to think Prince Harry may have married in secret? <sleb/royal twaddle>

[smthngStupid]

Just a hunch - do you think it's likely or even possible??

He lost his place in the line of succession for marrying a Catholic, presumably he knew this would happen prior to the wedding, so marrying abroad/ having approval wasn't an issue. He was reinstated in 2013 when the rules changed so royals could now marry Catholics, but by then he was only 45th in line to the throne.

I think it's more serious than succession.

If I've understood properly, not getting the consent means the marriage wouldn't exist in the UK at all.

Who gives a flying fuck what Harry is doing?
Pretty low on my radar, to be honest. Why would you care?

Given that Meghan is an actor and has had a big social media profile pre-Harry I don't think she would shy away from a big public wedding.

The marriage would stand, it would not be annulled (but yes he would out of the line of succession which he doesnt want to be in anyway). Could you imagine what a PR disaster it would be for the The Firm if that happened?! If they did a Vegas wedding then the Queen would have to say that she had approved it given that Harry is currently the most popular royal, she would have no choice.

FYI, Edward had a semi private wedding. The service was televised but there was no pomp and ceremony, no Westminster Abbey/lining of the streets going on. They got married in the private chapel (St Georges?) at.....Windsor I think, and that was it. The rest of it was completely private and I think that that would be the compromise that Harry would go for if he was to go for an official wedding.

I think, perhaps, that nobody will be all that bothered. I'm not bothered who harry marries. I don't know anybody who is bothered who harry marries. Maybe Wills might have a say in it.

I don't know anybody who is all that bothered about royalty, or who thinks that they are anything special. Of course, they are no worse and no better than any of us, They just have oodles more money and loads of servants,

I'd very much like to have servants who bring my breakfast to me, and clean my kitchen. And clean my shower etc after I've used it.
And clean my dirty cooker. Even if it was my servants who dirtied it,

Unfortunately for me, I am not important enough for folks to rush forward for that job. So forgive me if I don't give a flying fuck who harry may or may not be marrying. He will have an easy life whomsoever he marries. Fact.

Why is anybody imagining that Harry's wedding will be a big 'thing'
It won't. He will do it quietly, away from the press. It won't be a big state thing. Mark my words.

If I've understood properly, not getting the consent means the marriage wouldn't exist in the UK at all.

It doesn't mean that anymore. Prince Michael of Kent got permission to marry, so his marriage was valid, he kept his HRH and his title. However, his wife being Catholic meant he lost his place in the line of succession.

Really? But then what was all the fuss over old Ernst?

I do love a bit of constitutional knottiness. It's like debating the law and etiquette of Middle Earth

The media will make it a big thing jubbly. I went abroad for the last one and still there was no escape.

He is so far down the line of succession, I imagine it will be along the lines of the Zara and Mike wedding.

But she's mixed race. So everyone will be dog whistling madly about that. Or openly celebrating it.

There is no way senior members would oppose the marriage, that's a horrific thing to think.

They're much more an ordinary family when it comes to stuff like that. I mean they're rich as Midas but they're still normal humans.

They're not aliens or lizards

Any secret marriage would be invalid and annulled, and he probably wouldn't be allowed to marry the same bride if he then went through proper channels

What shit. How much power do you think the queen really has? If he complies with the legal formalities for marriage here or abroad, it is a legal marriage. The fact that his gran doesn't approve is neither here nor there.

But no, I doubt he has got married. Maybe he doesn't even want to get married.

What would be really refreshing is if they set up home and mad babies together without getting married.

@SerfTerf In 1999 it was required to get permission. Ernst mainly asked for permission as that way his family still kept the permission to ask for the suspended dukedoms back. Although Ernst lost his place in the line as Caroline is catholic (he has it back now).

Just a hunch

Based on what?

Who gives a flying fuck what Harry is doing?
Pretty low on my radar, to be honest. Why would you care?

Gotta love those posters who see a very descriptive thread title, click on it, read it, then make the effort to post a suitably superior comment to say that they have no interest in the topic of the thread 😂😂😂😂

What shit. How much power do you think the queen really has?

It is Royal Protocol that the first 5 people in the line of succession have to receive permission from the Queen to get married. Harry is number 5. If he doesn't ask permission - something will have to happen, otherwise Royal Protocol is broken - and if you can break one...
The Royal family only exist because of an archaic sense of tradition, when your entire existence and way of life rests on tradition you don't fuck lightly with that.

The Queen is the head of the Church of England, which Harry is, nominally at least, a member. If the Queen doesn't recognise the marriage, then the church doesn't.

Did Prince Michael even have to get permission? He must have been well below 5 at the time; The Queen already had 4 children, then Princess Margaret, then her children. Giving up his place in the succession was hardly a sacrifice!

It is Royal Protocol that the first 5 people in the line of succession have to receive permission from the Queen to get married. Harry is number 5. If he doesn't ask permission - something will have to happen, otherwise Royal Protocol is broken

Right, well please point me to the legislation that says that any marriage without consent would be legally void (which is what a pp said and which my comment was in response to). There may well be consequences within the royal family, but that does not mean that the marriage is legally invalid.

Personally I cannot wait until Charles and Camilla ascend the throne, Charles starts throwing his weight around in the political arena and the public finally wakes the hell up and realises that a monarchy has zero place in the 21st century.

The Queen is the head of the Church of England, which Harry is, nominally at least, a member. If the Queen doesn't recognise the marriage, then the church doesn't

Missed this bit. The church? Marriage is not a religious institution in this country (although you can get legally married in church). I am sure that the church doesn't 'recognise' same sex marriage either. Doesn't make it any less legal.

@icantreachthepretzels Prince Michael of Kent had to ask permission because back then all members did. Even Ernst August of Hanover did when he married Caroline of Monaco as without doing so he/his family would have lost their right to reclaim the titles they lost in 1917. Now it's only the first six in the line of succession.

@papafran The royal marriages act is the legislation. If some affected by the RMA doesn't get permission from the Queen then the only way for them to marry legally would be to ask the privy council then hope that parliament didn't object.

@Papafran every post that you have objected to have been mine. i just stated the rules. the rules for the royal family are different to the rules for the rest of us. It isn't a load of shit, and so far they have all had to be married in the Church of England (there being a big link between the 2 institutions - anyone married by another church has so far given up succession). Harry could get a quickie wedding at the registrars office but the royals wouldn't have to recognise it, in which case he couldn't continue as he is today or he couldn't stay married (much like Edward VIII.) Those are the rules that they have set for themselves.

If Harry breaks them - they might accept it and sweep the whole thing under the carpet, but they wouldn't have to - they could create a big stink. They have the power to change the rules (they keep doing it) and making them easier to live with, but i think Prince Harry would still very much be expected to work within the (now much more lax) rule system that exists at the moment.

@lalala thanks

Given that Meghan is an actor and has had a big social media profile pre-Harry I don't think she would shy away from a big public wedding.

I don't know. Her and Harry's relationship has been pretty low-key so far. I don't see why that would change.

I love how the press is getting hot under the collar about her being of mixed heritage. I think it's fabulous and might help bring some decent genes back into the mix after all the inbreeding of old.

He has already pretty much said that he sees the royal family diminishing after the Queen dies so I don't believe he thinks for one minute he will be King. I like him very much and hope he marries for love avscis very very happy.

He is totally already married! I can't believe it's been kept a secret so successfully for this long tbh. They even have a child together!

he is called Bobby Boy