Something old, something new
5/18/2018
This weekend’s royal wedding should provide all the romance and excitement an Anglophile could crave. Prince Harry and his American bride, Meghan Markle, will no doubt dazzle wedding watchers with their nuptials.
What’s not to enjoy with the fashion, the celebrity-watching, the glamour, and the tradition?
The happy occasion lets devoted royal watchers recall with nostalgia the lavish wedding of Prince Harry’s parents, Charles and Diana in 1981. The “wedding of the century” was supposed to be a fairy tale come to life, though of course real life fell a bit short of a fairy tale.
She may not have lived a fairy-tale existence, but Diana did leave a beautiful legacy of humanitarian work. It is a legacy that Prince Harry, in particular, has honored with his own charitable endeavors.
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Along with Lesotho’s Prince Seeiso, Prince Harry co-founded Sentebale, a charity to help orphans in that country.
Most notably, the prince, who is a British army vet, created the Invictus Games, a para-Olympic-style sporting event for military service members and veterans.
The next games are in Sydney, Australia later this year, where the prince and his new wife are expected to attend.
Instead of wedding presents, Prince Harry and Meghan have asked that well-wishers contribute to a handful of charities: The Children’s HIV Association (CHIVA), Scotty’s Little Soldiers (for children of military service members), StreetGames (a sports charity for underprivileged children), Crisis (a homelessness charity), the Myna Mahila Foundation (for women and girls in Mumbai’s slums), and Surfers Against Sewage (a charity aiming to clean up marine pollution), and The Wilderness Foundation U.K. (focused on the benefits of wildlife and nature).
Ms. Markle has given up her career in acting and is reportedly eager to join her new husband working full-time on humanitarian causes.
The next generation of British royals have come into their own as adults, including Prince Harry and his new wife.
That the pair are beginning a life together with a common devotion to making the world a better place sends a beautiful, hopeful message that can be embraced around the globe. It’s even better than a fairy tale.