Welcome to today’s edition of the Daily Digest sharing some of the day’s news about Meghan and Harry’s wedding, now just a bit more than two days away.
We begin with the list of bridesmaids and page boys, a group of ten children that was announced by Kensington Palace this morning. As expected, Prince George and Princess Charlotte are among the children taking part in the wedding.
A quick explainer: The adult bridesmaids seen at most weddings in the US are generally not part of ceremonies in the UK and many parts of Europe. Wedding parties instead feature children as flower girls, bridesmaids, and page boys. The Kensington Palace news release used the term ‘bridesmaid,’ so that is what we’ll use.
- Here are the bridesmaids:
- Princess Charlotte (age 3)
- Florence van Cutsem (age 3); Harry’s goddaughter, daughter of Mrs. Alice van Cutsem and Major Nicholas van Cutsem, and cousin to Grace van Cutsem, the bridesmaid at Kate & William’s wedding famous for placing her hands over her ears and grimacing on the Buckingham Palace balcony
- Remi Litt (age 6); Meghan’s goddaughter, daughter of Mrs. Benita Litt and Mr. Darren Litt
- Rylan Litt (age 7); Meghan’s goddaughter, daughter of Mrs. Benita Litt and Mr. Darren Litt
- Ivy Mulroney (age 4): daughter of Jessica and Benedict Mulroney
- Zalie Warren (age 2); Harry’s goddaughter, daughter of Zoe and Jake Warren, who is the son of the Queen’s racing manager John Warren.
- And now the page boys:
- Prince George (age 4)
- Jasper Dyer (age 6) Prince Harry’s godson, son of Amanda Dyer and Mark Dyer M.V.O.
- Twins Brian & John Mulroney (age 7); sons of Jessica and Benedict Mulroney, grandsons of Brian Mulroney, Canada’s Prime Minister from 1984 – 1993.
We have photos of some of the children; below, Meghan’s close friends Jessica and Ben Mulroney with all three of their children. (You can learn all about Ms. Mulroney in this post.)
And here you see the Litt family, including bridesmaids Remi and Rylan.
Friends and family members are arriving for the wedding. Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, arrived at Heathrow today.
Meghan Markle’s mum gets VIP treatment as she arrives in London https://t.co/gA4juYymAe
— The Sun (@TheSun) May 16, 2018
In this tweet from The Daily Mail’s Rebecca English, you can see the Burberry garment bag Ms. Ragland carried as she left her home to head to the airport.
The garment bag triggered all manner of discussion about the possibility Ms. Ragland will wear Burberry for one of the functions she will be attending. She has worn the label before; here you see her in a Burberry top at the Invictus Games in Toronto.
More from Erin Hill’s story in People:
After taking off from L.A. on Tuesday evening, Meghan Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, landed in London on Wednesday, and spent the afternoon with her daughter and future son-in-law, Prince Harry, PEOPLE has confirmed.
Doria was picked up at the airport by Meghan’s new aide, Amy Pickerill, who is the assistant private secretary to Prince Harry, before they went to meet the couple.
We have an update on Meghan’s father. TMZ reports the following:
Meghan Markle‘s dad, Thomas, appears to have successfully undergone heart surgery … TMZ has learned.
We spoke with Thomas a few minutes ago and he seemed alert and coherent, telling us doctors implanted stents in his blood vessels … he said he believes surgeons implanted 3 stents, but he wasn’t sure.
3:05 PM PT — Thomas says, “I’m ok. It will take a long time to heal. Staying in the hospital a few more days. Not allowed to get excited.”
In Windsor, preparations continued for the wedding. You can see some of the tents that have been put up in advance of Saturday’s events.
There was even a “wedding parade” with students of Queensmead school.
Today Queensmead School in Windsor held a wedding parade on the Long Walk, complete with mini Prince Harry, Ms. Markle, Archbishop and wedding guests #RoyalWedding pic.twitter.com/w2EF5Ra7v7
— Kensington Palace (@KensingtonRoyal) May 16, 2018
The weather forecast continues to look promising, as seen in this graphic from Weather.com.
We’ll leave you with this shot of some of the flags in London; it was shared on Twitter by Harrison Jones.
We will see you tomorrow!
Bonnie says
The mind boggles at having ten kids under seven, to include a two year old. I hope there is someone/something to keep them occupied during the ceremony, which will take an hour or so. Kate was present at the rehearsal, even though we’ve been told she has no official role to play. Perhaps she is helping out with the kiddos.
ElizaMo says
My thoughts exactly! It’s a lot of little ones for a small chapel ceremony. At least it’s not as far to walk as at Kate’s wedding
ElizaMo says
Thanks for all the regular updates, I’m finding it hard to keep up and it’s great to find everything summed up together here. I don’t remember so much commentary when Kate married but then I was still a novice on social media back then. I love the sense of excitement building up, it’s the greatest fun being able to share the experience with everyone here!
Jessica says
Thank you for this great update. I can’t wait to see all those kids in their fabulous outfits!
One question, and this may well go back to the info provided by KP: If the Mulroney twins are identified as the grandsons of former Canadian PM Brian Mulroney, why isn’t their younger sister identified as his granddaughter?
Maureen says
I thought the same thing, Jessica!
Bonnie says
I think this is just an oversight. Of course, Ivy is the granddaughter of Brian Mulroney.