The euphoria filling Twitter, Facebook and Instagram sounded familiar. ‘It’s a new dawn!’ ‘A new day!’ ‘A new era!’ ‘Love wins!’
The wedding of Meghan Markle, American actress, and Prince Henry, sixth in line to the British throne, was many things. It was cinematic in its beauty (the 11th century castle, grand florals, uniformed pageantry and adoring crowds.) It was historic (the first time an openly biracial woman, a self-identifying person of colour, married into the Windsor family.) It was dramatic (Who will make the dress? Who will walk the bride down the aisle? What’s the latest with the dad?) And it was starry (Oprah! Elton! Idris! Serena!)
But it was most surprisingly a strong social statement, bordering on the political, wrapped in one of the most glamorous fairy tale narratives of modern times.
Only, this fairy tale was deceptive because the castle and the dress were instead a conduit to a very contemporary story of much greater substance. It’s telling that one of the most talked about images from the weekend was not of the bride and groom, but a photo of Meghan and her mom, Doria Ragland, a black American woman with dreadlocks and a nose ring, riding in a chauffeured car down the Long Walk to St George’s Chapel.
I watched them pass by from a news studio just outside the castle where I was covering the day. The cheering —women, men and children of all backgrounds whooping ‘Meghan! Doria!’ as if they were at a music festival — was deafening. Mother had become as big a star as daughter. And the image of two women of colour from LA heading towards that castle was profound.
It could have been easy for Meghan, now HRH Duchess of Sussex, to lose herself in the allure of embroidered tulle, grand titles and the plush privilege of English aristocracy. She could have smiled, waved and let The Dress (beautifully designed by Clare Waight Keller of Givenchy) do all the talking.
Instead, she and Harry chose to put race and feminism, two of the most polarising topics of our time, at the centre of their big day. And in the process, they created a wedding that was equal parts celebration and rebuke.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex opted out of inviting political leaders to their weddings. And the royal family have had a longstanding no-politics policy. But one couldn’t ignore the potency in a black American minister from Chicago, Bishop Michael Curry, delivering a sermon that talked about antebellum slavery and quoted Dr Martin Luther King Jr to an audience that included the Queen, a woman whose country was once the world’s biggest slave trader.
Mull over that for a minute: A descendant of slaves preaching to the descendants of the colonisers’ rulers. And this, in the wake of nationwide outcries over the hostile treatment of the Windrush generation.
A known advocate of racial and LGBTQ equality, Bishop Curry’s words, stole the show: ‘Imagine governments and nations where love is the way. Imagine business and commerce when love is the way. Imagine this tired old world when love is the way.’
The nods to blackness didn’t end there. A performance of Stand By Me from the Kingdom Choir led by Karen Gibson, resplendent in silver cornrows, followed. Later, the choir sang Etta James’ version of ‘Amen/This Little Light Of Mine,’ their voices echoing throughout the church halls as Meghan and Harry made their way down the chapel steps to a horse-drawn carriage.
And for a second, as I watched it all on an outdoor monitor, I thought I was back home in Virginia sitting through a service at my childhood church.
Meghan might not have had as many relatives in the building, but the ceremony was just as much about her forebears as it was Harry’s. And not just Meghan’s own personal history, but the story of a people.
The presence of Doria, seated alone and quietly wiping away tears, and a diverse and starry stream of guests including Oprah Winfrey, Idris Elba, Serena Williams, Priyanka Chopra and Gina Torres inspired a wave of Tweets and memes: were the royals ready for all this blackness?
The same could also be asked about Meghan’s feminist leanings. She’s made traditionalists nervous with a string of independent woman moves from her decision to give a speech at her reception (not the done thing in England) to the plans to make her grand entrance into the chapel alone, rather than on the arm of any man.
Even her choice in dress — there were two, designed by two prominent, women British designers Keller and Stella McCartney — was laced with feminist subtext. All signs that imply this isn’t a woman who plans to leave her outspoken voice — one she’s used in the past to write about feminism, race and identity for ELLE — at the registrar.
And so far, the Palace seems to be behind her. Her newly revealed page on the family’s official website goes into detail about Meghan’s ‘lifelong commitment to causes such as social justice and women’s empowerment,’ links through to an article she wrote on menstrual health and gives special pull quote placement to her words: ‘I am proud to be a woman and a feminist.’ When was the last time a royal’s biography page mentioned any of those topics?
All of the above inspired a wave of social media consensus that change is in the air. But is it really? It’s hard not to remember the groundswell of rapture and relief when Barack and Michelle Obama entered the White House, prompting many to claim the world had reached a post-racial new chapter. Despite eight years of progress, when their time as President and First Lady ended and a new administration moved in, the world seemed more divided than ever.
With their wedding taking place exactly one week after a UN official declared that racism in the UK has increased following the Brexit vote, it’s naive to imagine the union of one bi-racial American and one British royal could suddenly change the tide. Still, it has inspired a wave of much needed dialogue about race in a country that has historically been uncomfortable with the subject. And has shown an even brighter light on women’s equality at a time when the pay gap and Times Up prove the movement to be as important as ever.
Looking back on this weekend, there was something undeniably moving about witnessing disparate cultures coming together and revealing surprising commonalities in the process (for one, royal wedding hats are virtually identical to black church hats.) It might not be a new day, as so many on Instagram enthused, but the beauty of Meghan and Harry’s celebration of love and inclusivity certainly gave a hopeful glimpse at how that could look.
