A Tale of Two Weddings

First Things, 16 March 2021

The wedding(s) of Meghan and Harry cause confusion on at least three important points.

Royal weddings can be solemn or superficial, yet remain in either case of utmost importance. They are the most watched weddings in the world. They both reveal and shape popular wedding culture.

That’s why ten years ago the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Will and Kate, was so encouraging. The wedding dress was a fine example of elegant modesty fitting for the Lord’s house, and the homily of Richard Chartres, Anglican bishop of London, was elegant, erudite, and evangelical.

“Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire,” Bishop Chartres began. “So said St. Catherine of Siena, whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be: their deepest and truest selves.”

The wedding(s) of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex was (were) another story. In their recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, Harry and Meghan disclosed that “three days before our wedding, we got married; no one knows that.”

“We called the archbishop and we just said, ‘Look, this thing, this spectacle is for the world but we want our union between us,’” Meghan explained. “So, the vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our back yard with the archbishop of Canterbury.”

“It was just the three of us,” added Harry.

That must have been acutely embarrassing for Archbishop Justin Welby. The interview revealed that he had indulged the entitlement complex of Harry and Meghan, popping around for a private wedding in violation of Church of England rules. And then presided over a pretend “second” wedding for the whole world to watch.

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