Congratulations to Meghan Markle! As the first bride who isn’t promising to ‘obey’ her royal husband, she’s made headlines around the world, as in this story from The Guardian.

It’s no small thing, in the context of a traditional Church of England wedding, but it did make me smile. Since 2005, I’ve conducted more than twelve hundred weddings and in none of them has a bride EVER promised to obey. 


I have no idea if either Harry or Meghan has ever been to a humanist wedding, but there are quite a few elements in today’s biggest wedding that look familiar to me.


The bride is choosing to enter accompanied only by her bridesmaids; the groom will wear a wedding ring, and rather than a hymn before the vows, the congregation will sing the Ben E. King classic, Stand By Me.


Of course humanist marriage is not yet legal in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, but I am confident that it’s only a matter of time before it is, so it will be interesting to see, in a generation’s time, what form of marriage the next generation of royals will choose.


In the meantime, I’m off to conduct the wedding of Stacey and Phil so have a wonderful day, whatever you’re doing!