Church of England head denies Meghan had a secret royal wedding

[LONDON] Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has contradicted British royal Meghan's claim that she married Britain's Prince Harry several days before the official lavish ceremony at Windsor Castle in 2018.

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, told Oprah Winfrey in an interview earlier this month that she wed Queen Elizabeth's grandson in a secret ceremony officiated over by the Archbishop a few days before the Windsor event, which was held in a glare of royal pomp and pageantry.

"You know, three days before our wedding, we got married - no-one knows that," she said. "Just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury." But Archbishop Welby contradicted that.

"The legal marriage took place on that Saturday," Archbishop Welby was quoted as saying by Die Welt, adding that he personally signed the marriage certificate. "I would have committed a crime if I had signed something that was not true."

He said he had earlier had a "series of private and pastoral meetings" with Harry and Meghan, but declined to give details on the conversation. "If you talk to a priest, you can expect that conversation to remain private."

British media have previously published a copy of the wedding certificate showing the official marriage occurred at Windsor Castle, with the official who drew up the licence saying Meghan was either confused or misinformed, and the couple had perhaps exchanged some simple vows before the Archbishop.

REUTERS