Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were reportedly denied their ‘dream wedding’ in 2018 and instead had to settle for a lavish ceremony in the UK, as per the Duke of Sussex himself.
In his bombshell memoir Spare, that smashed sales records upon its January 10 release, Prince Harry revealed that after he proposed to Meghan in late 2017 at Nottingham Cottage, Kensington Palace, they wanted to get married quickly and, ideally, ‘barefoot in Botswana’.
“We wanted to get married quickly. But the Palace couldn’t seem to pick a date. Or a venue,” Prince Harry revealed in his book, further saying while they waited ‘for a decree from the royal decision-making apparatus’, they did a traditional ‘engagement tour’ of the UK.
He then shared a conversation he had had with his older brother Prince William, writing: “On our return from the trip I rang Willy, sounded him out, asked his thoughts about where we might get married.”
“I told him we were thinking of Westminster Abbey. ‘No good. We did it there.’ ‘Right, right. St. Paul’s?’ ‘Too grand. Plus, Pa (King Charles III) and Mummy (Princess Diana) did it there.’ ‘Hm. Yes Good point.’”
Harry then shared how William reminded him that he wanted a ‘small, quiet wedding’, and then revealed: “In fact, we wanted to explore. Barefoot in Botswana, with maybe a friend officiating, that was our dream.”
However, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle couldn’t get what they really wanted, with the Duke of Sussex writing: “But we were expected to share this moment with other people. It wasn’t up to us.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle famously tied the knot on May 19, 2018 at St. George’s Chapel on Windsor Castle grounds.
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