We are back with a post covering some of the news released this morning by Kensington Palace. The biggest headline of the day: 
The Palace announced that Meghan and Harry want “the public to share in the joy and the fun of the day,” so they are inviting more than 2400 members of the public into the grounds of Windsor Castle. The invitees will be able to watch members of the wedding party and guests as they arrive at St. George’s Chapel, and also see Meghan and Harry as they start their carriage ride through Windsor. More from The Telegraph:
Thousands of members of the public are to be invited to watch the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle from inside the walls of Windsor Castle, as the couple invite charity workers, community champions and local school children to share their day.
Here is how that 2400+ number breaks down:
- 1200 people “from all corners of the UK be selected by Lord Lieutenants, include young people who have shown strong leadership and those who have served their communities.”
- 200 people from a range of charities and groups which Harry and Meghan have close ties with, including organizations where Harry serves as Patron.
- 100 pupils from two local schools: The Royal School, Great Park, Windsor and St George’s School. The Guardian explains the Royal School is “a Church of England school for pupils from four to nine years old that was built to educate the children of staff employed by the royal family. St George’s school is an independent prep school, originally founded to educate the choristers of St George’s chapel.”
- 610 Windsor Castle community members, including residents of Windsor Castle and members of the St George’s Chapel community.
- 530 members of the Royal Households and Crown Estate.
Katie Nicholl reports in Vanity Fair that plans for the event are being modeled on those for another royal wedding.
The blueprint for the wedding is said to be Prince Edward’s marriage to Sophie Rhys-Jones (now the Countess of Wessex) Their wedding in 1999 was dubbed “the people’s wedding” after wedding organizers ran a ballot for hundreds of people to be invited into the grounds of the castle.
You can read the entire Kensington Palace news release by clicking here.
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Also, Kensington Palace confirmed today what Camilla Tominey reported more than a month ago: Meghan will attend the annual Commonwealth Service this year. More from our Meg Events page:
- Monday, March 12: Meghan will attend the annual Commonwealth Service at Westminster Abbey. She will join HM, Prince Charles & the Duchess of Cornwall, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, and many other royals for the service. This marks her first official engagement alongside the Queen. The service is at 3:15 pm local time, that is 11:15 am EDT. (This is one of the few weeks during the year where there is only a 4-hour time difference; DST doesn’t begin in the UK until March 25th.) The service will be carried live by the BBC.
The service is the largest interfaith gathering in the UK. More from the Royal Commonwealth Society:
The Service features a mix of testimonies, readings and musical performances from talented artists across the Commonwealth and will reflect the 2018 Commonwealth theme of, Towards a Common Future.
Previous contributors have included Ellie Goulding, Kofi Annan, Sir Richard Branson, and Nobel Peace Prize laureates Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi.
The theme of this year’s service is Toward a Common Future. Below, William, Harry and Kate at the 2016 service.
Here you see HM leaving the 2016 service.
More about this year’s service via the Press Association:
Former One Direction star Liam Payne will also perform during the service on March 12, and a reflection will be delivered by Dr Andrew Bastawrous, an eye surgeon who has turned a smartphone into an examination tool to combat avoidable blindness in developing counties.
Of course, we’ll have full coverage of the event.
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Our final note today is about Paris Fashion Week. Most readers remember the Ralph and Russo gown Meghan wore for one of the official engagement photos.
Yesterday Ralph and Russo showed their Fall 2018 ready to wear collection.
From the show notes:
Epitomising effortless elegance, the Ralph & Russo Autumn/Winter 2018 Prêt-à-Porter collection presents an adaptable offering for the modern woman and her multifaceted lifestyle.
Comprised of thirty-five looks, the second Prêt-à-Porter collection explores plongé leather separates, multi-use biker jackets, and off-the-shoulder gowns; in addition to asymmetric knits and open fronted cascading bouquet skirts, which feature as key silhouettes.
We’ll start with three little black dresses: on the left, we show an interesting piece, an embroidered lace cocktail dress with detachable sleeves; in the center, a tiered dress with degradé frills; on the right, a tweed style featuring crystal embroidery embellishment.
This is from Vogue’s review by Luke Leitch:
This 35-look second ready-to-wear collection from the couture upstarts was slightly confoundingly not held as a show but a presentation in the same Paris salon where they entertain their enormous couture client base. The point was to let us mingle with the product: The product stood up to the mingling.
On the left, a structured tweed jacket with a high-waisted plissé skirt and bow blouse; in the center, you see a fine wool cashmere overcoat atop a checked double-breasted suit; on the right, a white satin crêpe blouse, leather cropped jacket, and bonded silk organza and vinyl houndstooth voluminous skirt.
Back to Vogue’s review:
There was a fabulous little cream cardigan with patched inserts of metallic lamé and sequin that looked both casual and rich, worn above a gold midi skirt that looked less casual but very rich.
These ensembles include a sleeveless silk organza dress on the left; in the center, the look referenced in the review that showcases that updated cashmere twin set and the pencil skirt; on the right, a handwoven 3-way biker jacket with detachable sleeves, leather panels and degradé sequin embellishment, shown with a matching pencil skirt and smoky pink cashmere turtleneck.
Here are some evening designs: on the left, a jet black silk gazar open-fronted skirt, worn over crystal-encrusted velvet cocktail dress featuring detachable glove sleeves; in the middle, a liquid gold velvet asymmetric evening gown; on the right, navy multi-stripe organza silk bow blouse, velvet tuxedo trousers, and cropped tuxedo jacket featuring velvet satin details.
Ralph and Russo continued to be mentioned as possible designers for one/both of Meghan’s wedding gowns. My guess is that since Meghan wore one of their gowns for the engagement pictures she will likely be using another designer(s).
I think that Meghan will do just fine next week at the Commonwealth Service. In my opinion, she can definitely do more traditionally royal looks while maintaining her individual style—case in point her ensemble for on Christmas Day when she appeared with the entire royal family. I thought she looked quite classic and appropriate for her first holiday church service. And, despite its mixed reviews, I actually liked her hat quite a lot. I am a very loyal follower of Kate, and I adore her classy, traditional style. But, (and, I confess, I am an American), I love Meghan’s style too! Meghan has obviously been schooled on the fashion protocol for public events, and I like that she’s putting her own spin on these rules.
It feels a bit odd that Meghan should be doing the whole formal Royal family pre-wedding, I would have thought it might open floodgates of unofficial royal partners turning up at these events and then disappearing never to be seen again. Though I can’t think why that should matter, except I suppose continuity has to be a thing for royalty.
I feel a slight worry about Meghan’s style for this big event as for me she looked fashionable in Jason Wu next to Kate, but Kate looked indisputably royal, and it brings home to me how squarely on the head Kate has managed to hit that particular nail!
She’s evolved a polished style which has seamlessly fitted in with the more old-fashioned Queen while retaining a contemporary feel. I don’t think shaggy hair and big lapels from Meghan would quite cut it at the Abbey. I apologise for entering the comparison stakes here but it becomes tough when they are at the same events.
That said, I welcome the Ralph & Russo outfits shown here because I can look through them and see plenty that Meghan could pick up on. That navy tuxedo outfit looks right up her street, with generous bow and all. It seems I must be struggling to cope with an edgier Meghan after following steady-as-you-go Kate these past few years. Hopefully I’ll catch up soon!
It’s fun that Harry and Meghan are opening up their guest list in a similar way to Edward and Sophie. I think it’s going to be a lovely day for all of us.
I think the comparison makes sense in this vein. It is only natural that there is some reaction of that kind when seeing Meghan and Kate side-by-side; it is likely to be a common occurrence moving forward. In confronting the issue at WKW, there have often been occasions when Kate and Sophie, Countess of Wessex are at the same venue and there haven’t been many comments that could not be published. As long as they are written respectfully without diminishing the person being referenced in the comment I *think* we should be okay. There’s likely to be some trial and error in this vein and we’ll see how we do moving forward. -sek
Thanks sekl! I was worried I’d overstepped the mark there. I do find it confusing with two such lovely ladies having such different styles.
First timer here and I must say I’m enjoying this site very much!
I am so excited for the upcoming wedding and events Meghan has planned!! I am thrilled that she’s decided to “hit the ground running” and has already been attending private meetings with charities and various organizations.
Can’t wait to see what she’ll wear for the Commonwealth Service with the Queen. She’ll have to wear a hat and I’m curious to she what style she’ll select.
We’re so glad you like the site, Laura, thank you for the kind words! 🙂 -sek