The story of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s wedding is straight out of a fairy tale. A British prince falls in love with a divorced, biracial, American actress and decides to marry her—you can’t make it up. But unlike fairy tales, this one had a last minute twist when Meghan Markle’s dad decided only days before his daughter’s wedding that he would not be attending.

Of course, this being Meghan Markle—the same woman who has given speeches on gender equality at the United Nations—she wasn’t about to let this bump in the road ruin her wedding. Instead of asking someone else to stand in for her dad, Markle chose to walk down the first part of the aisle by herself, flanked by her page boys and flower girls. (Prince Charles later accompanied her during the final stretch.) The moment was powerful, as it showed a confident, independent woman walking towards her future husband on her own. It’s worth pointing out that at 36, Meghan was already a successful actress and humanitarian before she met Prince Harry, unlike most most women who marry into the royal family. Perhaps that’s why Meghan didn’t shy away from going into the chapel by herself. It ended up being quite the feminist fairy tale moment, one we would love to hear more about in a future speech by the newly announced Duchess of Sussex.