The Royal Family descended on Windsor today for tea with the Queen and rehearsals ahead of the big day on Saturday. Pictures of the family arriving via car came shortly after a statement directly from Meghan Markle was released by Kensington Palace addressing the chaos over the last few days and confirming that her father won’t be attending the wedding.
A statement from Ms. Meghan Markle: pic.twitter.com/TjBNarmuBU
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) May 17, 2018
It’s notable that Meghan opted to have the statement come directly from her and not via a spokesman. It’s also hard not to miss the glaring “cared for” in lieu of “loved.”
According to TMZ, with whom Thomas Markle has been speaking directly for the last few days, he underwent heart surgery yesterday morning and is recuperating well. The situation is very sad, but I do think it’s for the best that he stay where he is – his presence would likely only create more unnecessary drama this weekend and the focus really should be on the bride and groom and this very historic day.
No one has ever seen something quite like this in royal news and it speaks to the weird relationship that the Palace has with the press – and some of the bizarreness with which the Palace handles communication that it gets away with simply because it is, well, the Palace. There are two great articles on the topic that came out this week, one from the BBC and one from the Daily Beast. Worth a read to hear where royal journos are coming down on this.
And yet the institution still stands and so does the happy couple. Meghan was photographed smiling with Harry in the backseat of a Range Rover as they arrived at Windsor today.
Rehearsals are to be held in St George’s Cathedral and then the entire family will join the Queen – and presumably the Duke of Edinburgh, as well – at the Castle. Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, was spotted arriving in London yesterday where she was picked up by a member of the couple’s staff and whisked over to Kensington Palace.
Also pictured was the Duchess of Cambridge for the first time since she gave birth last month. A few days ago she was spotted walking in Kensington Gardens with Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte, however I’ve not seen any photos from the run-in. I spoke too soon – I just came across one snap of Kate and her children walking through the park with a protection officer. The dress is Seraphine and she first wore it, I believe, when postpartum with Prince George.
https://twitter.com/PackhamGown/status/997136185691639808
Eagle-eyed royal watchers have ID’d the pattern of Kate’s outfit as a red, white and blue Michael Kors wrap dress. The Duke of Cambridge was also in the car, and it’s a safe bet that they were accompanied by at least Charlotte and George, if not Louis as well.
Earlier this morning the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall arrived at Kensington Palace, presumably to meet Doria . Though they arrived by car, they left by helicopter so that Charles could make it to an engagement in Staffordshire.
It’s also being reported that Harry and Meghan took Doria over to Clarence House yesterday, within hours of her landing, so that she could meet Charles and Camilla.
If any other news pops today I’ll update here accordingly, but here’s to hoping any more surprises are the good sort!