Royal wedding news Why Meghan WON'T ask Kate to be maid of honour

Royal wedding news Why Meghan WON'T ask Kate to be maid of honour

MEGHAN MARKLE will soon marry Prince Harry on May 19 2018, but those hoping her future sister in law Kate Middleton will be maid of honour will be sadly disappointed. It is believed the sight would be "unbecoming", according to an expert

The royal wedding of Meghan Markle, 36, and Prince Harry, 33, will take place on May 19 2018 at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, but will Kate Middleton, 36, be involved in the ceremony?

Earlier this week it was announced Prince Harry has asked Prince William, 35, to be best man, but Meghan’s maid of honour remains unknown.

Meghan’s future sister in law Kate may have seemed a promising choice – after all, Kate and Meghan are said to be friends.

While the role is often fulfilled by a sibling, it is believed Meghan’s half sister Samantha Grant is not invited to the wedding.

However, an expert has said it is not possible for Kate to be Meghan’s maid of honour on her special day.

The sight of the Duchess of Cambridge filling the maid of honour rule would be “unbecoming”, said William Hanson, a British etiquette expert.

This is because of the same royal protocol which prevented Kate from being a maid of honour at her own sister Pippa Middleton’s wedding to James Matthews in 2017.

"It's unbecoming for a member of the royal family to walk behind a commoner.

“Which, as painful as that sounds and despite being directly related to Catherine, is what Pippa is,” William Hanson, a British etiquette expert, told Cosmopolitan at the time.

Therefore, Kate – who on Monday this week gave birth to her third son, Prince Louis – would not be able to be maid of honour at the ceremony.

Is Meghan Markle a commoner? Yes, according to royal expert and managing editor of Daily Break Kelly Lynch.

She told Express.co.uk: “As far as I know, Meghan will be considered a commoner even when she becomes HRH because she's not a peer of the realm.”

Peers of the realm include the Queen, and those with titles such as Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount and Baron.

However, this may change after the royal wedding, when Meghan and Harry’s titles are expected to be given as Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

It is believed Meghan Markle wanted a more private royal wedding, but the couple were forced to change their wedding due to public demand.

The couple have had to bow to public demand rather than have the more private wedding they wanted, an insider has revealed exclusively to Express.co.uk.

This compromise centres around a particular element of the wedding: the carriage ride.

It would seem this is not what Meghan initially wanted for the wedding. “The carriage wasn’t going to happen,” revealed the insider.

“Meghan wanted it to be their wedding – it was her request for it to be much more private than Kate and William’s wedding.”

However, the couple were eventually forced to bow to public demand. “The Palace received thousands of letters saying the public want to be part of the wedding,” said the insider.