All The Deets on Prince Harry and Ms. Markle’s Wedding Invitations

The invites for the royal wedding have been sent! On Thursday, Kensington Palace officially released a look at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s upcoming wedding invitations. And while the stationery is steeped in many of the royal family’s traditions, it has a few modern surprises thrown in there as well.

 

 

For starters, the royals picked their favorite calligrapher and printer since 1985, Barnard and Westwood, who also created the invitations of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding. But unlike the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s 2011 wedding, which was hosted by the Queen, Harry and Meghan’s ceremony will be thrown by Prince Charles, hence his name at the top of the invitation reading: “His Royal Highness The Princes of Wales, K.G., K.T. requests the pleasure of the company of…”

Again, like William and Kate’s wedding, these new invites were also printed in gold ink. But instead of featuring the Queen’s royal crest (St. Edward’s crown) at the top, Prince Charles’s Three-Feathered Badge is engraved at the top. The invite also pays tribute to the couple’s backgrounds, by featuring American ink on English card stock. Adorable.

Another point of departure is the way the bride is described in the invitation. In Kate’s invite, she was referred to as “Miss. Catherine Middleton,” but Meghan is described as “Ms. Meghan Markle.” The change in prefix is mainly because of Meghan’s status as a divorcée. Just a few decades ago, this would have been unthinkable. Recall Princess Margaret was unable to marry her divorced beau, Pete Townsend, and King Edward VIII had to abdicate the thrown after tying the knot with twice divorced American socialite, Wallis Simpson.

Finally, the RSVP section of the invitation has been updated for the 21st century. Kate and William’s invite asked guests to send their RSVPs to the Lord Chamberlain’s office, and while Meghan and Harry’s also states the same, they also offer guests the option of confirming their attendance via email. How very modern, indeed!