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‘I won't say...’: Archbishop of Canterbury on Meghan’s claim of ‘secret’ wedding with Prince Harry
The Duchess of Sussex had claimed that she had a secret marriage ceremony with Prince Harry in their “backyard”, officiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has dismissed the claims made by the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, that she got married three days before her grand royal wedding, according to an Italian newspaper la Repubblica. During a tell-all interview with iconic talk show host Oprah Winfrey, Meghan and her husband, Prince Harry, made explosive revelations, including the claim that the couple had a secret marriage ceremony in their “backyard”, officiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.
"You know, three days before our wedding, we got married," said Meghan. "No one knows that. The vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury," she added.
Harry and Meghan publicly shared their vows during the grand marriage ceremony in Windsor on Saturday, May 19, 2018, before becoming the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Welby, who led the couple in their public vows, told la Repubblica that the “legal wedding” took place on Saturday, backing the officially documented wedding.
“I signed the wedding certificate, which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offence if I had signed it knowing it was false," the archbishop was quoted by the newspaper as saying.
However, Welby admitted that he had a number of “informal” meetings with the couple ahead of the wedding, adding that he won’t say “what happened at any other meetings”. Both Harry and Meghan had said it was “just the three of us” when they shared the personal vows.
"So, you can make what you like of that. But the legal wedding was on the Saturday, but I won't say what happened at any earlier meetings," the archbishop added.
The most damaging allegation by the couple involved an unnamed member of the royal family who raised concerns about the potential skin colour of their son before he was born. Meghan told Oprah that the British royal family refused to make her son Archie a prince partly due to conversations about how dark his skin might be. Harry later clarified that Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip were never part of those conversations.
“Neither his grandmother nor grandfather were part of those conversations. He did not tell me who were part of those conversations, as you can see I tried get that answer," Oprah said on a follow-up with CBS.
