The wedding of the year was this past weekend and if you are like me, you got up at six o’clock and started watching the star studded cast make their way into St. George Chapel and patiently waited until seven when Meghan Markle entered the church to become the Duchess of Sussex.
I’ve always been a huge Royal family fan, and with an African American actress marrying into the prim and proper world of British Royalty, I’m all ears.
Being shoved into the spotlight comes with its fair share of criticism, and Markle faced hers as she made her wedding plans. The wedding accommodated the mixing of the two different cultures. Markle, a biracial woman, wanted to include elements that reflected her culture into what is typically a very traditional royal wedding.
Bishop Michael Bruce Curry made history as the first-ever American to be invited to speak at a British royal wedding. He quoted Martin Luther king and made a passionate plea about love between any two people.  Just before the couple said their I do’s, The Kingdom choir, a gospel choir led by Karen Gibson, sang a rendition of the classic song “Stand by me”. The choir is also not from the United States they are is a multicultural group from Southeast England.
While an impassioned pastor and a fabulous choir are not uncommon at a wedding service, there was something remarkable about seeing old traditions blend with new ones for a beautifully crafted wedding.
As though the pastor and choir were not enough to showcase at this event,  19 year old cellist, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, also performed for the wedding guests. Mason won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Award in 2016. The child prodigy went down in history as the first black musician to earn that honor.
And while these things were beautiful and moving, it was clear that the media was not quite sure how to cover them.  In fact, some reports discussed that Harry’s family looked uncomfortable while the Bishop spoke about slavery to salvation.  Those covering the event described Curry as “much too loud and disrespectful” and “it’s supposed to be a family wedding.”
Of course this wasn’t a traditional wedding but what did you expect? Anyone with half a brain should have recognized that both backgrounds of Megan and Harry are equally important.  Frankly, finding a way to blend them in a meaningful and spiritual way speaks volumes about their character and about the values they have. And that IS royalty.