Why Windsor? Tradition for all Princes/esses not of Wales?
Is that church 'the Royal Chapel" (not sure what that really means) separate from the (one of but the snazziest) churches for Windsor hoi polloi?
2.a. Is that why there a–the?–Dean of Windsor representing the diocese itself?
2.a.1. The Archbishop of Canterbury is required by British law to marry … whom?
The fourth clergyman…who was he? He looked Orthodox of some sort. Is that novel…I mean, there was no RC priest. Or was he invited like the American to take part in the service because the bride and groom wanted it?
The American was Baptist of some sort, I’m guessing. What denomination?
What were all the flags lining the church. I recognized the legs of Wales only.
2: It’s the private chapel of Windsor Castle, just as many an important landowner up and down the country still has a private chapel in their homes.
But:
2 supplementaries: there are no rules about which clergyman marries you in a church, provided they are appropriately licensed in law, but the Dean is there because it’s Windsor, and the Archbishop is there because it’s been customary for the royals
3: the captions identified him Archbishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in London, so no doubt there is some personal connection there
4: The American preacher is the Primate of the Episcopal Church in America - a bit more holy-rollerish than the CofE in style, but Anglican.
5: Those are the banners of the Knights of the Garter, one of the most exclusive honours, for whom St George’s is the “home” chapel.
Just a choice. Windsor is probably where the royals feel most at home, but great state occasions are usually held in Westminster Abbey.
It’s a royal chapel, but the public can attend normal religious services there most of the time. And visitors can wander round when there are no services.
2a The Dean of Windsor is the guy in charge of St George’s Chapel.
2b. Nobody.
He’s the Coptic Orthodox Archbishop of London. No idea why he was there.
Episcopal. Head of Episcopal Church in the USA.
Flags of the Knights of the Garter. The Chapel is the home of the Order of the Garter. Were you thinking of the Isle of Man, not Wales? The flag isn’t the flag of the Isle of Man either.
I saw this answered somewhere, the tradition is not to have adult bridesmaids, although I believe Kate had Pippa as a maid of honor or something like. I don’t remember where I read it but seemed it was not just a royal tradition but pretty much a Brit one.
A local parish vicar is required to marry any man and woman if one of them lives in the parish and neither of them have a living former spouse, but I think that’s the only scenario where a couple is entitled to be married by someone.
Yea, I remember Pippa helping Kate. The little kids were adorable today. I always heard kids steal the show at weddings. My youngest flower girl at my own wedding was my baby sister. She was 10.
Think of it this way - Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey are the Head Office of the monarch, and as such take centre stage for state or semi-state occasions such as the wedding of a future King (William).
Windsor Castle - and St George’s Chapel therein - is the more private weekend retreat of the monarch (Camp David if you like) and as such serves as the location of choice for more private royal occasions, such as this one.
St George’s Chapel is also where we now bury our monarchs.
It’s open to the public unless there’s a special event on.
Questions about the title -
Now that he’s married, he’s been made Duke of Sussex. If he’d never gotten married, would he never have gotten a dukedom?
Also, is there just a list of duchies lying around for the queen to give them out?
There is a list of ducal titles that are traditionally reserved for the royal sons and grandsons. Most of them are actually currently in use, due to the absence of wars, insurrections, and dynastic squabbles which traditionally trimmed the royal tree from time to time.
If you look at the Wikipedia articles for George III, Victoria, and George V, all of whom had several sons who got titles, you’ll get a pretty good list by skimming the “Issue” section of the info boxes.
It looks like Connaught, Albany and Clarence are the only traditional three not in use at the moment.
Missed the edit window: there’s also Cumberland, but it’s suspended under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917. The head of the House of Hanover, who is the most senior descendant in the male line from George III, technically could apply under that Act to have the title restored.
This is for Royals only, then? Because can’t everybody else march off to the local registrar?
ETA: I did misidentify the spinning legs. Just love that. On the other hand they could have a tailless cat as their herald (right word for the actual image thingy inside?) and that would be cool too.
What “rank” is a Dean? Is that slot in the CoE hierarchy below Bishop or something, for the Windsor parish–which is who you’d expect at such a big occasion, or does it mean “head of the flock who attend this particular building” (which sounds weird, I know, but I’m struggling…).
And then you’ve got Dean Swift, who as a cleric was a great writer, but neither of the above, as far as I know.
It is *convention *that the Archbishop presides over royal weddings, but he could have stayed home with his feet up if he had wanted, or if he had a serious objection to marrying a divorcee. I doubt that a vicar would be *obliged *to marry anyone, local or not
You can’t just walk into a register office and ask to get married either. In England and Wales, 28 days notice must be given to the Register Office before the marriage can take place. Both partners must be resident for seven days in England or Wales before notice is given. (Scotland has different rules)
In the Anglican Church, a Dean is a senior priest (but below the rank of Bishop), who is in charge of running a cathedral or large chapel, and is the supervisor of the other clergy and staff of that institution.
Swift was the Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin.
