Buckingham Palace has released a statement on behalf of the Queen in response to Harry and Meghan's scandalous interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Video / AP
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have admitted the secret wedding revealed in their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey did not happen exactly how it was described, The Daily Beast reports.
After the couple's publicised marriage certificate exposed the claim as untrue, a spokesman for the royals clarified to the publication that they did exchange vows, but it was not an "official" wedding.
A statement provided to The Daily Beast read: "The couple exchanged personal vows a few days before their official/legal wedding on May 19."
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle leave St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after their wedding. Photo / Getty Images
It comes after 39-year-old former Suits star Meghan said in the interview footage, "You know, three days before our wedding, we got married. No one knows that. The vows that we have framed in our room are just the two of us in our backyard with the Archbishop of Canterbury."
Harry confirmed this by saying, "just the three of us".
However,The Sun obtained the couple's marriage license from the General Registrar's Office today which confirmed their legal wedding date is May 19, 2018.
Stephen Borton, former chief clerk at the Faculty Office, told the publication: "I'm sorry, but Meghan is obviously confused and clearly misinformed.
"They did not marry three days earlier in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
"The Special Licence I helped draw up enabled them to marry at St George's Chapel in Windsor and what happened there on May 19, 2018 and was seen by millions around the world was the official wedding as recognised by the Church of England and the law.
"What I suspect they did was exchange some simple vows they had perhaps written themselves, and which is fashionable, and said that in front of the Archbishop – or, and more likely, it was a simple rehearsal."
Prince Harry, from left, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in conversation with Oprah Winfrey. Photo / AP
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has not commented on the event.
If what the couple told Oprah was accurate, Justin Welby would have been breaking the law, and found to have presided over a "fake" wedding on May 19 ahead of the Queen, The Sun reports.
Speculation that Markle, 39, was stretching the truth when it came to her wedding claim began almost immediately after the explosive Oprah sit-down aired.
Earlier this month, a UK vicar explained that the Church of England requires two witnesses for any marriage to be valid and that ceremonies must take place in a "certified place of worship". As Harry went on to claim it was "just the three of them" at the backyard ceremony, it would seem this was not followed.
Rev Mark Edwards, a C of E priest from Newcastle, also told The Sun: "When I called Lambeth Palace to ask about this I was told Justin doesn't do private weddings. Meghan doesn't understand.
"But the fact that the Archbishop has not commented publicly needs to be addressed," he added.
