After we were finished bursting with excitement at the fact that rumors of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle‘s feud have officially been squashed after seeing pictures of them together on Christmas morning, we noticed something odd about the photos: Three very important (and very adorable) members of the royal family were missing. So, why weren’t Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis at the Christmas church service with their parents?
The answer is more or less an expected one: They’re just too young. George is 5 and Charlotte is 3 (and Prince Louis is only 8 months old), and junior royals don’t attend family services until they’re older—Prince Harry, in fact, wasn’t seen at his first Christmas service until he was 7. Although Prince George was, however, photographed attending a Christmas church service with Kate Middleton’s family in Berkshire in 2016, but this year at the royal Christmas, it just seems like he decided to stay home with his siblings.
Also absent from the royal event on the morning of the 25th? Prince Philip, who was said to be relaxing at home, and Camilla Parker Bowles, who is reportedly recovering from some sort of bug.
While the kids didn’t make it to church, there are still plenty of other royal Christmas traditions they’ll likely get to enjoy in honor of the holiday. They attended the Queen’s Christmas lunch with the rest of their family earlier this week, and will no doubt be feasting on some Christmas stew once presents have been unwrapped. “They’re getting excited for Christmas time because they’ve started all their Christmas songs, and Christmas trees are going up,” Kate Middleton said during a recent appearance. “It was really sweet.”
The best part? Next year, these three little royals will have a new little cousin to celebrate the holiday with.
Figuring out what to wear to someone else’s wedding can be incredibly confusing. Even when there isn’t a strict dress code, there always seem to be unspoken rules and etiquette around clothing, like no white (or anything that could be mistaken for white) or no club-casual attire. Should you ever find yourself in need of outfit inspiration, though, look no further than frequent wedding-goer Kate Middleton: The Duchess of Cambridge has it all figured out—and, if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll find her wardrobing strategy quite relatable.
Over the weekend, Middleton was photographed attending her family friend Sophie Carter’s wedding. According to People, she wore a blue Catherine Walker & Co. coat dress that she had previously packed for her Berlin trip with Prince William, Prince George, and Princess Charlotte last July. She added some accessories to make it feel more wedding-ready—such as a large floral headband that matched her daughter’s bridesmaid crown, a satin clutch, and silver jewelry.
PHOTO: Mark Stewart
Repeating past outfits has proven to be Middleton’s go-to move for weddings. And it might not just be for practical reasons: As People suggests, this could be to ensure that press coverage surrounding her attendance never overshadows the bride.
PHOTO: Composite. ullstein bild/Getty Images
There are some other examples to back up this theory. You may remember how, for Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s wedding in May, Middleton wore a pale yellow (not white!) coat dress by Alexander McQueen that many believed she’d worn before, on not one but two separate occasions: Princess Charlotte’s christening and the queen’s birthday.
PHOTO: Composite. Getty Images
There’s another outfit—a cream coat by Day Birger et Mikkelsen—that, according to Harper’s Bazaar Australia, Middleton has worn to three weddings, starting before she became a royal. Hey, if the dress is good, why leave it to collect dust in your closet?
Today millions around the world watched as Meghan Markle and Prince Harry became the Duke and Dutchess of Sussex at their royal wedding. Their nuptials were thoroughly modern and broke significantly with royal tradition: There was the bride’s off-the-shoulder gown; Bishop Michael Curry’s passionate sermon, which brought Oprah to tears; and the ceremony gospel choir’s rendition of Ben E. King’s “Stand By Me” (and that’s just to start!). Most of us watched the extravagant affair from our couches (or, ahem, our beds), but what was it like to actually be right there in the chapel? Glamour.com spoke to Suhani Jalota, who met Markle two years ago and today, got the chance to have the surreal experience of seeing Prince Harry and Markle tie the knot.
Jalota is the founder of menstrual hygiene startup Myna Mahila Foundation, which employs women living in Mumbai slums to make their own menstrual pads. When she was honored as one of Glamour’sCollege Women of the Year in 2016, her work struck a chord with Markle at the awards luncheon in New York City. Five months later, Markle visited her and the women in the slum. Jalota was later invited to the royal wedding, along with a few of her employees (read the whole story here. Even more incredible? The newlyweds chose Jalota’s organization as one of seven that they’ll donate their wedding funds to.
“For my extended family and for my grandparents specifically, this is unbelievable,” Jalota says. “It’s the biggest deal in the world because they lived under British rule. I’ve had to take my invitation with me wherever I go so I can show it to them; both sets of my grandparents cried. My parents are kind of confused as to how and what is happening. For my mom, this is an opportunity for her to boast and go around telling everyone. And my papa has actually started to use Facebook now to track everything.”
So what was it actually like to attend the royal wedding? Here’s what Jalota has to say about everything from the vibe of the ceremony to what it was like rubbing shoulders with the A-listers there.
Yes, the mood inside the chapel was as joyous as it seemed on the livestream.
“People started being seated around 10, 10:30. After Oprah arrived, that’s when the seating started. The ceremony started around 11:45, so people were waiting for an hour or more than an hour.”
“The first time Prince Harry came in, and when Meghan came in [were big moments]. And then when they both said, “I will,” everybody outside was cheering. I was on the complete right side where I couldn’t see much. Inside the chapel there was another room where they were taking their vows, and that’s where only the Queen, Prince William, Kate Middleton, and Meghan’s mom [and other special guests] could see that in progress. We could just take a glimpse of her when she was walking down the aisle. Everyone inside the chapel was pretty quiet the whole time, but from outside you’d hear all the cheers.”
“I expected it to be a lot more traditional and formal, but it seemed a lot more fun and friendly and all about love and friendship. During Bishop Michael Curry’s speech, he was talking about the importance of love, and I think a lot of the couples in the crowd felt it. Everybody really agreed with him and reacted to what he was saying.”
“The Myna women were out in the lawns where Meghan and Harry entered from. They actually had a much better view than I did inside the chapel. They said, ‘It was magical.’ I think one of them said, ‘I couldn’t believe it.’ This is a global wedding that everybody’s been looking out for, and we’re just here. It makes things seem so much more normal. And it’s not. I met Priyanka Chopra. It seemed too ordinary to be true. In the moment, you’re like, ‘Wow, it’s all accessible.'”
PHOTO: Suhani Jalota
Jalota (far right, waving) en route to the Royal Wedding with women who work at the Myna Mahila Foundation.
“After the ceremony, everyone was saying, ‘That was special. That was phenomenal. That was so great. That was wonderful.’ In general, everybody really enjoyed it. I think generally Harry and Meghan are unconventional, and they were really happy and amused by the whole thing. It was special for them.”
The luncheon reception was much more chill, and Prince Charles made some jokes about his son.
“Everybody was really looking forward to the reception, because the chapel was not a very conducive place to meet people and have a conversation. The reception was really where people had a lot of fun.”
“Prince Charles was joking a little about Harry not following a traditional path. I think he was basically saying [that Prince Harry] has how become a really noble gentleman and somebody that the world honors and looks up to. He doesn’t listen to everything he says, but now he listens to everything Meghan says. That he’s changed his diet, because Meghan’s really healthy.”
“In his speech, Harry was thanking everybody and thanking his wife for agreeing to this proposal, and he thanked Meghan’s mom for agreeing to marry off her daughter to him. He was very respectful toward her mom.”
“After the ceremony, everyone was saying, “That was special. That was phenomenal. That was so great. That was wonderful.”
“When Prince Harry was referring to Meghan for the first time as his wife, that’s when everybody was teasing him. He repeated that sentence like four times, and every time, people were cheering.”
“Elton John performed, and the only one song I recognized was ‘The Circle of Life.’ He sang like four songs, and everybody was dancing and enjoying and screaming, ‘Once more! Once more!’ He kept coming back to the stage after every song.”
“I ate almost nothing. There were some starters that were being passed around and some drinks, but that was it. When the Queen is there, and Prince Charles is there—I mean, I just didn’t pick up anything to eat.”
Meeting a celeb was not out of the question.
“I saw Victoria Beckham and George Clooney. I met Priyanka Chopra right after the ceremony in the chapel. I [actually] went up to her—this was a lifetime opportunity! I was looking everywhere for her. Everyone else was sitting chatting in groups, and I was literally just roaming around. We were all supposed to be lining up. But I knew that she was somewhere in the front, and I just went to the top of the line, and I was like, “Priyanka!”
I introduced myself, and told her I was a big fan and told her that every Indian girl grows up idolizing her. She thanked me, then we met again at the reception, and we spoke about her mother and how my mother and I sit together watching her movies. She said, “Say hi to your mom.” It was very brief, and I doubt she’ll ever remember me. But I’ll definitely remember that moment.”
Meghan Markle was just as elegant in person.
“I got to speak to Meghan during the reception, when she and Prince Harry were meeting everybody one by one. Even after she has become the Duchess of Sussex, she hasn’t changed. She’s still the same old Meghan I met in New York and after that in India. I gave her a hug, and I congratulated her and thanked her for this opportunity, and she thanked me for coming. We talked about her future work with Myna, and I invited her back to Mumbai again.”
“Meghan looked very simple and elegant and beautiful. She really maintains that in her personality as well. She looked gorgeous, and Harry mentioned that many times: ‘I’m standing next to this gorgeous woman;’ ‘I’m so lucky to call this beautiful woman my wife now.’ I think everybody thought she looked beautiful.”
PHOTO: Courtesy of Suhani Jalota
Jalota wore a traditional Indian gown to the royal wedding.
The vibe in the U.K. right now is bonkers.
“It’s crazy in the U.K. People [were] lining up on the streets for days, tenting, and wearing British flags everywhere. I’ve seen everything with a British flag—from caps to goggles to costumes to shoes to capes. The whole town of Windsor looks like an amusement park with a Harry-and-Meghan theme. Every shop, every restaurant, everything in Windsor is twisted into Harry and Meghan. The vibe of the town itself is amazing. This is how I feel when India is playing in the Cricket World Cup. And people are still there on the streets in Windsor, even though [the wedding is over].”
“Meghan looked very simple and elegant and beautiful. She really maintains that in her personality as well. She looked gorgeous, and Harry mentioned that many times: ‘I’m standing next to this gorgeous woman;’ ‘I’m so lucky to call this beautiful woman my wife now.’ I think everybody thought she looked beautiful.”
Any parting thoughts on the royal nuptials?
“This was my first-ever Christian wedding . and first-ever wedding in a church—I didn’t know what the norm was. During the hour and a half or so of just being seated before everything started, I read through the whole [wedding program] and the vows. It was so much around love and friendship and being together. The whole conversation around the wedding was just around the couple’s love and how they’re perfect for each other, and complement each other. The whole theme of love was very, very special.”
Meghan Markle’s dad, Thomas Markle, apparently wants to go to the royal wedding, after all. Just one day after telling TMZ he will sit out the May 19 nuptials to avoid embarrassing the royal family or his daughter following a staged paparazzi photo scandal, Thomas Markle has contacted the outlet again to announce he’s changed his mind.
According to TMZ, Prince Harry’s father-in-law-to-be now wants to participate in the wedding. “I hate the idea of missing one of the greatest moments in history and walking my daughter down the aisle,” he said, according to the outlet, adding, “Of course I’d walk her down the aisle. This is a historic moment. I’d like to be a part of history.”
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But with said “historic moment” taking place this Saturday, that might be a problem because Thomas also told TMZ that, as of Tuesday, he was back in the hospital due to severe chest pains from the heart attack he had a week ago. He’s supposedly asked the doctors to release him on Wednesday, but they haven’t gotten back to him with a decision yet.
According to TMZ, though, the doctors would be the only impediment. The outlet claims that Thomas says his daughter tried calling him on Monday when he was away from his phone, and that she later sent a text saying she loved him, was concerned for his health, and has no hard feelings about the whole paparazzi photo-staging situation. As for what the Queen of England thinks about all this, he apparently had this to say: “I don’t think the Queen is thinking about what I’m doing.”
Kensington Palace released a statement about Thomas Markle’s staged photo incident yesterday. “This is a deeply personal moment for Ms. Markle in the days before her wedding,” a Kensington Palace spokesman said. “She and Prince Harry ask again for understanding and respect to be extended to Mr. Markle in this difficult situation.”
Already the youngest woman to ever be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize and be named a UN Messenger of Peace, girls’ education activist Malala Yousafzai has yet another achievement to add to her growing list of accomplishments: Come this fall, she’ll be attending Oxford University in England.
In a tweet posted on Thursday, Yousafzai posted her acceptance notice and revealed that she will be studying philosophy, politics, and economics at the British University—the same institution where Yousafzai’s role model, the late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, once studied.
The 20-year-old first became an international figure in 2012 when, after boarding a school bus, she was shot in the head by members of the Taliban. The then-15-year-old Yousafzai had been an outspoken advocate for girls’ rights—specifically, their right to a quality education—and was targeted by the Taliban for her beliefs. Following her recovery from the attack, she relocated to England.
“So excited to go to Oxford!!” she wrote. “Well done to all A-level students—the hardest year. Best wishes for life ahead!”
