jobsworth to refuse 

admission to the testing centre. So the applicant must pay again and come back.


As I said.....that will never be my problem.

 

Goodbye.

 

 

 

 

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thaibeachlovers Star Member

thaibeachlovers

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8 hours ago, fanjita said:

I'll give their marriage five years tops.  Harry seems desperate and insecure.  Not sure what's going on in his head but he's sure as hell spending my money on his whim.

Maybe he was given the hard word to get married, and she was the girlfriend of the moment.

I also give them 5 years, which I said a while back. She's too independent to put up with all the royal protocol for long, IMO, and I can't see him renouncing the lifestyle to become a commoner, even for her.

I'm reminded too much of a previous marriage that started off well, when Paul McCartney wed his new love, only to find he'd married the "wrong" woman, to his everlasting sorrow.

 

I'm just watching Harry and her driving off in an E type Jag for their "honeymoon", a somewhat sad reminder that once upon a time Britain actually made some great things. Now though, it seems the only things the Brits do well is pageantry from the Victorian era.

 

However, whatever the future, as a public display of upper class society it can't be faulted. Everything went perfectly, and all the "friends" had a great knees up afterwards.

Soooo, as long as it was a spectacular event, she looked nice in the dress for all the ladies watching, and they had a "kiss" for all the papers to put on the front page, what could possibly go wrong?

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