Royal weddings: Most unusual traditions facing Harry and Meghan

A ROYAL wedding is simply never going to be a low-key event.

It’s clear that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are trying to inject as much of their own relaxed personalities into their Saturday nuptials as possible — including scrapping the long-established wedding fruitcake for a lemon and elderflower creation — but there are still plenty of traditions they’ll likely have to adhere to.

Here are some of the most unusual royal customs:

THE WEDDING BANDS

Since 1923, royal brides have all used Welsh gold in their wedding rings.

The Queen Mother, who was back then Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, first chose it when she married “Bertie” — who would later become King George VI — in 1923.

According to The Telegraph, the nugget of gold originated from the Clogau St. David’s mine in North Wales, and was a gift to the royal family.

It was later used to craft wedding rings for Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret and Diana. As the original supply has nearly run out, Kate Middleton had her band made from a different nugget of Welsh gold for her wedding to Prince William in 2011.

BRIDE’S BOUQUET

As per royal custom, the bride must carry a sprig of myrtle in her bouquet.

It dates back to Queen Victoria’s time when the monarch’s daughter, Princess Victoria, carried it among her bridal flowers in 1858.

The Duchess of Cambridge, the Queen, and Harry’s mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, all had myrtle in their wedding bouquets — so it is expected that Meghan will do the same.

The myrtle for royal bridal bouquets comes from the bush grown from the myrtle originally given to Queen Victoria.

It was presented to Victoria in a posy by Prince Albert’s grandmother, and the couple brought it back from Germany and planted it at Osborne House, their holiday home on the Isle of Wight, where it has thrived.

The glossy, evergreen shrub is said to bring luck and fidelity.

TRIBUTE TO SOLDIERS

Speaking of the bride’s bouquet — after the wedding, Meghan will send it off to be laid on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey.

It’s a touching gesture which also began with the Queen Mother in 1923, as a way to honour her late brother, Captain Fergus Bowes-Lyon, who was killed during World War I.

Since then, it’s become custom for all royal brides — even those who don’t get hitched inside the Abbey — to send their bouquet to be laid there.

QUEEN’S PERMISSION TO MARRY

Under British law, the first six people in the line of succession to the throne must obtain Queen Elizabeth II’s permission.

When Harry was engaged, he was fifth in line, but has since been bumped back to sixth following the birth of his nephew Prince Louis in April.

Fortunately, the Queen gave her formal blessing for the wedding in an official letter released on March 14 this year.

It read: “I declare my consent to a contract of matrimony between my most dearly beloved grandson Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales and Rachel Meghan Markle.”

Last Saturday, Buckingham Palace also released an image of the Instrument of Consent, the final tick needed for the wedding to go ahead.

QUEEN’S DRESS APPROVAL

Usually it’s your girlfriends and/or your mum helping the bride make the final call on a wedding dress, but it’s a different story when you’re marrying into the British royal family.

The Queen not only has control over whether the couple can marry, but she also has final approval rights on the gown.

The Suits star has to get the monarch to endorse her choice ahead of the wedding, just like she did for Kate Middleton’s Alexander McQueen dress in 2011, according to Hello! magazine’s royal correspondent, Emily Nash.

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