Ever since Meghan Markle dropped the bombshell that she and Prince Harry called up the Archbishop of Canterbury and tied the knot in secret before the royal wedding, fans and critics of the couple have questioned the factual accuracy of her statement.
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In the explosive Oprah with Meghan and Harry, the Duchess of Sussex revealed to talk show queen Oprah Winfrey that three days before the 2018 royal wedding that was broadcast to millions around the world, she and Harry “got married.”
“No one knows that but we called the Archbishop and we just said ‘This thing, this spectacle is for the world, but we want our union between us.’
“The vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury.”
After critics claimed that there was no way Harry and Meghan could have married in these circumstances, the couple admitted that they did not officially wed in secret but exchanged “personal vows…before their official wedding”.
Now, in an interview with Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper, Justin Welby has confirmed that Harry and Meghan did not legally marry before the ceremony that he conducted at Windsor’s St George’s Chapel.
“If any of you ever talk to a priest, you expect them to keep that talk confidential. It doesn’t matter who I’m talking to,” he told the publication.
The Archbishop of Canterbury explained that he had “a number of private and pastoral meetings” with Harry and Meghan before the wedding and confirmed that their legal wedding was on Saturday 19th May 2018.
“I signed the wedding certificate, which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offence if I signed it knowing it was false. So you can make what you like about it. But the legal wedding was on the Saturday. But I won’t say what happened at any other meetings.”
Shortly after the interview aired, critics slammed Meghan for her secret wedding claims.
Stephen Borton, the former chief clerk at the Faculty Office, told The Sun, “I’m sorry but Meghan is obviously confused and clearly misinformed.
“They did not marry three days earlier in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
“The Special Licence I helped draw up enabled them to marry at St George’s Chapel in Windsor and what happened there on 19 May 2018 and was seen by millions around the world was the official wedding as recognised by the Church of England and the law.”
The Special Licence is a document drawn up with wording from the Queen that authorises the wedding, and the official venue is included inside.
In the interview with Oprah, Meghan also recounted that she had an “out-of-body” experience ahead of the royal wedding day.
“That’s the only way I can describe it because the night before I slept through the night entirely, which in and of itself is a bit of a miracle,” the Duchess of Sussex recounted.
“And then [I] woke up and started listening to that song Going to the Chapel. And I just tried to make it fun and light and remind ourselves that this was our day — but I think we were both really aware, even in advance of that just, this wasn’t our day. This was the day that was planned for the world.”
