We learned last week that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will not be going on their honeymoon right away, just after the wedding. They scheduled an event – their first as a married couple – for a week after the wedding, so they’re possibly planning on a JUNE honeymoon, maybe? Who knows. I sort of understand that idea, of putting off the honeymoon, just because the wedding is probably going to be super-stressful in general, and they’ll just want a few days or weeks to decompress and de-stress before they think about packing and planes and security and all of that. So we’re now hearing about where Harry and Meghan will actually go immediately following the wedding. Their first night as husband and wife will likely be spent at Windsor Castle:
The wedding night is a special ending to the big day and most newlyweds take the chance to sneak away from the guests for some alone time. But for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, that’s not so easy. The royal newlyweds will be spending their first night as husband and wife at Windsor Castle. Which is, of course, the home of Prince Harry’s granny, the Queen.
Harry and Meghan will tie the knot at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle on May 19 in a ceremony beginning at Midday. There will then be a reception at St George’s Hall before the couple move on to a private party hosted by Prince Charles at Frogmore House and attended by 200 guests. When they have had enough of partying – and if Harry’s past exploits are anything to go by it could be a late one – they won’t want to travel far. Instead they will hop in a car for the half a mile journey from Frogmore to Windsor Castle.
So the wedding night at Windsor Castle, which I completely understand… although the castle grounds are huge and surely the Queen could spare a cozy little cottage so they could have some privacy? Then again, it’s also likely that Meg and Harry will be partying all night long and probably won’t even sleep that much (or have wedding night/dawn sex). So where will they go to decompress in the days, weeks and months after the wedding? From the Daily Mail’s Girl About Town:
With their wedding just days away, I hear that a cottage on the glorious Great Tew Estate in Oxfordshire has been earmarked as a temporary post-nuptial haven for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Locals tell me that ‘heavy security measures’, including cameras, were put in place last week at the Cotswold property on the estate owned by one of David Cameron’s best friends.
It is just a short walk from the exclusive country club where Meghan hosted her hen party in March. And it is practically next door to the nine-bedroom home recently bought by David and Victoria Beckham, who will be among the guests at the Windsor wedding on May 19. My source on the estate – owned by multi-millionaire landowner Nicholas Johnston – tells me the cameras, gates and other security measures are being beefed up because the Royal couple plan to rent the property for ‘at least a year’ while Meghan eases into married life.
A year in Oxfordshire will also allow plenty of time for work to be completed on the home earmarked for them by the Queen – York Cottage at Sandringham – which needs extensive renovation and is said to be haunted.
Says my source: ‘The word is that the couple will retreat to this rented home at the weekends while they wait to be awarded a Sandringham house. They chose it knowing the Beckhams would be next door. And Harry, being a music fan, will be able to pop down the road to the Cornbury Festival in the summer.’
This is one of the reasons why I wish the Queen would “give” properties to an engaged couple a lot sooner. I get that she wants it to be a nice gift and a nice surprise for the wedding, and I get that there’s always a possibility of a runaway bride situation, but still: if the Queen already knows that she’s going to give them York Cottage, then the renovations should have already been happening for months. But whatever… maybe they’ll rent the Great Tew Estate, maybe not.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Backgrid, and PCN.
If they want to avoid a runaway bride, a haunted castle (cottage) is probably not the way to go lol
There’s also a headline on The Fail (I know…hanging head in shame) that TQ is renovating Apt. 1 in KP for them. There are pics with scaffolding around the property. That would make them neighbors with WK. Wonder how true this is (considering the source)….?
Why wouldn’t it be true? Will and Kate moved into a big apartment and I’m sure Harry will live in a bigger one, too. Cue the taxpayer money moans. Oh, maybe the taxpayer complaints don’t matter in this case because it’s Meghan and Harry!
Everyone seems to believe the source when it has something to do with Kate or Will. Interesting..
@LL, interesting indeed. Ha! Pot meet kettle 🙂
As 6th in line to the throne, Harry and meghan should get the same apartment that Eugenie or Beatrice will get when married. Why would he get bigger?
He certainly shouldn’t get anything like what William gets. Hey, I think monarchy is ludicrous and these scroungers should be thrown out on their ears, but if you believe in royalty, the heir and 6th in line should not get anything comparable.
@Veronica T. Because Harry is the heir’s kid and Eugenie and Beatrice are not. Basically, Charles can make it happen and Andrew can’t. If he could, he would. Those are the real rules of royalty.
Why constantly rail against a patriarchy acting like a patriarchy? The spoils go to the first born and that line, and continues to do so in the aristocracy. Charles and his sons will be the working royal family for the next 30 years. Andrew and his line will not. The other grandchildren have been set up with real estate (foreign and domestic), trust funds, etc.
If these two are getting Apartment 1, what they are getting is much less than what the heir is getting. It is currently occupied by 25th in line to the throne, while Harry is 6th.
Makes sense it is true for the potential King Henry Wales & Princess Wales.
I don’t believe H&M are going to live in York Cottage. It’s a rabbit warren of small rooms filled with staff, directly on a public road. No way. They are going to shop for a country home near Soho House. That is the center of their social life, and where they met. It’s where they are renting now.
Can’t wait for the lifetime movie
I forgot about that! I bet it’s going to be awful in a good way. I’m going to watch the hell out of it!
Me, too. I am shamelessly going to watch all the HM stuff leading up to the wedding 😊 Got my popcorn, stocked up on my favorite wine, and will get tea and scones for the morning of the wedding 😊
Let’s get this show on the road!
Me too! I can’t wait for this wedding. So much awful stuff going on in the world, for me this wedding is going to be chocolate and whipped cream for the brain. And I need the sugar rush! I have no hate for Meghan or Harry and I’m just dying for a few hours of fluff and pretty dresses and nothing that makes me think.
Oh, I am so ready for this wedding!
I’ll be watching right along with you all! Still haven’t decided on my tea menu, but champagne is definitely on the list. Here’s a recipe for lemon elderflower cake with US measurements if any one is adventurous enough to attempt it. If you’re not a baker, The Republic of Tea has an elderflower herbal.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/royal-wedding-cake/16403/?utm_term=.ce7460ddd6e6
Count me in, I have actually been ready since like in 2000longago 🙂 My popcorn is ready, my Canadian gingerly is on ice, just waiting for the day, I don’t care about anything else. I got some cheese nachos here, Im all set! Bring on the Megarry!
Me too! 🤗
PrincessK, are you and your girls still going? Or have you decided to stay home and enjoy it on tv?
@nota….We ARE going 😀. Bed and Breakfast is booked and so are our rail tickets. I actually wrote to the Lord Lieutenant to see if we could get in the grounds to watch the arrivals and departures from the Chapel, a polite reply but no luck. So we will do a recce Friday evening to see what would be the best spot. Stuck out on the Long Walk looks very boring to me, I want to be as close to the action as possible. Any suggestions on what the best positions would be on the route? Would it be better to get a spot near to the start of the carriage procession or at the end?
I admit I want to watch all the tacky coverage leading up to the wedding. I’ll probably be up all night for the actual wedding. Gonna be wedding drunk.
LOL, I’m working a 12 hour day on 18th and 12hr night on 19th. My plan is get home about 9.30pm ET, go straight to bed for about 6-7 hours, wake up and stay up till maybe…I don’t know! I just calculated the time difference and I probably sleep about 3 hours before I go in for my night shift!! Ill be alright, I think, LOL. Be still my heart!
Maybe they’re not going on their honeymoon right away because Meghan’s parents are in the Country, and they want to spend time with them.
That’s what I was thinking. She probably has quite a few guests traveling overseas for the wedding, so why not take a few days relaxing with everyone? They have tons of flexibility with their work schedules (to a point), so spreading out the wedding festivities won’t be a big deal. They don’t have to worry about limited vacation days or finding someone to cover their shifts when they leave town.
“I’ve used up all my sick days, have to get back.”
@Minx: LOL – can you imagine? “Hey, can someone cover my shift next week? I promise I can help you out when I get back!”
This is what I was thinking as well, she probably won’t be able to spend too much alone time with them leading up to the wedding so I am sure once everything has calmed down she would like some down time to spend with her family and friends.
We had a similar scenario at our wedding, I had several family members fly to Canada from all over Europe so we took our honeymoon 2 weeks after the wedding so we could spend time with them.
That would make sense. There are a couple of royal events coming up in June; we’ll have to see if they attend either. Trooping on June 9th (I’d expect them at this), Royal Ascot June 19-23 (if they go, maybe only for Ladies Day?). That would leave June 10 – 19 for a possible honeymoon.
Harry tends to take the summer off to do wild life conservation projects. Usually July and August. It’s ideal for honeymoon.
Oh, then that makes sense Lak. They probably will hang around, take care of Meghan’s family that’ll be in town, its an opportunity for Harry’s in-laws to get to now him a bit as well, then take off July August, sounds like a neat enough plan to me!
LAK, a 2 month honeymoon should make the plebes happy with them. 😉 Hiw much extra will that security cost?
All the royals in the BRF disappear for two months in the summer. Some June and July, others July and August. Will be interesting to see if a visit to Sentebale is on the cards.
It’s not going to be York Cottage anyway as it’s on the public path so little to no privacy . I think they’ll avoid the Norfolk route anyway & stick to Cotswolds as its closer to London & Highgrove. I expect a new purchase by the Queen, not one on an existing estate.
Unlikely. York Cottage has a pretty lake. After renovations, the place could be lovely.
Assuming that the reports about Meghan flying into the States to visit her Mother were incorrect, after the wedding would be a good time for Meghan to catch up with both her and parents and wedding guests. And, it would be give Harry and opportunity to get to know his in laws.
They are working a few days after the wedding and I am sure she will be spending some time with friends and family. They will have an extended honeymoon eventually.
Good on them.
I am really having a hard time why showing up for a charity for an hour or so, is WORK!!!!!
it’s what royals do
I think one reason why their honeymoon is ‘delayed’ is because of Meghan’s Visa…
W&K also delayed their honeymoon by two weeks. These two are expected to attend Invictus Games in Australia (October), so if there are visa issues I’m sure they would be figured out.
WK had to delay their honeymoon because the days after their wedding there was a high security alert that grounded all unnecessary travel of VIPs.
I want to say it was Libya and Syria, but there was more to it than just that bombing campaign.
I remember Will and Kate’s honeymoon pics were published. Gross invasion of privacy. They’ll probably choose somewhere more private with no prying eyes.
LL: WK’s pics were published a year after the fact and the general consensus amongst the reporters was that it was an approved leak after the year long embargo on them. And even then, only to international media. UK media refused to publish them because it was the height of the Leveson Inquiry.
We were also told that he had to get back to “work”. Seeing as they rented out the entire resort for 10 days and took about a dozen friends with them on the honeymoon? I would be surprised if there had been any rescheduling done due to security concerns.
Nota: I do remember distinctly that they had to postpone for security reasons. It was an understandable reason too.
Minx just reminded me downthread…..Bin Laden was killed that same weekend which caused the high alert.
After news got out about the death, WK changed their plans and the Palace announced that they would stay home and he would go back to work the following week instead of the planned 2wks he’d already been given and announced to the media before the wedding. In this case, they had a genuine reason to postpone. Some media from then….
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/244395/Is-swoop-on-Bin-Laden-the-reason-why-Prince-William-and-Kate-delayed-their-honeymoon
Meghan is an American, can go anywhere, ‘have passport will travel.’
If it takes five years to become a British citizen, with parents in another Country, she will need her US passport, and who knows if she will even give up her US citizen.
With the World so crazy, I would hang on to it.
Not sure I’m so envious of their royal cottage upon learning it is probably haunted lol (but then a lot of places in England probably are, every thing is so old there compared to the US). I can’t say 100% sure I believe in ghosts but I watch the supernatural/unsolved mysteries Buzzfeed videos hosted by Ryan and Shane. I made the mistake of watching The Exorcism of Anneliese Michel episode yesterday (the exorcism case that inspired the movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose)… They included audio recordings of the exorcism in which you can hear the priest speaking to the supposedly “possessed” Anneliese and omg it was so disturbing (and I suggest you do NOT look up the full audio recordings on Youtube, they are there but just hearing just part of it left me not wanting to listen to anymore of it).
ANYWAYS off topic but I hear renovations usually stirs up spirits in haunted locations so I guess good luck Meghan!!!
Lol, Amelie, I thought so too until I renovated my house and the “odd” sightings and happenings stopped. I guess my unseen roommates approved of my color scheme 🙂
LOL Amelie, funny. In early 2007, my kids were cleared to move to Canada. Back then, before they arrived, I was renting a one bedroom basement apartment and when the kids arrived, the landlady allowed us all to get crammed into that apartment but for just 3 weeks, expectation was I’d find something in 3 weeks and so we did. We finally found an old little bungalow that had just been renovated on the upstairs but the landlord said he had no intention of doing any work on the basement, so we put in an application and got accepted right away. When we were moving in, one neighbor dropped by to say hello and (I guess to inform us that our new little home was haunted) told us that the place had been on the marked for ever but no-one wanted it, because it was believed that the house was haunted. Needless to say, my kids were all spooked (I was too) but I told everyone, the ghosts are gonna have to move as we weren’t gonna go nowhere. It was a perfect place, centrally located to schools, all amenities and everything, the landlord wasn’t asking for tons of references that I didn’t have so, I said to the kids, we are staying right here. In the following few days and weeks, we used to hear footsteps and strange noises in the basement etc. I kept just telling the ghosts, we weren’t going anywhere as we had nowhere to go and eventually everything just stopped. We lived in the house for 5 years with nothing happening to any of us. I have a strong feeling that the noises we used to hear were probably little critters maybe trapped in the basement floor or something, not sure. Long story short, Harry and Meghan are gonna be just fine, even in their little haunted home, they gonna be fine. Just tell the ghosts to move if they want, otherwise get used to co-habiting. the ghosts will move to somewhere else since they hate sharing. 🙂
Ooooh my god, @Amelie, listen. I’m a complete skeptic, especially over the past couple of years or so. I watch Buzzfeed Unsolved, and I generally tend to fall on the Shaniac side of the scale (also, those EVPs are awful, I NEVER hear any of the things I’m supposed to hear on them and it drives me insane, as does the spirit box).
HOWEVER, that freaking Anneliese MIchel episode. I slept with the lights on after I watched that and I kept trying to put off sleep but couldn’t. I woke up at 4 because my dad was getting ready to leave for work and he came in to turn the light off since he thought I’d left it on by mistake, and my first honest thought was that he was the devil and my time had come. ;_; Whatever that poor girl went through was awful. Awful.
I’m not surprised re: the honeymoon. Will and Kate did the same thing in 2011 (although they did go somewhere for a night or two immediately after the wedding.) I think they will definitely be at Trooping the Colour so they will either “delay” the honeymoon by a few days to a week and then go away for a week before that event, or they will go afterwards.
Most of the royal family take the month of August off so maybe they’ll go then.
WK delayed their honeymoon because of a global security threat. I think it was Libya, but i recall a spike in the security levels during the days immediately after their wedding which made it impossible for them to fly anywhere internationally.
Osama bin Laden was killed that same weekend, so there was a lot of agitation.
Minx: That’s It!!
Thanks for the reminder.
That could be why, it could not be. We were told he was scheduled to work. They rented out the entire resort for 10 days and took a dozen friends with them. Maybe they rescheduled the whole thing due to security; maybe they had always planned to leave two weeks after the wedding.
Some royals don’t pay attention to security concerns and do what they want anyway. After terrorist attacks in France, the king and queen of Belgium stayed on at a spa in France having their vacation. It wasn’t until someone (staff, security?) released pictures of them lounging around, costing extra in French security to watch them in the midst of the crisis, that they went home to Belgium.
Nota: Before the wedding, it was announced that he had already been given 2weeks off for the honeymoon, location secret.
On the morning after the wedding, it was announced that he would be going back to work that week in contradiction of the earlier announcement.
Bin Laden was killed at some point that night, so his changed announcement wasn’t surprising because the news was all about high target VIPs being grounded for international travel due to the high security spike caused by the death. WK’s postponed honeymoon was mentioned as a casualty of the high security alert.
Bin Laden was considered the top prioriry on the wanted list. ISIS hadn’t arisen yet, and the Syrian / Libyan wars were not yet the security risks they were to become. By the time of the French attacks, a much more measured response to these risks had been developed. Life goes on.
Found some articles from those early days post-wedding speculating on the delayed honeymoon and the fact that it was a surprise change of plans.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/244395/Is-swoop-on-Bin-Laden-the-reason-why-Prince-William-and-Kate-delayed-their-honeymoon
https://www.eonline.com/ca/news/241259/source-osama-bin-laden-death-detours-the-royal-honeymoon
I can’t wait for the wedding day!!! After the brides dress, I’m most interested in what Doria and Camilla will wear. I loved Camilla’s coat dress for W&K’s wedding, the colors were gorgeous and the style suits her so well. I can’t even imagine picking out a mother-of-the-bride dress for a royal wedding with a hat to match! My son’s getting married next month and I have no idea what to wear, luckily it’s a small, backyard wedding so I don’t have to get too dressed up but I still want to look nice.
Congratulations! Backyard weddings are beautiful, and I’m sure you’ll find something perfect to wear.
Thanks!!!
I am almost over it. Which is what happened with Will and Kate’s wedding as well. I was ready to see Kate Moss get married.
The press is overdoing it again. KP is also overdoing it. Between hm and wk baby it’s royal overload. I am sure I’m still gonna watch part of it. I wanna see the dress, of course. And the kiss.
We married in August and went on our honeymoon in October. Had out town family we knew we wouldn’t see again for quite a while, so we delayed. No big deal.
Their life is pretty much one big vacation, so why this is a thing, I have no idea.
I bet Harry and Meghan will be much more active in doing charity work than William and Kate ever were. Just a hunch. I can’t wait for them to have a baby! Now that the wedding is about to happen, I need to know there’s some more good news to follow after the wedding. Some days I have news whiteouts because it’s all too much and too depressing to look at. This royal couple is like a supernova of joy, good will, humanity and beauty. They are an antidote to the pall that has fallen over this country (the U.S.) since the advent of Trump. Great Britain, this is our new special relationship: admiration for this felicitous royal couple.
They won’t be allowed to outshine Wills and Kate.
And to me, it’s just another example of how inherited wealth leads to people who are clueless, entitled and selfish. Add in that they did nothing to earn any of this, and my american sensibilites get going.
They’ve started off well. During the engagement period, Kate Middleton did 4 engagements plus giggle her way through signing a condolence book. Meghan Markle did over two dozen engagements. Let’s hope it is a case of beginning as you mean to go on.
The CC posted her engagements. She’s pulled off 28 altogether. Each day took in several engagements and that added up.
WK showed us how they meant to carry on. One engagement per day every month. They’ve continued to do the practise of one engagement a day except when they have an away day.
*sarcasm voice* Maybe when she change religions and got a baptism she had a re-virginism.(That people actually do.) And they may do they whole medieval Wedding bed blessing and ritual. ** Who knows? They have all these antiquated ceremonies to legitimize a couple who have been knocking boots for years. A civil service is all they need.
@Cindy, how long had William and Kate, Charles and Camilla, Eugenie and Jack etc etc..how long had /have they been bumping uglies before their wedding(s)? And which of them had civil service because of how long they’d been boinking? Just asking!
“This is one of the reasons why I wish the Queen would “give” properties to an engaged couple a lot sooner. I get that she wants it to be a nice gift and a nice surprise for the wedding, and I get that there’s always a possibility of a runaway bride situation, but still: if the Queen already knows that she’s going to give them York Cottage, then the renovations should have already been happening for months.”
I’m sure they’re not suffering for comfortable accommodations regardless.
I would just save a wish for myself.
And really, they just got engaged 6 month’s ago! How much more quickly could the Queen have gifted the poor homeless dears a home???
Charles (or rather The Duchy) bought and renovated an estate for W&K back in 2007, before they had one of their many breakups. Eventually ended up at Anmer and 1A, so that other estate is rented out by someone else. Even with a couple together for a decade before marrying, things didn’t go as planned housing-wise.
@perplexed – There may be a situation of an “ex-bride” somewhere down the road, but a “runaway bride”? Not a chance 🙂
I’m always amazed at the passivity of Britons, who have especially in London got this terrible housing crisis, when millions are spent on renovations for one privileged couple – it is my understanding, because it was talked about when William and Kate’s “apartment” (nothing like “apartments” in Brooklyn) was renovated and went far over budget. Now, that money came out of the Sovereign Grant, and as I understand it, the SG is taxpayer money, government money, isn’t it? Apologies if this has been explained ten times by British posters. But, I mean, if that is the case, why weren’t there protests outside fgs?!
All I get from this is that nobody really knows what is happening. Nobody knows about the dress, the guests, the housing, the honeymoon etc. What we can “know” is that:
1.They will get a bigger apartment at KP as it has been in talks for years. Say what you will but Harry is the son of the future king of England and the brother of the future king. His father will take care of him and his brother also.
2.He will be given a country house as his brother.
3.He will have a bankrolled life by his father and grandmother and will have money set apart just for him and a lot. William will inherit the Dutchy and next will inherit the Crown so they will make sure Harry has money of his own.
4.They will work as all the royals work. Their main work is to maintain the looks of the institution they represent. So ceremonies, ribbon cutting etc. Don’t ever expect them to do a real work as 9-5. They are and always will be privileged. Even his children probably will be a little.
5.I envy them. Yes I know about the fishbowl life etc but if you pay attention they can actually disappear for months on end and nobody knows where they go or what they do.
@Egla – this! The real bottom line . . .