# Prince Harry Wedding Questions (theadapalooza!) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 19, 2018, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470 "2018-05-19T18:35:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/41 "2018-05-21T03:53:52Z")
Hey, I noticed that too. But I have seen a bunch of brown shod feet with dress clothes. And no socks. These young whippersnappers! My Daddy is probably turning over in his grave. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/42 "2018-05-21T06:41:33Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Bump: > > The cans tied to the back of the limo with the Just Married banner in the rear window. You’ve seen it in movies, right? Yes, I don’t think that’s a US thing. William and Kate had such things attached to their car when they drove off for the evening reception. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/43 "2018-05-21T07:39:32Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > 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) Scotland has had different rules for centuries, hence the quaint and charming fame of [Gretna Green](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gretna_Green) as a place for runaways to get snap marriages. As for St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, yes, sometimes the country houses of the aristocracy did have their own chapel, but one might note that Windsor Castle is not so much a house as a sort of campus, a collection of buildings that’s more like a fortified town, much of it dating back nearly a thousand years. The size of the place is just stunning. ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/44 "2018-05-21T10:45:11Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > As for St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, yes, sometimes the country houses of the aristocracy did have their own chapel, but one might note that Windsor Castle is not so much a house as a sort of campus, a collection of buildings that’s more like a fortified town, much of it dating back nearly a thousand years. The size of the place is just stunning. Explaining what St George’s Chapel is would be easier if its status wasn’t so unlike that of any other Anglican church. It is a royal peculiar, independent of the jurisdiction of the local bishop, but it isn’t one of the Chapels Royal. Its nearest equivalent is Westminster Abbey. The earliest chapel, of which fragments survive embedded in the fabric of the [Albert Memorial Chapel](http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1990358), which has the same footprint, was built as a chapel for the Royal Family and the royal household. But since at least the fourteenth century there has been a Chapel Royal for their use in the royal apartments in the Upper Ward. Since then members of the Royal Family have used St George’s only on special occasions, such as weddings, funerals and the Garter service. Just as importantly, Edward III gave the old chapel to the Order of the Garter and this was later extended to form the present chapel. As the chapel of the Garter, St George’s became a collegiate chapel served by a college comprising the Dean and some Canons. It had no congregation and it has never been a parish church. Its purpose was simply the performance of the daily round of church services. In a sense, it was a huge chantry chapel. So it was exactly the sort of religious institution that got closed down at the Reformation. Other royal collegiate foundations, such as St Stephen’s at Westminster, were suppressed. St George’s survived only because Henry VIII was keen to continue the Order of the Garter. The idea of the castle as a campus is a good one. But it is really two campuses split between the Upper and Lower Wards. As has been the case for centuries, the Lower Ward is very much the domain of the Dean and Canons. Most of the buildings in that bit of the castle are houses for them, for other staff of the Chapel and for the [Military Knights](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Knights_of_Windsor). There have been several chapels in the Upper Ward over the centuries. [The one built for Queen Victoria](http://www.british-towns.net/england/southern/windsor-and-maidenhead/windsor/album/the-private-chapel-windsor-castle-circa-1949) was completely destroyed by the 1992 fire, which had in fact started there. This was then replaced by [a much smaller one](https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/collection/933497/windsor-castle-the-private-chapel-after-the-restoration), which was inserted at the north-east corner of the Upper Ward. But it is said that the Queen usually attends [All Saints](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Chapel_of_All_Saints) in the Great Park. I think some of the members of the royal household who live in the castle prefer to use St George’s, but that’s mostly because it is closer. > [@GreenWyvern](#): > > The flag isn’t the flag of the Isle of Man either. It was presumably the banner of [Lord Boyce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Boyce,_Baron_Boyce). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/45 "2018-05-21T13:40:48Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > … > > 1. What were all the flags lining the church. I recognized the legs of Wales only. > > > [@APB](#): > > > > …[snip] > > > > It was presumably the banner of [Lord Boyce](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Boyce,_Baron_Boyce). [Ta-da!](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Garter#Armorial) Neat. What if you get chosen and don’t happen to have heraldic arms? ETA: Thanks, **APB** , for the time spent on providing cites. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/46 "2018-05-21T14:46:21Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > What if you get chosen and don’t happen to have heraldic arms? Just head off down to The College of Arms and design one. [http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/](http://www.college-of-arms.gov.uk/) ---
**Author:** ![APB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@APB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/APB)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/47 "2018-05-21T14:48:12Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > What if you get chosen and don’t happen to have heraldic arms? You get them granted to you. One of the two most recent appointments to the Garter, [Lady Mary Fagan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Fagan), doesn’t yet appear to have a coat of arms. But she’s doubtless already having discussions with the heralds so that she has one in time for her installation next month. One of the implicit conditions in accepting the Garter is that, if necessary, you apply for a coat of arms (which don’t come cheap). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/48 "2018-05-21T15:32:56Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Don’t have one. All I said was “there better be.” 🙂 There better not be. Marriage laws are state. No federal laws exist. If your sentences can be parsed, I think the answer to the question you’re asking is that all marriages in the U.S. in all states are civil. Church officials can be officiants, as can non-church people, but all marriages are legally the same, secular, civil affairs. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/49 "2018-05-21T15:40:58Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > There better not be. Marriage laws are state. No federal laws exist… Nitpick: Homosexuals can marry. Federal law. > [@](#): > > If your sentences can be parsed… Your snark, repeated over the years almost exactly with these words is not appreciated and it gets in the way. If you parsed something wrong, either I or another poster, if so moved, will tell you. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/50 "2018-05-21T16:23:47Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Nitpick: Homosexuals can marry. Federal law. Nitpickier: A Supreme Court ruling prevents \*states \*from restricting their marriage laws to mixed-sex couples. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/51 "2018-05-21T16:54:40Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Nitpick: Homosexuals can marry. Federal law. > Your snark, repeated over the years almost exactly with these words is not appreciated and it gets in the way. If you parsed something wrong, either I or another poster, if so moved, will tell you. I think you’re getting me confused with Colibri. > [@Props to ecg, and mods, and when they feel talkative in non ATMB forums](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/props-to-ecg-and-mods-and-when-they-feel-talkative-in-non-atmb-forums/787220/9): > > Here’s the crux of the problem. I also can’t make head or tail of what you’re on about in your OP, especially the last sentence. > > When you think you’re writing clearly, but multiple people (including a few with advanced degrees) tell you they don’t understand you, the problem is clearly on your side. > > **Leo** , I know you get upset with me when I try to get you to frame your questions in a less elliptical fashion in GQ. You’ve said that you enjoy asides, digressions, and elaborate language. That’s all well and good, but if people don’t understand your posts it’s counterproductive. Not only will people have trouble answering your questions if they can’t easily parse them, they end up getting annoyed with you (and I end up having to mod them for taking potshots at you). > > If you want to indulge in creative writing, you can do it all you want in IMHO. When you want a question answered or a response, it would behoove you to take a minimalist approach in your posts, and phrase them in the simplest and most straightforward way possible. You may find it entertaining to be more recondite and convoluted, but it causes problems. Leo, you talk about parsing as if it’s a bad thing. I’m currently having an entire 150,000-word book read sentence-by-sentence to ensure that every one of them is easily parsed by the potential reader. A bumpy sentence is bad in a book. A lone question that can’t be figured out can’t be answered, and that sorta defeats the entire purpose of GQ. ElvisL1ves is right, BTW. Supreme Court rulings on marriage are not federal law. They are interpretations of state laws, a totally different thing. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/52 "2018-05-21T17:17:03Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I had to laugh at the picture of the couple in their reception clothes. Harry wearing a tux with brown loafers. It could’ve been worse. [Prince Harry Gets Old Suit Tailored To Wear To Wedding](https://www.theonion.com/prince-harry-gets-old-suit-tailored-to-wear-to-wedding-1826151329) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/53 "2018-05-21T18:31:15Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Celebrate the wedding, not marry anybody. Other than his or her own spouse, that is. I’m not sure I’m understanding you correctly, but idiomatically, that is how it’s said:a priest marries a couple. Religiously, yes, it’s different, but that’s how it’s normally said in American English, at least. I’m Catholic, and fellow Catholics will ask “which priest married you?” not “which priest celebrated your wedding?” which sounds odd to my ears. Or is this some UK English or Anglican thing I’m not aware of? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/54 "2018-05-21T18:41:04Z")
In Anglican canon law and sacramental theology, the couple marries each other. The priest leads them through the vows, but it is their exchange of vows which creates the marriage. When the priest says “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the priest is acknowledging that all has been done according to canon and civil law by the couple to marry each other. It’s not the priest who makes the marriage. It’s the couple themselves. I’d be surprised if Catholic canon law and sacramental theology is different. **Nava** ’s post suggests it’s the same. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/55 "2018-05-21T19:21:22Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > In Anglican canon law and sacramental theology, the couple marries each other. The priest leads them through the vows, but it is their exchange of vows which creates the marriage. > > When the priest says “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the priest is acknowledging that all has been done according to canon and civil law by the couple to marry each other. It’s not the priest who makes the marriage. It’s the couple themselves. > > I’d be surprised if Catholic canon law and sacramental theology is different. **Nava** ’s post suggests it’s the same. It’s the same. The ministers of marriage are the spouses and the priest’s role is to assist (which includes marriage preparation, making sure “all the boxes are checked” and presiding over the liturgy) and be a witness. In fact, a lay person can be authorized to perform the functions normally fulfilled by a priest. The following article is about a wedding presided over by a nun with the permission of the Holy See. > **[Quebec, Nun ministers a Catholic wedding](https://www.lastampa.it/vatican-insider/en/2017/07/28/news/quebec-nun-ministers-a-catholic-wedding-1.34459411/)** > > Sister Pierrette Thiffault presided over the liturgy at Lorrainville after the bishop had received permission from the Holy See. An exception provided by the C… Now sure, American Catholics will frequently ask “Which priest married you?” but that doesn’t mean the same colloquialism exists in other English-speaking countries or other languages. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2018, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/56 "2018-05-21T22:31:17Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > In Anglican canon law and sacramental theology, the couple marries each other. The priest leads them through the vows, but it is their exchange of vows which creates the marriage. > > When the priest says “I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the priest is acknowledging that all has been done according to canon and civil law by the couple to marry each other. It’s not the priest who makes the marriage. It’s the couple themselves. > > I’d be surprised if Catholic canon law and sacramental theology is different. **Nava** ’s post suggests it’s the same. It is the same, hence my “religiously, yes, it’s different” (meaning that, yes, canonically the couple marries each other) and my wondering whether in other dialects of English (or even in other American dialects) the phrase is not used colloquially in this manner. I thought I had covered all those possibilities in my post, but if it was unclear, that is what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/57 "2018-05-22T01:30:30Z")
The original meaning of _marry_ in England was “to take a husband or wife”; the word came in with the Normans, largely supplanting the Anglo-Saxon euqivalent, which is _wed_. It still has this sense; John married Jane in 1974 and, after her death, he married Mary. It also has this sense in many compound phrases, e.g. to marry into [a particular family]; to marry up, or above oneself, to marry out [of a particular social group]; to marry well; to marry money. It soon developed a second sense; to bring about, or be instrumental in arranging, a marriage; the wealthy merchant married his elder daughter to a duke and his younger daughter to an earl. And from this the sense of officiating at a marriage developed by about 1530. Shakespeare uses it in this sense (“You shall be the Priest, and marry us”). Both senses are current in most varieties of English. We rely on context to distinguish them. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2018, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470/58 "2018-05-22T07:12:31Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 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. If I understand your question, an image or shape within a flag or a coat of arms is called a “charge” while the background color or pattern is a “field.” And yes, the Manx flag has a triskelion of three (armored) legs (on a red field). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prince-harry-wedding-questions-theadapalooza/814470.md?page=2)