The latest chapter of the Netflix Harry & Meghan the docuseries is another bomb dropped in the royal pond, heavy with choice words from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as they detail exactly how and why their time in the UK came to such a controversial end. But in its quieter moments, the series harkens back to a time when Meghan’s entrance into the royal machine still seemed welcome, if not embraced. In episode 4 of the duo’s series, part of a massive financial deal with the streaming giant, the couple shares tender memories of their gorgeous May 19, 2018, ceremony at St. George’s Chapel, featuring never-before-seen images of the celebration, which an estimated 29 million Americans watched live in the US (Some estimates place the worldwide viewership number at 1.9 billion.)
“I just remember thinking, ‘Just take a deep breath and keep going,’” Meghan says of her walk down the aisle, during which she wore a dress designed by Givenchy artistic director Clare Waight Keller, and walked arm-in-arm with her soon-t0-be father-in-law, Prince Charles. “Harry’s dad is very charming. And I said to him, ‘Like, I’ve lost my dad in all of this.’ So him as my father-in-law was really important to me. So I asked him to walk me down the aisle, and he said yes.”
Alongside footage and photography from the ceremony, voiceover from Harry and Meghan describes how the two of them kept calm amidst the monumental pressure—an obvious but not inaccurate foreshadowing of their attitude toward the drama to come.
“The world was watching us, but when we were actually at the altar, as far as I was concerned, it was just the two of us,” Harry said.
Adds Meghan,“H and I are really, really good at finding each other in the chaos,” Meghan says. “When we find each other, we reconnect to be like, ‘Oh, it’s you. It’s you.’ It’s not that the rest of it doesn’t matter, but…the rest of it feels temporary.”
As part of the celebration, the royal family hosted Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir to sing Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me,” a moment that was not lost on Prince Harry and Meghan’s friend and podcaster Dhru Purohit. During an interview in episode 4, he says, “We had this massive moment where myself, Oprah, Idris Elba, and his partner, we all looked at each other for a brief moment and had a little bit of a chuckle. And nobody needed to say anything, because everybody knew exactly the layers of symbolism that were taking place that day.”
But perhaps the biggest delight of episode 4 inside look at the wedding day is a peek inside the couple’s reception, which took place at St. George’s Hall. In chic flash photography, the couple sashay to their first dance song, “Land of 1000 Dances” by Wilson Pickett, and stand apart from the crowd to take in a breathtaking fireworks display. “I was just spinning like a whirlwind,” Meghan said of the moment. “It was so great.” The photographs from that night serve as an uncanny reminder of the hope surrounding the couple’s union—and a harsh contrast to the ugliness that soon follows.
Associate Editor
Lauren Puckett-Pope is an associate editor at ELLE, where she covers film, TV, books and fashion.
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