Bishop Curry
Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, who will serve as guest preacher at the 50th Annual Diocesan Convention in Winter Park next February, will make royal history of sorts this weekend.
Curry on Saturday, May 19, will preach at the wedding of Prince Henry of Wales – more commonly known as Prince Harry – and U.S. actress Meghan Markle, according to a statement from Kensington Palace that was released on the www.episcopalchurch.org website. The wedding begins at noon in England, 9 a.m. EST in the U.S.
Curry in 2015 was the first African-American to be elected presiding bishop, following in the footsteps of Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman elected presiding bishop.
Prince Harry and Markle will marry at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle in a service to be directed by the Dean of Windsor, David Conner. Officiating at the wedding will be Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Prince Harry is the grandson of Queen Elizabeth and sixth in line to the throne behind his brother, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and his three children; and father, Charles, Prince of Wales.
The couple’s invitation to Curry to preach is a break from British royal wedding tradition in which sermons are usually delivered by senior Church of England clergy. The royal wedding will be televised around the world, presenting Curry an opportunity to talk about the “Jesus Movement.”
PHOTO BY TOBY MELVILLE/REUTERS
Britain’s Prince Harry smiles with Meghan Markle in the Sunken Gardens of Kensington Palace, London. The couple will marry Saturday.
“The love that has brought and will bind Prince Harry and Ms. Meghan Markle together has its source and origin in God, and is the key to life and happiness,” Curry said in an Episcopal Church news release. “And, so, we celebrate and pray for them today.”
Prince Harry, who was born Sept. 15, 1984, is all too familiar with St. George’s Chapel. He was baptized there at 3 months old. After receiving formal education at schools in the United Kingdom, he spent a year in Australia and Lesotho, an enclaved country in southern Africa. He then went into the military and after completing officer training was commissioned into the Blues and Royals.
Prince Harry served for more than two months in Afghanistan in 2007-08, and for 20 weeks in 2012-13 before leaving the military. In 2014, he started the Invictus Games, an international multi-sport event for injured ex-military personnel. The second Games was held in 2016 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World.
Markle was born Aug. 4, 1981, in Los Angeles, California. She has appeared in multiple acting roles, including the films Get Him to the Greek, Remember Me, and Horrible Bosses, and the U.S.-legal drama series Suits. She formerly was married to Trevor Engelson for two years, divorcing in 2013.
Viewers can learn about the royal wedding schedule on Saturday via https://www.royal.uk/update-communications-secretary-prince-harry-wedding-prince-harry-and-ms-markle on the internet.