Here are some photos of Prince Harry visiting the Field of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey. This is the 90th anniversary of the Field of Remembrance, and as you can see, Harry wore his beautiful dress uniform for the occasion. His lovely wife did not join him at this event, but Meghan is supposed to join Harry at a concert this weekend. Seeing Harry in his dress uniform reminds me of his wedding, which brings me to this story – Harry was interviewed for a documentary about Prince Charles – in honor of Charles’ 70th birthday – and Harry talked about how he and Meghan asked Charles to walk her down the aisle:
Prince Harry is opening up about the poignant moment he asked his dad to walk Meghan Markle down the aisle at their royal wedding in May. Harry, 34, approached Prince Charles, who celebrates his 70th birthday next week, to step in after Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, was unable to come to the Windsor Castle nuptials.
In the documentary, Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70, which airs on BBC One on Thursday, Harry says: “I asked him to and I think he knew it was coming and he immediately said, ‘Yes, of course, I’ll do whatever Meghan needs and I’m here to support you.’ For him that’s a fantastic opportunity to step up and be that support, and you know he’s our father so of course he’s gonna be there for us.”
Charles’ wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, couldn’t see what was said between son and his father at the altar, but says she watched it later on TV. “I think that was very touching, sitting where I was, you couldn’t hear what he said. But afterwards watching it on the television, I… I think it was a very… it was a lovely gesture,” she says.
Of the emotional moment, Harry adds: “You’ve gotta say thank you. Just because he’s my father that doesn’t mean I can just sort of go, ‘Okay, that’s all, I’ll take it from here.’ ” Then he quips, “Err, no, that is what I wanted to say but erm…and I was very grateful for him to be able to do that.”
As for the moment when Charles took Meghan’s mom, Doria Ragland, by the arm to head into a private room to sign the marriage register, Camilla says: “A lot of people, seeing my husband actually take the bride’s mother by the hand to sign the registry, it’s something that moved everybody. It’s the things he does behind the scenes that people don’t know about. I don’t think people realize quite how kind he is.”
As I said during the wedding and I’m still saying it: Charles behaved brilliantly at the Sussex wedding. He was an ocean of calm and grace during what was an incredibly fraught and dramatic week. If you remember, the whole reason Charles was asked to walk Meg down the aisle was because Thomas Markle faked a heart attack and wouldn’t speak to his daughter and instead kept giving melodramatic interviews to TMZ. It was a mess. Charles stepped in and behaved impeccably to both Meghan and Doria. Of course, there’s a performative aspect to it – Charles knew that he would look like the calm, steady king-to-be who saved the day. But still, he showed a lot of grace and I’m sure his steadiness did a lot to help Harry and Meghan.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I like that People has moved away from saying Thomas Markle had a heart attack/heart surgery and said instead he couldn’t attend. He didn’t have a serious cardiac event; he was trying to throw a man-tantrum in the middle of his “baby girl’s” wedding celebrations. Let’s stop making thin excuses for that.
As to Charles, he seems very warm towards Meghan, and he has always wanted a daughter. I imagine the perfomative aspect of walking Meghan down the aisle was far from the top of the list of reasons he agreed to do it.
That was one of the sweetest moments at the wedding.
It really was. I lost it when Harry called Charles “Pa”.
Camilla says: “A lot of people, seeing my husband actually take the bride’s mother by the hand to sign the registry, it’s something that moved everybody. It’s the things he does behind the scenes that people don’t know about. I don’t think people realize quite how kind he is.”
I wish she didn’t say that. It sounds superficial
I think when he’s received such harsh criticism over the years, it’s only natural to be defensive of him and want to point out (especially in a PR piece like this birthday retrospective) all the positives.
I agree. And I don’t think it was meant as a braggy kind of thing, or done as a ‘quick – look at this good thing he did!’ sort of way. I think she is aware that he’s a reserved individual, but that outside of the public sphere he is a lot more invested in his family being happy than people realize. To me it came off as more Camilla being proud of him, but understanding that most people don’t see the kinds of things he does behind the scenes.
Yea I strongly agree….it’s just lovely.
And really….the Charles I’ve grown up alongside in England (so to speak) isn’t a stuffy old thing at all, behind the carapace of service he grew up with. He’s a natural giggler for one thing…..any fan of The Goons is an OK gentleman by me He and Camz surely share a deep sense of the absurd and silly, and that’s a great bond. It generally bespeaks easily given affection too, in the right circumstances.
Such circumstances appear to be all around now, and it’s wonderful to see. (I still remember the poor boy away at ghastly Gordonstoun school, starved of real human contact) I’m terribly partisan…..a fierce Charles gal, me! 🔱
Aurelia let’s remember it was Saville (not Charles) who was the abomination…..not everyone who encountered him knew about the ongoing crimes. Indubitably there were those in high places who turned a blind eye to the surface of things, but from all I’ve scratched to find out, I do exonerate Charles from any whiff of complicity
(But what a scar across the face of society, indeed)
Awwwww I thought it was kinda sweet. By his nature he’s just so stuffy but I believe he has an underlying kindness that perhaps wasn’t always there in his youth.
If you take the Charles part (so far at least) of The Queen as fact, the underlying kindness was there, Phillip did his best to smush it out of him, and now it has come back later in life.
Check back with me after seasons 3 and 4 to see if I still feel that way, LOL.
I thought it sounded fine.
Charles also always wanted a daughter, so he was surely happy to have the honor 😉
I fully believe that in a lot of ways both Charles and the boys’ upbringing involved a lot of emotional repression. My grandfather was raised in this way as well – his mother was from Scotland, and she was not an incredibly nice woman. But she had that same kind of ‘don’t make a show’ kind of approach to emotional responses that you see kind of joked about when it comes to Brits and stereotypes. The whole stiff upper lip, keep calm and carry on, reserved kind of attitude. His father was a WWI vet. He was a WWII vet. They were very much the kind of people that really cared about how you conducted yourself in front of others – and I would probably go as far as to say that my grandfathers upbringing was negligent in many ways. He’d be left as a child (around 6 or 10 years old) in NS while his mother took off to Virginia to visit relatives(with the favorite child in tow), and my great grandfather would often leave him unattended during this time.
Despite that kind of upbringing – my grandfather was one of the most kind, generous, and loving people I’ve ever met – however I didn’t realize the extent until I was much older. We’d rarely hug (I’m sure he never had many as a child either), he’d shake the grandkids hands or teach us to salute. But when we ignored that and hugged him anyway you could see him just well up with pride. He noticed that I wasn’t smiling in photos when I was about 13. He asked why and my dad told him he thought I was self conscious about the gap in my teeth. He grabbed his check book then and there and told him to go get me braces if that’s what I wanted because it upset him to think that I was unhappy. He wasn’t the kind of open person who made big displays of affection like a lot of grandfathers do – but he was always a calming, concerned, loving presence in my life. Only in the last 5 years or so have I understood how awful a lot of his childhood was – and how many friends he lost in his airforce career.
And I think – in a lot of ways – that’s what Charles is like. I think that he’s very much the reserved, uptight, emotionally repressed kind of person because that’s how he was raised. But I think he also cares very deeply about his children and grandchildren, and is missing some of the skill set on how to appropriately display that because it’s not something HE had as a kid. But when it comes down to it – I think he has an extreme sense of duty – not just in the monarchy but to his family. And despite not being a super warm, showy, emotionally available person I think he does make sure to be ‘there’ when needed. I know a lot of people wanted Doria to walk Meghan – but I found it incredibly touching that Charles did it. I think that while he has plenty of his own issues that at the end of the day he cares about his loved ones and will try to step up the best he can when it comes to things like this. I think, likely, it was a no-brainer for him to step in and make sure Meghan didn’t feel like she was missing out on something important to her – while making sure to let her know that he would be available as a parental figure to the best of his ability.
Thanks Erinn. I’m tearing up here. Your Grampa sounds a lot like my darling Dad. By nature he’s very stoic and isn’t really into hugs or compliments but then he never received much warmth or guidance growing up. He was always self-sufficient and even jokes that he might have been raised by wolves because he doesn’t remember receiving any affection from his parents. But he’s just a big softy underneath and I’ve even caught him tearing up a little when we talk about what he missed growing up. I think that’s why he gravitated towards my Mum because she the opposite- a very warm, huggy person who loves to take care of all of us. To get back topic, Charles sounds a lot like my Dad . He too suffered a cold, emotionless childhood but may have found his perfect match in Camilla, who seems much warmer and down-to-earth than his parents ever were. And I think now he’s finally getting closer to the kind of family life he missed. Lucky for Meghan and her Mum that they can benefit from this “new” Charles.
I think upbringing can be a cultural thing too. I don’t hug my French grandparents. They are always so happy to see me and very warm people but it can be 3-4 years and they will just greet me like they saw me yesterday lol. My American grandparents were a different story–my American grandfather always wanted to be hugged and kissed when we would see him and we saw him all the time growing up since they lived in the same town. I actually found this annoying. Looking back maybe I was just being a teenage brat but I didn’t enjoy the obligation of having to hug him every single time I saw him (which could be multiple times a week). And it shows in my parents too–my mom (American) is all about hugging (I don’t mind hugging her) and my dad (French) physically cringes whenever we hug him hahaha.
Also in general the French tend to be more reserved and not as effusive as Americans. My dad sent me this great article called “Why the French don’t show excitement” and it points out there is no literal way to say “I’m excited” in French. Americans use excited all the time–you’re excited for the weekend, you’re excited about what you’re eating for dinner, you’re excited to start a new job etc. You can say “Je suis excité” in French but it typically means you are physically aroused so it is bet to avoid saying it.
Erinn-I’m having a good cry at my laptop over your grandfather. He sounds lovely. My father had a very difficult-often abusive-childhood as well, and he is incredibly kind and loving despite that upbringing. People break cycles all the time and it should be celebrated. Thanks for sharing your story!
My dad is the same. It took me a while to accept this nature as such, instead of wishing for something different. He grew up in a very emotionally unstable household, his mother was never warm, and he was never able to express his emotions or affections towards us other than always being there and being supportive. In a way we, his children, try to be as affectionate as possible.
Darn pregnancy hormones! The way you speak about your grandfather is very touching.
I agree in the royal family raising their children to put the Monarchy first and think of how their behavior will be perceived by others. Sadly children raised this way are taught their feelings do not matter. There was no greater illustration of this than Harry being made to walk behind his mother’s casket as a child. As a parent I cannot imagine forcing a child to do that and how emotionally upsetting that would be.
Lovely stuff Erinn, well said indeed.
Warm hearts don’t necessarily wither and die if they aren’t nurtured in youth. They can and do carry on, in spite of enormous obstacles and restrictions. As we see with Chazza, and in your family story Xc
I feel exactly th same…he was a sensitive boy who his father tried to ‘toughen up’ It’s well known his time at gordonstoun was miserable – he has a great sense of duty like her majesty but I think he Is a warm compassionate person where his family is concerned. I watched th documentary and was glad to see obvious warmth from Harry especially and William when talking about him. And I had heard he was charming but I didn’t know he was as funny as he is. His work with th Princes trust and at Dumfries house has been exceptional.
Awww, I have the onions in my eyes. 🙂
Oh please, Charles was delighted to do this, it was absolutely fantastic publicity for him! Im sure he was happy to help Meghan and Harry, but he is so thirsty Id say he was dying to be asked.
Im curious as to whether Meghan asked her mum, but maybe she didnt want the pressure? I know if it was me in the same situation it would be mum all the way, or I would have walked it alone.
Yeah, I call shenanigans. Someone in the press office came up with the idea, and it seemed like a good solution when presented to Charles.
It’s not all just a heartfelt gesture, although I think Meghan is well liked within the family, it’s simple good PR.
As a Brit, and therefore contributing to the funding of these unelected spongers, I have to say that this website truly is the absolute pits when it comes how it reports on each of the royals. The problem extends to all of the royals you write about, but the pro Meghan bias is absolutely sycophantic at this point, and you don’t seem to have grasped that she is largely loathed by the British public and comes across as totally inauthentic to the majority. It has absolutely nothing to do with race or nationality, it’s to do with her out of control sense of entitlement coupled with everything she does being so performative and insincere, and that’s before we get into her background in social climbing.
The bit where you say she is largely loathes. I detest this – and I’m saying this as a fellow Brit. I recently was in a discussion with a big group of women and the general theme was how much they adore Meghan and are such a fan. I also came across a Quora thread recently and once again the commenters were saying how much they like Meghan. Lastly, you only need to do a Twitter search on Meghan to realise how much people like her.
It’s clear from my statement that I am anti monarchy on the whole, I would welcome a republic just as soon as the Queen passes. However the pro Meghan bias on this website is pretty maddening, at least, for me.
If you search on Twitter/The Internet you’ll find lots of negative comments too, by and large one can find anything to support their own argument online, and all I’ve taken away from your comments about your group of female friends, is that they must be very different to mine, as everyone I speak to shares a similar opinion. I stand by my comments, based on my experience of discussing her. You are welcome to ‘detest’ them, and welcome to your own.
Totally agree! As a fellow Brit I’m quite fond of Meghan and think she is doing great so far as does most of my circle of friends. The only place I know Meghan is loathed is that awful rag DM.
The actual latest polling (Ipsos Mori) shows that people in the UK are less familiar with Meghan than the other royals, understandably, but she has an overall 10% unfavourable rating. This is slightly more than Harry, William and Kate, who are at 8-9%, but she has fewer unfavourables than Camilla, Charles and even the Queen. People in the UK don’t know much about Meghan, but they don’t dislike her.
how are you going to decide that the majority of the British don’t like meghan it has nothing to do with her race just because you’re dislike of her has nothing to do with race. How exactly is meghan a social climber I didn’t know become a actress is a grand scheme to get to the six in line prince when by all accounts his type were blonde white woman. Again I don’t why some of you meghan haters get so upset that people like her and that this site is positive towards her if you have such a problem with it go to the daily mail were you guys can basket in the vile racist disgust like mind people who hate meghan as much as you do.
@Vanessa, totally this. I really don’t know why people make a point of clicking on these Meghan stories just to complain about people liking her and to spill their hate. It’s beyond a joke.
You’ve become an expert on the Duchess in one year have ya?! Oh the cloaked racism in this post. And the jealousy and envy. You poor soul, it must really suck to live in your skin.
Thank you, Tania. The OP’s comment is nothing but biased bullsh*t and personal misery.
“pro Meghan bias” — You do realize that this is an American gossip site and that Meghan is American, right? So…naturally, we are going to be excited and pro-Meghan.
It’s easy not to visit this site or even click on articles about the BRF. . . and there are plenty of other places you can visit to spew your bitterness.
Sorry, whenever I hear someone try to innoculate their criticisms of Meghan with “it has nothing to do with her race…” then proceed to say things about Meghan that apply to every other member of the royal family but are only said about Meghan, we know it’s all about race!
Yeah? And she said she couldn’t stand the entire BRF for the same things, and not giving Meghan a pass, either. It was not by any means an attack on Meghan alone. Seems to me that as long as you are against them all, not just Meghan, it is quite possible to say it’s not about the race.
Finally! I can’t believe how many people fawn all over her. And have said the exact same thing about Kate, but that’s only true because they say so. Meghan does come off disingenuous and everything seems over exaggerated with her. The constant clutching and stroking of Harry’s arms makes me sick.
Hear, hear.
I’m not a touchy feely person myself but if a couple like Harry and Meghan want to show affection toward each other by holding hands etc then it’s their business, if it makes you sick then don’t look or click on stories concerning them, there, diagnosis over!
@Aurelia why are you so bothered about this? I’m pretty sure no one held a gun to your head and made you watch/read about Meghan on tour. So what if people are mad for her and get up early in the morning to see her, that is THEIR business and not yours.
My God, chill out ffs before your burst a blood vessel!!!
As a Brit you don’t speak for me either or the people i know. The people i know aren’t monarchists so don’t have positive things to say about any of them. No one really has much of an opinion of Meghan yet, and because of this Meghan is probably the least disliked of the lot of them.
Your opinion is yours but don’t speak for the majority of the country.
Oh please, any woman save the british aristocrats and their gotha cousins would be accused of social climbing. I loathe that, to use your words. That claims is present eve in small towns in the mountain.
A personal story: My father was a white handsome divorced man who married his second wife, my mom, a career woman of humble mestizo background (native-spanish). I can hear my parent’s sisters and in laws in your words:how dare she! to marry him! la india!!, like my dad was a prince! , it turned out my mom was the queen, as my dad had a lot of issues, all coming from his upbringing, as other have said, the old way he was raised damaged him, and it damaged the way he tried to raise his older children. I love him a lot, but I pity that wounded child’s soul.
I can’t believe people have time in their hearts to be so petty. I dislike some things about some other royals who have been hands-on awful, but I have fun reading gossip and go back to life. Meghan, really , Ginger prince deserves to be happy, and he chose an intelligent woman. Good for him.
Nothing to do with her race or nationality yet you bring up her race and nationality. So, I guess the comments I read on DM about her mom being ghetto and whether she will name the baby LaQuesha aren’t about her race and nationality either? Hmm…. interesting.
I think I’d pay $50 bucks just to hear every member of the BRF say the name LaQuesha. Perfect name for Polo Baby (because of course, ALL black people , which includes the biracials too, are named Laquesha! ) The L in Lanne stands for Laquesha, naturally. Those DM commentators are quite prescient! They cracked the Black Code!
Yes, it’s always telling when someone goes out of their way to scream about race not being involved in their dislike of someone. If that were truly the case, you wouldn’t need to mention it in the first place 😒
Often when Meghan is criticized it is assumed the critique is coming from a place of racial or nationalistic bias. Bear – you judge Meghan to be insincere, inauthentic and entitled and say it is not coming from those particular biases. Ok then. I think that it is possible to dislike someone for reasons other than that. You do not buy that she is a good person and believe that she is undeserving of the admiration and praise given by many on Celebitchy. Fair enough.
What struck me is that you find the praise of Meghan “maddening” because that sounds aggressively angry and kind of irrational to me. We have opinions that people don’t share – c’est la vie. Perhaps those who admire her will be proven mistaken in time but for now life is too short to be maddened by people liking her. Just my opinion.
Social climbing is only ok for white women, I guess.
Exactly. Racist much?
Exactly. Racist much?
Well I’m not a brit, I’m Irish, but as I live in N Ireland I’m a Uk taxpayer, and I find the Meghan love here a bit baffling too. I think she is slightly disenguous (ie the interview on the friend who set them up, ‘i just asked is he nice’, oh come on!!!) but I understand its an American site.
I dont think the British public loath her in the slightest though (the daily mail commenting site is made up of racist trolls), I just think we are all completely ambivalent/negative to the Royals in general. Old people love them of course, but mainly as old British people are driven by nostalgia (hello, brexit etc).
The Royal family to me are like posh reality tv stars, their only value is in mild entertainment (checking out the dodgy fashion etc). I would dearly love a referendum so we could opt out of paying for them, the Queen just got her yearly budget increased by millions… at a time when our police service and NHS are at breaking point due to government underfunding. Its a disgrace.
The whole Meghan is a breath of fresh air… she is a nice woman but no, there is no such thing as a breath of fresh air when it comes to constitutional monarchy, it is what it is, and what it is is a giant waste of taxpayer funds.
This is so reminiscent of the Tea Party folks. They claimed to not care about Obama’s race because their protests were only about government spending but somehow the protests only started when he was in office and not when Bush was spending money on the military like wildfire.
This is the same. Suddenly it’s just being anti monarchy but no complaints made when Kate married into the family and still doesn’t really work that much but spends a ton on jewels and dresses. There are maybe two or three posters on CB who have been consistent about monarchy and spending over the years and can actually take that position. All these new posters suddenly concerned about spending once Meghan starts dating Harry is very transparent.
I think Charles walking her up was a lovely gesture – and yes, my opinion of Charles (relatively neutral before) did change after the wedding, because he did come across as surprisingly warm, welcoming of Doria, etc. Maybe it was all just PR, but so many things of the royal family are just PR.
I will also say that I thought highly of William when he told Harry they should stand up when Doria came in.
Never heard this? Well done then, Willy! I don’t have TV so only see the snippets available here and on Utube here and there. Still, I’m surprised – pleased even – that Wills kept his good manners about him whilst his brother was losing his heart, and apparently his manners, during the wedding 🙂
That was William’s idea???? Since he always comes across as being in the centre of his own little universe, I’m truly surprised he would think of suggesting something so kind and respectful. Maybe he’s finally growing up. Or just really media savvy.
Yes, theres a part when he turns to Harry and says something like “we should stand when Doria gets here” or something. To be honest I cant believe that wasn’t planned out beforehand but I guess not.
It’s also possible that I am totally misremembering and making this up, ha, but I think I’ve got it right…
I think William would want to honour the bride’s mother in this way, knowing how important she will be for both Meghan and Harry.
I didn’t notice that during the wedding broadcast so thanks for pointing it out Becks1! I’m glad that William was being supportive and helpful as I imagine Harry could barely remember his own name he was so nervous.
People can say whatever they want about the PR aspect of what Charles did but seeing him light up walking her down the aisle & the way Harry thanked him & looked at him said nothing to me but this man was a proud father & wanted to show his daughter in law how much he loves her & welcomes her & her mother into his family. I believe he was very touched to be asked & proud to have that moment with his children. I also think that maybe Megan wanted the old fashioned tradition of having a father to walk her down the aisle & since she has such a loser as a dad she opted to have her new father walk her instead. I thought the whole thing was beautiful & touching. Say what you will, I’m choosing to see the loving & caring side of this story.
@Elzabeth so well-said. That’s my choice too. Hooray for more love and kindness in the world. Bitterness can’t win the day or bring enduring peace of any kind.
Cheers and amen!
I’m with you Elizabeth. I have no cynicism about this.
Me three. (It’s come to something when the flippin’ Prince of Wales, heir to the throne, and father of the groom, is described as…’thirsty’!! Hee hee. Really. 😏
Ditto. I bet Charles was very touched to be asked and it was the right thing to do. Thomas Markle is a narcissistic loser and seeing Meghan’s FIL step in when he should have, should have forced a bit of self-reflection. Too bad it didn’t happen.
I completely agree with you, Elizabeth. Eloquently put! 🙂
I agree. Some people also forget that Charles had always wanted a daughter, so this opportunity to walk Meghan down the aisle must have been especially touching for him. It’s likely the only time he’ll be able to be in that role at a wedding, so it was nice to see him experience it.
Does @Bear = Samantha or Thomas? My guess is Samantha.
Having made some horrible choices myself in years gone by, I’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Charles and seeing him walking Meghan down the aisle really warmed my heart.
I think that Charles can be charming when he wants to. And he’s very bright. He’s also making up for Diana’s treatment – good for him.
This is a lovely story and it makes Old Man Markle look like a jerk. An act of greed and selfishness almost ruined a beautiful wedding and the future king saved the day. Sam will spool out about it, but whatever. But back to back stories of Charles and Meghan getting along and Doria being welcomed should cause Daddio to flip out.
Her sister must be seething.
This story should be raised again every time someone prints one about the two princes “not getting on with their father”. If he didn’t get on with Charles he wouldn’t have asked him to do this and one of her friends would have stepped in.
Charles’ kindness and graciousness toward Meghan’s mother almost made me forgive him for the abominable way in which he treated Harry’s mother. Almost.
Camilla must have loved this man, because she put up with so much hate and disdain just to be with him. Naturally, she is in love and thinks the world of him but especially she realizes that he is not as bad as he sometimes sounds, so she pointed it out because she felt protective of him.
It’s shocking how terribly the white side of her family has treated her.