Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s marriage certificate contradicts the Duchess of Sussex’s claim that they secretly married in their backyard days before their lavish public exchange of vows, according to a report.
During her bombastic TV interview with Oprah Winfrey, Markle said that she and Harry had been married three days before their highly publicized ceremony in 2018.
But the document that The Sun obtained from the Office of the General Registry confirms that the nuptials took place on May 19 of that year at Windsor Castle.
The news agency also reported that the official who drafted the license for the couple’s marriage rejected Markle’s claim.
“I’m sorry, but Meghan is obviously confused and clearly misinformed. They didn’t get married three days earlier in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury, ”Stephen Borton, former chief secretary of the College Office, told The Sun.
“What I suspect they did was exchange some simple vows that they may have written themselves, which are in vogue, and they said that in front of the archbishop – or, more likely, it was a simple essay,” added Borton.
During the conversation with Oprah, Markle said: “You know, three days before our wedding, we got married. Nobody knows that. The vows we make in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury. “
She said that she and Harry called the Archbishop, Reverend Justin Welby, and asked him to marry them privately at his home in Nottingham Cottage.
“Just the three of us,” the prince joined the conversation.
Borton poured cold water on his claim.
“They could not have been married on the Nottingham Cottage property, as it is not an authorized location and there were not enough witnesses present. You cannot marry just three people. It is not a valid ceremony, ”he told The Sun.
“Any certificate she may have from her vows on the wall is not an official certificate of marriage,” he continued. “The wedding was held in the Capela de São Jorge under the conditions stipulated by the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, which was recently changed.
“In order for them to get married, a special license was drawn up and Her Majesty’s Queen’s text authorizing the wedding and the official location was registered.”
The document’s witnesses are registered as Prince Charles and Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, according to the report.
Sun said it paid the fee of £ 42 (about $ 58) for the certificate, which lists Harry as “single”, his occupation as “Prince of the United Kingdom” and Markle as “divorced” and an “actor”.
A spokesman for the archbishop said he would not comment on The Sun about personal or pastoral matters.