Prince Harry and Meghan Markle admit they DIDN’T marry in secret three days before Royal wedding

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have admitted they did not get married three days before the Royal wedding after an official certificate blew their claim apart.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex confessed the ceremony with the Archbishop of Canterbury in Kensington Palace saw them just ‘privately exchange personal vows’.

The U-turn comes two weeks after the couple made the comments in their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Britons were left fuming as it raised questions why the £32million taxpayer-funded wedding at Windsor Castle in May 2018 was necessary.

Meanwhile it emerged yesterday another of the Sussexes’ right-hand women in the US is moving to another role after less than a year in her current job.

‘Chief of staff’ Catherine St Laurent has left her post leading to reports the departure was unexpected.

Lawyers for the couple denied this, saying she was employed on a fixed-term contract which was due to expire. 

A spokesman for Harry and Meghan today told the Sun their ceremony three days before their wedding was not a marriage.

They said they had ‘privately exchanged personal vows a few days before their official/legal wedding on May 19’.

In the interview with Oprah, Meghan said: ‘You know, three days before our wedding, we got married. No one knows that.’

She said the couple asked the Archbishop to marry them in private at Nottingham Cottage — their home in the grounds of Kensington Palace.

But the claim was blown apart yesterday after the General Register Office revealed the couple’s wedding certificate for the first time.

It proved they did get married on May 19, 2018 in the lavish ceremony at Windsor Castle after all.

The official who drew up the licence says Meghan is ‘obviously confused’ and ‘clearly misinformed’ over the wedding.

Stephen Borton, former chief clerk at the Faculty Office, told the Sun: ‘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.’

Mr Borton said they could not have been married in the grounds of Nottingham Cottage because it is not an authorised venue.

He also added there were not enough witnesses to make it a valid ceremony.

Mr Borton said: ‘In order for them to be married a Special Licence was drawn up and the wording from Her Majesty the Queen authorising the wedding and the official venue was recorded.’

He said the £325 fee normally paid for couples to have a Special Licence was waived for the couple.

The wedding certificate confirmed the ceremony took place at Windsor Castle with the witnesses recorded as Prince Charles and Meghan’s mother Doria Ragland.

A spokesman for the Archbishop said he would not be commenting on personal or pastoral matters.

Rev Mark Edwards, a C of E priest from Newcastle, said: ‘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 decided to look into Meghan’s claims because during the Covid outbreak he has been inundated with requests for private weddings which have been declined.

Rev Edwards, the vicar at St Matthew’s Church, in Dinnington, and St Cuthbert’s Church, in Brunswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, said he was told by a Lambeth Palace staff member: ‘Justin does not do private weddings. Meghan is an American, she does not understand.’

He says the claim has caused confusion among clergy and couples anxious to tie the knot and is asking Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby to clarify the situation.

Elsewhere yesterday it emerged another of the Sussexes’ right-hand women in the US is moving to another role after less than a year in her current job.

Catherine St Laurent – head-hunted by the couple from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to become their ‘chief of staff’ – has left her post leading to reports the departure was unexpected.

Lawyers for the couple denied reports that she had left unexpectedly, saying she was employed on a fixed term contract which is due to expire.

The couple called her an ‘incredible asset’ when they announced her appointment, adding: ‘We are excited to have her on our team.’

But yesterday it emerged the Canadian-born mother-of-two has unexpectedly left her current post.

There was no comment from her directly, but according to the New York Post, Miss St Laurent has already stepped down, although she will continue to work with Archewell in an ‘advisory’ role.

She will be replaced as Archewell’s executive director by the couple’s current communications officer in the UK, James Holt.

Reports suggest they have no immediate plans to replace him, leaving the Duke and Duchess of Sussex without any official representation in Britain and all their media relations now being handled in the US.

The couple have already appointed Toya Holness as Archewell’s ‘global press secretary’.

Buckingham Palace ceased to act for them after they quit as working royals last spring.

One royal insider expressed surprise at Miss St Laurent’s departure, telling the Mail: ‘She was a huge appointment for them.

‘A big hitter with a great track record, poached to head up their new working life in the US. It is really quite astonishing she has left that role after less than a year.’

Miss St Laurent is apparently launching her own new ‘social impact firm’, supported by and working with Archewell.

Harry and Meghan were dogged by a spate of departures from their ranks as working royals, losing at least two PAs as well as other key staff from their private office.

Earlier this month Buckingham Palace announced it was launching a probe into the handling of claims by their former head of communications that Meghan bullied several female members of their team, forcing at least two to quit.

A spokesman for the couple denied the claims, calling it a ‘calculated smear campaign’.

At the time of her appointment as Harry and Meghan’s most senior team member, Miss St Laurent had said she was ‘thrilled to be able to play a supporting role in realising their vision’.

She added: ‘From our very first conversation, Harry and Meghan have expressed a deep commitment to improving lives and having a positive impact on society.’

The couple have also made two high-profile new appointments.

Ben Browning, who produced the Oscar-nominated film Promising Young Woman, is now head of content for Archewell Productions and Archewell Audio as part of their multi-million dollar link-ups with Netflix and Spotify.

Mr Browning said it was a ‘unique opportunity’ and he wanted to turn Archewell into a ‘global production company that will spotlight diverse voices and share uplifting stories’.

The couple have also linked up with Invisible Hand – a ‘social impact and culture change agency’.

Intriguingly, given numerous reports suggesting Meghan has political ambitions in the US, its founder Genevieve Roth worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

She will also serve as a ‘senior strategic adviser’ to the couple.

A statement said Invisible Hand would be focusing on ‘strategic change through storytelling and community building in support of gender and racial equity’.

A spokesman for the Sussexes added: ‘They join a rapidly expanding team that’s deeply dedicated to advancing systemic cultural change and supporting compassionate communities across the world.’

A judge has ordered The Mail on Sunday to publish a statement saying it infringed the Duchess of Sussex’s copyright by publishing extracts of a letter she sent her father. 

Lord Justice Warby said it did not need to be published until the outcome of an appeal process.

He also ruled against Meghan on how large the statement needed to be printed, saying it would take up a ‘disproportionate amount of the front page’ if the font size was the same as the original 2019 headline.