THE ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury says that being in the Royal Family is like “life without parole” and Prince Harry will never escape the “celeb” status.
Justin Welby, the Church of England’s most senior clergyman, suggested the British public have unrealistic expectations when it comes to members of the royal family.
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The 65-year-old married the Duke and Duchess in 2018 – but after Meghan claimed they were actually wed days before, the Archbishop was forced to straighten out the facts.
In a chat with the Financial Times, Mr Welby expressed his sympathy for Harry and Meghan’s exit from royalty – adding that being a member of the Firm is like serving “life without parole.”
He said: “It’s life without parole, isn’t it?
“If you go back to the 1930s, Edward VIII — he was still a celeb and followed everywhere once he’d abdicated.
“We expect them to be superhuman.”
Harry and Meghan’s shock TV claim that they married three days before their official ceremony has since been exposed as a sham — by their own wedding certificate.
The official who drew up the licence for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding says Meghan is “obviously confused” over the marriage.
In a bombshell TV chat Meghan told Oprah Winfrey she and Harry tied the knot “in our backyard” three days before the lavish public wedding on May 19, 2018.
FAMILY STRIFE
But as their wedding certificate came to light for the first time — Stephen Borton dismissed the claim.
Mr Borton, former chief clerk at the Faculty Office, told The Celeb Report: “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 19 May 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.”
He then went on to speak of his own reaction while watching Meghan tell the world he had married them three days previously.
He said: There was an element of ‘uh oh’. Yes there was a bit of ‘uh oh’.
“But you know she clarified that a few days later and it didn’t matter at all.
“The wedding was on the Saturday and it was beautiful.
“It was a fantastic wedding and it was a really intimate moment and you sort of forgot there were a billion people watching.”
The Archbishop himself confirmed that Meghan’s claims were false, as he told BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine: “I can promise you, the wedding was on the Saturday.
“I signed a wedding certificate on that day and if I sign a false wedding certificate that is perjury.”
He then went on to speak of his own reaction while watching Meghan tell the world he had married them three days previously.
He said: There was an element of ‘uh oh’. Yes there was a bit of ‘uh oh’.
“But you know she clarified that a few days later and it didn’t matter at all.
“The wedding was on the Saturday and it was beautiful.
“It was a fantastic wedding and it was a really intimate moment and you sort of forgot there were a billion people watching.”
Meanwhile, Piers Morgan sarcastically called for the Archbishop of Canterbury to be sacked for “disbelieving” Meghan Markle’s secret wedding claims.
It came after Archbishop Justin Welby confirmed Meghan and Harry weren’t legally married in their back garden three days before the royal wedding.
Former GMB host Piers insists he lost his job after refusing to apologise for “disbelieving Meghan Markle” in her bombshell Oprah interview.
Piers waded into the row with a tongue-in-cheek broadside, tweeting: “The Archbishop of Canterbury should either apologise for disbelieving Meghan Markle’s secret wedding claims – or lose his job.”
