Tag: Meghan Markle

Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle is pregnant: Kensington Palace

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Britain’s Duchess of Sussex Meghan Markle, wife of Queen Elizabeth’s grandson Prince Harry, is pregnant, Kensington Palace said on Monday.

The baby will be seventh-in-line to the British throne.

“Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are very pleased to announce that The Duchess of Sussex is expecting a baby in the spring of 2019,” the palace said in a statement.

The news emerged shortly after the royal couple landed in Australia for their first overseas tour, a busy trip which will also take in New Zealand and the South Pacific islands of Tonga and Fiji.

Harry, the son of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and his late first wife Princess Diana, and Meghan, former star of TV show “Suits”, married in a glittering ceremony at the queen’s Windsor Castle home, west of London, five months ago which attracted huge interest worldwide.

The couple returned to the castle for the marriage of Harry’s cousin Princess Eugenie on Friday which was attended by all the senior members of the British royal family. Media said Harry and Meghan broke the news of the pregnancy to other members of the royal family at the wedding.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

There’s power in love, says Reverend Michael Curry at the Royal Wedding

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

If humanity ever captured the energy of love, it would be the second time in history that we have discovered fire.

The words, spoken by Reverend Michael Curry, resonated along the long corridors of St. George’s Chapel in the Windsor Castle during the wedding ceremony of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Queen Elizabeth’s grandson, Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle got married on Saturday, in a splendid wedding held at St. George’s Chapel in the Windsor Castle.

The couple had invited Rev. Curry, the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, like the Church of England, a part of the Anglican Communion to speak at their wedding.

Rev. Curry spoke largely about the power of love, quoting Martin Luther King Jr., he said, “there’s power in love, don’t underestimate it.”

In a long, colourful speech at the Prince’s wedding, the bishop quoted the Bible, saying, “When love is the way, we will let justice roll down like a mighty stream and righteousness like an ever-flowing brook. When love is the way, poverty will become history. When love is the way, the Earth will be a sanctuary.”

Rev. Curry quoted the power of love, not just from King and the Bible but also from an African-American song, “Down by the Riverside”, sung by the slaves of the day, “When love is the way, we will lay down our swords and shields down by the riverside to study war no more. When love is the way, there’s plenty good room, plenty good room for all of God’s children. Because when love is the way, we actually treat each other, well, like we’re actually family.”

Also Read: Prince Harry, Meghan Markle wed in Windsor as millions watch

Rev. Curry quoted late  French philosopher and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin saying that “the discovery and harnessing of fire was one of the great technological discoveries of human history”.

Previously the bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina, he most recently campaigned for the creation of family day care providers, educational centres and investment in inner-city neighbourhoods in all three of his parish ministries – North Carolina, Ohio, and Maryland.

In the past, the bishop has spoken about social issues including social justice, immigration policy, marriage equality, LGBTQ rights and sexual abuse. Bishop Curry defended the Episcopal Church’s move to allow same sex couples to marry in church in 2015, which caused some churches to cut ties.

The US Episcopal Church is one of only two Anglican churches worldwide that allow gay marriage in church – the other being the Scottish Episcopal Church.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Prince Harry, Meghan Markle wed in Windsor as millions watch

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle gazed into each other’s eyes and pledged their eternal love Saturday as they married at St. George’s Chapel in front of hundreds of celebrity guests and millions of viewers around the world.

The American actress arrived to a fanfare and walked down the aisle accompanied part of the way by Prince Charles and by 10 young page boys and bridesmaids. The children included 4-year-old Prince George and 3-year-old Princess Charlotte, children of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge.

Markle’s sleek white dress, designed by British designer Clare Waight Keller, had a boat neck and was made of silk. Her veil came to her waist in front and billowed out for many feet behind her long train.

Harry and best man Prince William wore dark formal military dress, with white gloves and the frock coat uniforms of the Blues and Royals, and Harry kept his full red beard intact. As Charles and Meghan drew close to the altar, Harry said: “Thank you, Pa.”

To Meghan, Harry said: “You look amazing.”

Markle seemed poised and confident as she delivered her vows without so much as a quiver in her voice. She smiled broadly as the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby declared them husband and wife. Harry seemed a bit nervous — but happy.

A host of celebrities and athletes — including Oprah Winfrey, Idris Elba, Elton John, George and Amal Clooney, Serena Williams, James Corden and David and Victoria Beckham — watched the ceremony in the gothic chapel at Windsor Castle.

Prior to the festivities, Queen Elizabeth II honored her red-headed, 33-year-old grandson with a new title: the Duke of Sussex. That means that Markle is now the Duchess of Sussex.

The wedding was a global event, thanks to Harry’s status as a senior British royal and Markle’s celebrity after starring on the U.S. television series “Suits” for seven years. The wedding pomp and ceremony — complete with Anglican prayers and tradition, classical music, a gospel choir and a horse-drawn carriage ride through Windsor — was beamed live to tens of millions of TV viewers across the world.

Relatives at the ceremony included Charles Spencer, the brother of Harry’s late mother Princess Diana, and Harry’s cousin Zara Tindall and her husband. Also in attendance was the family of Prince William’s wife Kate: Parents Carole and Michael Middleton, sister Pippa Middleton and brother James Middleton.

Harry’s ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy was also among the congregation, as was Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, the ex-wife of Harry’s uncle Prince Andrew.

Outside the castle, thousands of fans crammed the streets of Windsor. Irene Bowdry, a lawyer from California, was aboard the jammed early train to Windsor. She booked her trip to England as soon as the wedding date was announced.

“An American in the royal family, isn’t that so exciting?” she said.

The weather was balmy and clear, bathing the ancient stones of Windsor Castle in a beautiful spring light. Royal fans have been camping outside the castle for days, and British police have stepped up security, with sniffer dogs, barricades and patrols all over town.

“Windsor is absolutely bursting with excitement,” said royal historian Hugo Vickers. “There are cardboard cutouts of Meghan and Harry in every shop window, virtually. There’s bunting all over the place. I’ve never seen so many people in the streets of Windsor.”

It is a time of transition for the British monarchy, one that seems filled with hope as William and Harry — the two sons of Charles and the late Princess Diana — step ever more confidently into the limelight. Many in the crowd, like Ana Karukin, a Brazilian nurse living in Florida, said they came to witness a moment of history.

“We’ve got to be here for him and for her, my Meghan, my special girl, to support them, because it’s a beautiful time,” she said. “I wish that Diana was here, but she’s in heaven watching over them.”

The brothers found the time amid the wedding hoopla to stroll outside the castle Friday evening to thank fans for coming. A smiling Harry gave a thumb’s up and answered “Great, thank you!” when asked how he was feeling on the eve of his wedding.

And it seems to be a time of joy for 92-year-old queen and her 96-year-old husband, Prince Philip, who plans to attend the ceremony despite his recent hip replacement surgery. She is seeing her grandson marry a woman who clearly has brought him the happiness he’s often said was missing from his life after his mother’s premature death.

The family tableau played out on the broadest possible stage. Dozens of broadcasters set up on the castle grounds for a visual feast. The chapel itself is a masterpiece of the late Gothic style, and Windsor Castle has been home to British sovereigns for nearly 1,000 years.

After the ceremony, the newlyweds will ride a horse-drawn carriage through the streets of Windsor, flanked by a British military procession with many officers on horseback.

Then it will be off to the first of two gala receptions. The first will be hosted in the afternoon by the queen — with finger foods, wine and champagne. The second, smaller reception is being thrown by Charles. A three-hour break in between will allow for a rest and a change of outfits for the lucky 200 invited to the evening soiree.

The chapel service will reflect Markle’s American roots. The Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry, the African-American leader of the Episcopal Church, delivered the sermon, and the musical selections included versions of Ben. E. King’s “Stand By Me” and Etta James’ “Amen/This Little Light of Mine.”

Harry invited buddies from his 10 years of military service — which included tours of duty in Afghanistan — and from many of the charities he supports, which have focused on helping wounded veterans or encouraging a more open discussion of mental health issues.

The couple also honored the memory of Harry’s mother Diana, whose older sister Jane Fellowes gave a reading during the wedding service.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Every fairytale has a witch, as Meghan will tell you

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

All the world loves a lover? Hardly, if you ask Harry and Meghan. Like millions of couples before them they have found out that family sucks.

Prince Harry, of course, had a famous mother, who died the way she did, having said the things she said on TV and posing by the Taj Mahal oh so alone.

His father went on to marry his mistress and is forever to blame for Diana’s death in the British mind. Not to mention a grandma, who happens to be queen and an aunt, whose toes were sucked by a lover in the royal pool.

When Harry met his Sally, pretty little commoner Meghan Markle who played sidekick in an American soap, she brought him a family more dysfunctional than his in dowry.

So unlike elder bro William, who took his time marrying Kate Middleton – so much so that the media dubbed her Waity Katy – and carefully found a family that contrasted with his. The public, secure in the belief that Willie gets his home-baked pies in mama Middleton’s warm kitchen, sleeps well at nights.

Harry, on the other hand, riddled with questions about his paternity from the moment he was born, made up his mind about his bride in two seconds.

She defies conventions pleasantly enough; her colour, the fact that she is older to him and is a divorcee. She is also from a broken home and said to have played the Cinderella card heavily with her Prince Charming.

Very early on he was writing letters to media pleading with them to lay off her, and even said they – the royals – were the family she never had. What on earth, her side bristled, has she been saying to him!

Now the wedding is upon them and MegHar or HarMeg (as the paparazzi will soon christen them) have a whole lot of hostile kin on their hands – His and Hers.

There are uninvited uncles, heart-attacking dads, ranting half-sisters, half-brothers who claim she is acting ‘the part of a princess like a below C average Hollywood actress’ and an ex dying to make a serial on their failed marriage. There are also childhood friends and upper-crust cousins left out of the guest-list. The Beckhams, of course, will be there.

We all have family members, we wish we weren’t related to. It’s okay they attend our funerals, when we don’t have to see them or make small talk with them, but to watch them guzzle free booze at our wedding is a little painful.

But then, we aren’t all marrying into the British royal family so we get by. Meghan, who thought ignoring her non-royal family was the best option, is now unnerved by the ruckus they are up to.

No married person, whatever the vintage of the marriage, will say, ‘I loved his/her family at sight and now I am devoted to them!’ If marriages are somehow going on then we hear less of this but for relationships that sour, the other party’s family is a sore point.

If only her father had not pampered her so, if only his mother worshiped him less… Sibling rivalry, marital discord between parents, alcoholism, serious illness, money woes, parents’ relationship with their in-laws – all of this impact the groom and the bride.

Harry and Meghan are now privy to a fact that Asian couples always knew: marriages are between two families, not just a girl and a boy. The Windsors and the Markles must mwah soon.

Alok Nath, where are you when we need you?

Shinie Antony is a writer and editor based in Bengaluru. Her books include The Girl Who Couldn’t Love, Barefoot and Pregnant, Planet Polygamous, and the anthologies Why We Don’t Talk, An Unsuitable Woman, Boo. Winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Asia Prize for her story A Dog’s Death in 2003, she is co-founder of the Bangalore Literature Festival and director of the Bengaluru Poetry Festival.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

As royal wedding nears, brands benefit from ‘Meghan effect’

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Canadian fashion designer Bojana Sentaler stared at her computer screen on Christmas Day to see if Meghan Markle had a gift for her.

She did. As Prince Harry’s future bride left a church service on the grounds of Queen Elizabeth II’s private country estate, Sentaler spotted a cuff detail on Markle’s camel alpaca coat that told her customers would soon be flocking to her website.

“I was looking for the ribbed sleeves, hoping it was a Sentaler coat,” said the designer, who met Markle when she was a mere TV star. “And as soon as I saw that, I was so happy and so excited! And it was the best Christmas present I could ever wish for.”

Markle’s marriage to Harry isn’t just a trans-Atlantic love story linking the House of Windsor to Hollywood. The couple’s May 19 wedding is likely to have dividends for the designers, florists, bakers and tiara makers who are directly part of it, as well as for businesses much farther down the line of affection.

The glamorous bride-to-be alone is forecast to pump 150 million pounds ($210 million) into the British economy as consumers try to mimic her style, according to economists at Brand Finance, which produces an annual report on the monarchy’s economic contributions.

In all, the wedding is expected to generate more than 1 billion pounds of economic activity, including 300 million pounds in tourism, particularly from Americans eager to be part of the occasion.

Marketers see Markle as a bonus from the royal family, since her engagement to Harry followed so closely on the sensible but very stylish heel of the former Kate Middleton, who married Prince William seven years ago.

But Markle, whose pencil skirts and stiletto heels graced the hit U.S. television show “Suits” for seven years, brings fresh sparkle to the picture. Having her showcase a coat, handbag or service is like being associated with a fairy tale, just like when Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956.

Perhaps more importantly, she’s a biracial American who links the royal family to new countries and new cultures.

“The U.S. loves a princess,” said Pauline MacLaran, co-author of “Royal Fever: The British Monarch in Consumer Culture.”

“It’s something that the US does not have. It’s the rags-to-riches story. It’s the whole Cinderella story yet again.”

The back story makes Markle of huge interest not just to Americans — who sometimes seem more fascinated by the royals than their own subjects — but also other royalty-loving countries like Japan, which marvels at the Windsors moving into the 21st century.

“The last time there was something like this was when Grace married Rainier, and he was just a petty potentate,” said David Haigh of Brand Finance.

The royals don’t advertise, but they do set trends and showcase whatever they might be wearing, seeing or doing. Whether it was Queen Victoria popularizing trees for Victorian Christmases or Princess Diana and her ruffle collars, people have long tried to emulate their style.

But these days, the royal effect is supercharged by social media. The internet offers a running commentary on everything the royals do, and their fashion choices are photographed, scrutinised and instantly identified. Websites such as whatkatewore.com and its sister site, whatmeghanwore.net quickly pinpoint the designer and sometimes tell a bit of a garment’s story.

When Meghan wore The Dina style jean from the Hiut Denim Company, there was worldwide publicity about a firm in Wales which started to re-employ workers displaced when the local factory closed. Handbag designer Charlotte Elizabeth, a small firm supported by The Prince’s Trust charity, warns of long waits and unprecedented demand now that Markle is part of the equation.

American Susan Kelley, founder of whatkatewore.com, said Markle has proved to be more cognisant of the impact of her choices than the Duchess of Cambridge. That may be because as a former actress, she brings to her new public role a greater sensitivity to the messages sartorial selections contain.

“I think Meghan understands sartorial diplomacy and understands it to the level that she wants to expose smaller artisanal brands to the general public,” Kelley said. “It’s a tremendous economic driver, a tourism driver and a platform to draw attention to the charitable endeavors they think are important.”

Anyone who has been sucked into this vortex can vouch for the impact of even an unplanned product sighting. Just ask Raegan Moya-Jones, co-founder of aden + anais, a baby products company based in New York.

After the world got a 45-second look at newborn Prince George in one of the company’s signature muslin swaddles five years ago, aden + anais’ website crashed within four hours. The next day, the site crashed again, Moya-Jones recalled. The company had 7,000 orders — a 600 percent increase in sales — in nine days for the “royal swaddle” that popped up in search engines.

Moya-Jones, who is originally from Australia, said that while it is a wonderful thing “to be able to drop into conversation that you dressed the royal baby,” the tsunami of attention ended almost as quickly as it began.

“The royal effect doesn’t guarantee you success,” she said. “But it’s a lovely notch in the belt.”

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow