Did Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Lie About a Secret Wedding?

In their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle revealed that they had a secret wedding ceremony in their backyard three days before the big public marriage. But now, it seems their own marriage certificate contradicts these claims.

This information comes from The Sun. The publication obtained their wedding certificate directly from the General Registrar’s Office. And that certificate confirms that they were married on May 19 at Windsor Castle and not in their backyard as they previously claimed.

The Sun also spoke to the former chief clerk at the Faculty Office, Stephen Borton, who drew up the couple’s wedding license. According to Borton, “I’m sorry, but Meghan is obviously confused and clearly misinformed. They did not marry three days earlier in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury.”

But is the couple simply lying about the whole secret wedding thing? Borton offered up some alternative expectations. “What I suspect they did was exchange some simple vows they had perhaps written themselves, and which is fashionable, and said that in front of the Archbishop — or, and more likely, it was a simple rehearsal.”

Regardless of what the couple believes happened, Borton also points out that their description of events would be impossible. In reaction to the couple saying they got married with only the Archbishop present, Borton said, “They couldn’t have got married in the grounds of Nottingham Cottage as it is not an authorized venue and there were not enough witnesses present. You cannot be married with just three people. It’s not a valid ceremony.”

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Borton also argued that any documentation they have about a secret wedding would be false. Meghan Markle said during the interview that she and Harry proudly have their wedding vows from the secret ceremony on display in their home. But as Borton says, “Any certificate she may have of her vows on the wall is not an official wedding certificate.”

Furthermore, any kind of royal wedding requires the involvement of Queen Elizabeth. “In order for them to be married a special license was drawn up and the wording from Her Majesty the Queen authorizing the wedding and the official venue was recorded.”

The official wedding certificate shows that they wed on May 19 of 2018, with the witnesses being Prince Charles and Doria Ragland (Markle’s mother). At this point, the only person who could shed more light on this matter would be the Archbishop Justin Welby, but he has declined to comment on this matter to the Sun or anyone else.