Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ignored another major tradition before wedding

11 August 2023 , 10:30

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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ignored another major tradition before wedding

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle ignored a major tradition when it came to their nuptials as not every married guest will be able to bring their spouse as their plus one.

The royal and the US actress sent out invites, crafted by London-based Barnard and Westwood to their May 19 ceremony at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Six hundred people were invited to the day do and the subsequent lunchtime reception.

Then there was a more intimate evening knees-up hosted by King Charles at Frogmore House with a further 200 guests in attendance.

While 600 people may seem like a very long guestlist to some, it's been revealed that the pair only invited one half of some married couples.

Despite it being common courtesy to always invite both members of a married couple, not every couple has received a plus one.

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ITV royal editor Chris Ship said he had seen the invites, writing on Twitter: “Unlike most other weddings, Harry and Meghan are inviting only one half of couples. Seen an invite for a husband but not his wife. Sounds a bit tight, but I’m sure they’d claim space is limited in St George’s Chapel.”

But the couple's move was praised by royal fans who agreed it was already a huge guestlist without adding husbands and wives to the mix. A Twitter user replied: "They only have 600 seats to fit more than 600 very important people they would like to invite why invite the wife/husband you never met? Some are important enough for both to be invited others are not so they (the spouses) are skipped for the next one on the list."

Prince Harry has recently been on a visit to to attend the ISPS Sports Values Summit in Japan and was snapped on his way home to California with his best pal, polo player Nacho Figueras. The pair were spotted at Tokyo Airport before boarding a flight to Singapore, where the pair will take part in a charity polo match tomorrow.

Harry had visited Japan without Meghan or their children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet to attend the ISPS Sports Values Summit. But the duchess was clearly on Harry's mind after he and Nacho playfully tried on sunglasses while "shopping for our wives".

Zoe Shenton