Queen Elizabeth Signs The Instrument of Consent – Gives Approval For Prince Harry And Meghan Markle To Wed

With the royal wedding being only five days away, there is still a lot to do to prepare. But Prince Harry and Meghan Markle can cross one thing off their list — getting the approval from Queen Elizabeth herself.

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On Friday, the Queen signed the Instrument of Consent, which gives her formal approval for the couple to get married. She gave her verbal blessing back in March, as her consent was needed to comply with the 2013 Succession to the Crown Act.

The official document was elaborately ornate and was written on vellum and decorated with symbols that represented the couple. The document was then sealed with the Great Seal of the Realm.

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The document states: “NOW KNOW YE that We have consented and do by these Presents signify Our Consent to the contracting of Matrimony between Our Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales, K.C.V.O., and Rachel Meghan Markle.”

On the sides of the page, were two symbols, one to represent Prince Harry and the other to represent Markle.

The symbol on the left, which was for Prince Harry, had the red dragon of Wales alongside the United Kingdom’s floral emblems. It also had three tiny red “escallops” from the arms of the Spencer family of the Prince’s late mother, Princess Diana.

For Markle on the right, the symbol included the rose, the national flower of the United States and four golden poppies, the state flower of California, where she was born.

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The Instrument of Consent started after the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, which requires descendants of George II to get the sovereign’s consent to wed, or else their marriages would be deemed invalid. This only applies to the first six people in line for the throne.

Prince Harry is currently the sixth in line for the throne. Behind his father Prince Charles, his brother, Prince William and William’s children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis.