Princess Adeline, Duchess of Clarence

Chapter Forty-One: The Wedding of Harry and Meghan

19 May 2018

The Queen has today been pleased to confer a Dukedom on Prince Henry of Wales.  His titles will be Duke of Sussex, Earl of Dumbarton and Baron Kilkeel.

Prince Harry thus becomes His Royal Highness The Duke of Sussex, and Ms. Meghan Markle on marriage will become Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Sussex.

Buckingham Palace

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St George's Chapel, Windsor

The fairy-tale – a rich prince weds a beautiful damsel in an imposing castle surrounded by six hundred excited guests, and then departs in a horse-drawn coach to the ecstatic cheers of thousands of adoring citizens – was perfectly choreographed by the royal family.

Weddings were a symbol of the union of two families and their friends, however this one reflected Harry's deliberate detachment from his past.

Several members of the royal family – cousins, uncles, and aunts – were surprised not to be invited to the wedding; politicians were excluded including the prime minister and Donald Trump who although scorned refused to criticise Meghan on TV.

Across the land, many who had helped Harry through his early years, taught him to play polo, provided hospitality, taken him on safaris in Africa and cared for him in the years since Diana's death could not understand why they had not been invited to the wedding.

The guest list instead, strongly influence by Meghan, ignored the nostalgia and gratitude; even Meghan's own family had not made the cut apart from Doria, a keen sense of concern over came the family.

Samantha Markle having stated that she believed that Meghan had excluded all her relatives to protect the lies she had told Harry and others about her life to make her seem like someone she was not.

Among the stardust to seal the glamour of Harry and Meghan's wedding were David and Victoria Beckham, James Corden, Elton John, Serena Williams, and George and Amal Clooney.

No one believed for a moment that Meghan knew the Clooneys even if the Palace insisted that Harry had met George once.

Priyanka Chopra was just an acquaintance in passing to Meghan and even Oprah Winfrey had found herself an invite for the occasion despite having met Meghan for the first and only time two months earlier.

The guest list had not been published by the palace, identifying the guests depended on the journalists spotting the celebrities or following social media.

The glittering ceremony had attracted tens of thousands to stand in bright sunlight along the streets outside of the castle with over ten million Britons watching on tele as the guests arrived.

Of course, Meghan would not be happy considering that 17.6 million had watched Catherine's wedding, 28 million had watched Diana's and 16 million that had watched Adeline's wedding.

Dressed in a Ronald Joyce dress of orange, purple and cream, Adeline made her way down the short walk towards the castle with the rest of the royals; her arm linked with Simon's as they waved to the crowds that cheered at the sight of them.

Simon's tie was an orange to match her dress, he looked dapper in his suit if Adeline was honest, and she was relieved that she had him to count on during all this.

In a week's time, they would have been married for four years and the time seemed to have flown by without them even realising.

Anne had offered to watch Sebastian since she had not been invited to the wedding, she had insisted that she would celebrate from home while watching the wedding on tv.