Meghan Markle Could Break This Tradition During Her Wedding to Prince Harry

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s relationship has already been far from traditional. From the way they ignored protocol when first seen in public together to how Meghan broke royal fashion rules during their first official outing of 2018, the couple is familiar with bending the rules—in a totally respectable way. And their wedding won’t be any different than usual. In fact, there are at least 11 ways the couple has strayed from royal tradition. 

Rumors have swirled for months that Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, wouldn’t be walking her down the aisle—and the gossip finally turned to reality. He’d had a heart attack within weeks of the wedding, entering surgery just a few days before the ceremony. Citing health concerns (perhaps not-so-coincidentally after it was revealed he’d staged paparazzi photos for good press), Markle announced he would need to miss the wedding while recovering from the procedure.

So what’s a royal bride to do? In an act of feminism, Meghan will be walking down the first half of the aisle alone. Once she reaches the second half, future father-in-law Prince Charles will join to walk her arm-in-arm the rest of the way but skip the traditional “giving away” in the ceremony.

But that’s not the only way the bride will buck tradition. Typically, the father of the bride would make a speech during the reception, but Meghan has decided to be a modern bride and make the speech herself, an insider told the Sunday Times. Meghan’s speech will be an “affectionate” homage to Prince Harry, plus a big thank-you to Queen Elizabeth, and Meghan’s family and friends. (Here’s more on how Meghan got ready for her wedding to Prince Harry.)

“The feeling is if Meghan’s father doesn’t speak for her, she wants to have the chance to thank her husband and everyone who has supported them,” the Sunday Times source says. “Harry thinks it’s a great idea.” Can’t say we disagree.

Meghan is no stranger to being in the public eye. In addition to being an actress, she once modeled for this Canadian fashion brand.

And don’t miss: Was this Meghan Markle’s first magazine cover?