Royal Wedding: How Princess Diana’s Presence Was Felt

When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot on Saturday, the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex made sure their ceremony was full of personal touches to celebrate them as a couple, as well as honor those close to them, including Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana.

From the flowers to the guest list to the jewelry Markle wore, the royal couple made sure the late princess’ spirit was there at every turn, making the already special day even more so by including her in their most important moments.

Read on to see how the couple honored the late princess on their big day.

The guests

Several of Diana’s family members were in attendance at the ceremony, and a reading was given by Lady Jane Fellowes, the late princess’ younger sister. Fellowes read a Bible passage from Song of Solomen.

“Prince Harry and Ms. Markle both feel [honored] that Lady Jane will be representing her family and helping to celebrate the memory of the late Princess on the wedding day,” Harry and Markle previously in a statement.

Diana’s other two siblings, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Earl Charles Spencer, also attended the event.

The flowers

The Duke and Duchess worked with florist Philippa Craddock to create the gorgeous floral display at their wedding, which was full of peonies, foxgloves and white garden roses. Diana famously loved white peonies and white garden roses, and Kensington Palace’s White Garden was even replanted in 2017 in her honor.

The bouquet

On Friday, Harry handpicked several forget-me-nots from his and Markle’s garden for the Duchess to include in her bouquet, which was also designed by Craddock.

“The couple specifically chose them to be included in Ms. Markle’s bouquet to honour the memory of the late Princess on this special day,” Kensington Palace shared, adding that the flower was Diana’s favorite.

The music

The Duke and Duchess chose to include the hymn “Guide Me, O Thy Great Redeemer” in the service. The song was previously sung at Diana’s funeral in 1997 and Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011.

The engagement ring

Harry proposed to Markle with a gold-banded ring featuring three diamonds, the center of which was sourced from Botswana. The two smaller diamonds on each side were from Princess Diana’s collection, with the couple sharing the personal touch during their engagement interview with the BBC.

“The little diamonds [on] either side are from my mother’s jewelry collection to make sure that she’s with us on this … on this crazy journey together,” Harry explained.

“It’s incredible,” Markle added of the choice. “Everything about Harry’s thoughtfulness and the inclusion of [Princess Diana’s stones] and obviously not being able to meet his mom, it’s so important to me to know that she’s a part of this with us.”

The reception performance

Sir Elton John performed during the day’s lunchtime reception, an emotional choice as the iconic musician was a close friend of Diana’s and now has a close relationship with the royal family.

John previously performed for the royal family when he sang “Candle in the Wind” at Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997. The singer was very close with the late princess and worked with her to raise awareness of AIDS and to fund research into the disease.

John has said in interviews that Harry and his brother Prince William are “very special to me because of their mother.”

“She was just loved by people because she had that great ability—which her son, Prince Harry, has inherited—where she could walk into a room of people and make them feel at ease as if she’d known them all her life,” John said in an interview with ITV’s Lorraine. “[She] would be proud of her boys.”

The jewelry

While departing from Windsor Castle to head to their evening reception at Frogmore House, Markle was spotted wearing an aquamarine ring that belonged to Diana and is believed to have been a wedding gift to the Duchess from Prince Harry.

The charities

Ahead of the wedding, Kensington Palace shared that the Duke and Duchess wished to forgo wedding gifts in lieu of donations to charity, with the couple choosing seven organizations that reflected their “shared values.”

Two of those charities also honor the work that Diana performed when she was alive, with the couple choosing to support CHIVA (Children’s HIV Association) and Crisis, the national charity for homeless people.

Diana famously advocated for AIDS awareness, shaking patients’ hands when people assumed the disease could be spread by touch, as well as homeless youth.

The photos

On Monday, Kensington Palace shared three official portraits from Harry and Markle’s wedding, one of which included a sweet tribute to Diana.

In the image featuring Harry, Markle and their young page boys and bridesmaids, taken in the Green Drawing Room of Windsor Castle, Harry sits on an emerald green couch while Markle sits on the floor surrounded by the children.

That couch appears to be the same one Diana sat in while holding her youngest son during his christening photos in 1984, with the late princess surrounded by members of the royal family, including husband Prince Charles, who reclined on the arm of the couch next to her.

Also in the shot was a young Prince William, standing in the center of the scene as he grinned off-camera.

Photo Credit: Twitter / @KensingtonRoyal