The Queen has spoken, folks.
In an official statement issues on Wednesday, Queen Elizabeth II basically looked at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, considered their affection for one another and said the following:
Hey, you kids are alright with me!
Okay, maybe she didn’t use those exact words.
However, as fifth (soon to be sixth, once baby Kate and William arrives!) in line to the throne, Harry must obtain formal permission from his grandmother in order to marry.
So states the Succession to the Crown Act.
And while numerous reports over the past few months have claimed The Queen is totally cool with Markle, this sort of official permission wasn’t granted until the following letter was released by Buckingham Palace.
What’s notable about the letter isn’t just that Elizabeth refers to Harry as her “dearly beloved” grandson, it’s that she uses the given names for both Harry and his fiancee.
“My Lords,” open the statement, which continues in very formal capacity as follows:
I declare My Consent to a Contract of Matrimony between My Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales and Rachel Meghan Markle, which Consent I am causing to be signified under the Great Seal and to be entered in the Books of the Privy Council.
So there we have it!
The wedding may get underway as scheduled!
For those somehow not closely following the lives of this heretofore hard-partying Prince and the former Suits actress, Harry and Markle are set to exchange vows on May 19.
The knot-tying will take place at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
No one expected The Queen to object, of course, but Markle is divorced.
This is very common among Americans, however, but it has been frowned upon over the years by Kesington Palace.
In the past, numerous royal relationships have hit a huge snag when a member of this famous yearned to marry a divorcée.
Princess Margaret, for example, was pressured to break off her romance with Captain Peter Townsend because he had previously been married… while King Edward VIII notoriously abdicated the throne to marry a twice-divorced woman named Wallis Simpson.
Markle is also a U.S. citizen.
She’s also mixed-race, with a white mother and a black father.
None of these facts about the beloved ex-actress ought to matter, of course; all that should be considered are her feelings for Harry and vice versa.
But the Royal Family lives by its own rules in many ways.
This is what has made them a source of interest and fascination for decades.
It’s very nice to see Queen Elizabeth leading the charge in easing up on certain guidelines that have been emphasized in the past when it comes to relationships and marriages.
Seriously, anyone who has chronicled the machinations of these folks for years would be stunned to learn that the monarch is down with her grandson marrying anyone who has posed like THIS in her career:
But times have changed and Markle is universally admired.
She and Harry truly do seem so very in love.
We continue to send them our best and we cannot wait for their wedding day!