Life
These 7 Tributes To Princess Diana At Prince Harry & Meghan Markle's Wedding Are So Moving
No one following the royal wedding can forget that Prince Harry lost his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, when he was only a child. At his wedding to Meghan Markle, Prince Harry made it absolutely clear that he had also not forgotten his beloved mother. There were numerous tributes to Princess Diana at Meghan and Harry's wedding, according to Vanity Fair, and all of them were meaningful in their own particular ways.
A wedding, after all, is one of the more symbolic life events. Almost everything involved can take on an additional meaning — the white wedding dress to symbolize purity, the language of flowers, the history behind a bridal veil. Beyond the traditional symbols, though, brides and grooms can personalize their wedding to pay tribute to loved ones and their lives together — and that's exactly what Harry and Meghan have done.
In their engagement interview, Harry said that he thought that Meghan and his mother would have been "thick as thieves."
“It is days like today when I really miss having her around and miss being able to share the happy news," Harry said during the interview. "But ... I’m sure she’s with us, jumping up and down somewhere else.”
Princess Diana was definitely a part of their engagement, and they made sure to also include her at their wedding. Here are all the ways that they managed to do that.
1Meghan's Bouquet
Markle wasn't just carrying any flowers — according to People, Harry handpicked her bouquet from the gardens at their home of Kensington Palace. Included in the bouquet was one of what People said was one of Diana's absolute favorites: forget-me-nots. The palace also told People that Harry had purposefully included his mother's favorite in his bride's bouquet.
2The Flower Display
Meghan's bouquet wasn't the only place where the couple used flowers to tell a story. According to People, the impressive flower display set up at St. George's Cathedral also included a tribute to Princess Di. Some of the display's stand out flowers were white garden roses, another of Diana's favorites. People explained that she loved them enough for the tribute garden planted on the 20th anniversary of her death at Kensington Garden included white garden roses in a prominent position. According to People, Harry and Meghan worked with their florist to make sure that they'd be just as prominent at the wedding.
3The Reading
One of the toughest decisions at any wedding can be who to honor with readings during the ceremony — and Harry and Meghan decided to honor his mother's family with the only reading at their wedding. According to the Express, Harry and Meghan asked Lady Jane Fellowes, Princess Diana's sister, to give a reading during their Saturday wedding.
“Prince Harry and Ms. Markle both feel honoured that Lady Jane will be representing her family and helping to celebrate the memory of the late Princess on the wedding day,” Kensington Palace said in a statement, as reported by the Express. Vanity Fair added that Lady Jane Fellowes' acceptance of the very public reading, which came from the Song of Solomon, was also noteworthy because of her pronounced tendency to stay out of the media spotlight.
4Meghan's Ring
Harry involved his mother in his romance from the moment that he decided to propose to Meghan, by designing an engagement ring that included two stones from Diana's personal collection. The large stone in the middle is from Botswana, an important place for the couple; the two on either side of it are from a brooch of Diana's.
5The Hymn
According to Vanity Fair, Harry and Meghan also used the music at their wedding to pay tribute to the late princess. They included the hymn “Guide Me, O Thy Great Redeemer,” which was one of the hymns played at Diana's 1997 funeral.
6The Invitees
The couple also made sure to include some people very important to Princess Diana. Besides the perhaps obvious step of inviting all of Diana's siblings — Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes, and Earl Charles Spencer — Harry and Meghan also invited Princess Di's close friend Elton John. John brought the world to tears at the princess' funeral with his rendition of "Candle in the Wind," and he's become close with Harry as the prince has grown older.
“Prince Harry has that rare ability to walk into a room full of strangers and make everyone feel comfortable and at ease,” John wrote in Time earlier in 2018. “As he has grown in maturity, I have watched him take on these causes with the remarkable skill to see and communicate how it truly feels for the people he is trying to help.”
7Meghan's Train
Brides have a lot of choices these days when it comes to the length of the train on their wedding gowns, but CNN noted that the length of Meghan's train was likely also a tribute to her late mother-in-law. Much of Meghan's train was actually made up of the mostly transparent veil, whereas Diana's was part of her dress. The lengths were approximately the same, though, so Meghan would have walked down the aisle in Princess Diana's image.
Harry and Meghan's dedication to Princess Diana's legacy certainly won't stop with the wedding, as they are both, like the late princess, highly committed to their charitable causes. However, a wedding is an important moment — and they were sure to include this beloved woman in their celebration in many touching ways.
