Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle at Royal wedding 2018, Kensington Palace confirms

Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle for her wedding to Prince Harry after her father pulled out of the ceremony.

Her mother Doria Ragland had been widely tipped to stand in for her ex-husband and walk Harry's bride down the aisle at St George's Chapel, Windsor, on Saturday.

But on Friday morning, Kensington Palace confirmed Ms Markle had asked Harry's father Prince Charles to stand in for her sick father.

Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle tomorrow

Kensington Palace said in a statement: "Ms Meghan Markle has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle of the Quire of St George's Chapel on her Wedding Day.

"The Prince of Wales is pleased to be able to welcome Ms Markle to the Royal Family in this way."

The announcement from Kensington Palace that Prince Charles will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle

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Betfair had earlier reported a surge in bets on Prince Charles, who gets on with Ms Markle very well, to give her away at the wedding.

Meghan Markle and Prince Harry arriving in Windsor for a rehearsal on Thursday

Prince Charles previously escorted the daughter of his friend Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma, when she married Thomas Hooper in 2016.

He also personally walked his wife Camilla Parker Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall, down the aisle in 2005 during their religious ceremony. Their civil ceremony was kept private.

The Duke of Edinburgh will attend the royal wedding, Buckingham Palace also confirmed today.

Meghan Markle's father Thomas Markle pulled out of the ceremony because of ill health earlier this week

Ms Markle will arrive at the St George's Chapel's West Steps by car, from her overnight accommodation of Cliveden House, with some of her bridesmaids and pageboys. It is there she will meet Prince Charles for him to walk her down the aisle.

She will travel to Windsor by car with her mother Ms Ragland and the car will make a brief stop at the castle when her mother will then exchange places with the bridesmaids and pageboys.

Ms Ragland, 61, will enter the chapel by the Galilee Porch.

Doria Ragland mother of Meghan Markle with her daughter at the Invictus Games Closing Ceremony Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Canada
PA

She was due to meet the Queen on Friday as she continued to support her daughter after a week of family drama which saw the bride-to-be's father pull out of the wedding.

Ms Ragland met William and Kate and their children on Thursday before a rehearsal was held at the wedding venue St George’s Chapel in Windsor ahead of Ms Markle and Prince Harry’s big day on Saturday.

She also sat down for tea with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall alongside her future son-in-law Harry and the US actress on Wednesday.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Royal Wedding Preparations

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Buckingham Palace confirmed the two women will meet on Friday at Windsor Castle, with the prince and his fiancée.

The head of state is likely to host afternoon tea for Ms Ragland, a yoga instructor and social worker, who flew to the UK this week to be by her daughter's side.

It follows a week of family drama for Ms Markle, whose father pulled out of the wedding following a heart attack and after he was exposed for setting up staged paparazzi photos.

Her estranged half-sister Samantha Markle also claims to have been injured in a car accident when she was being pursued by the paparazzi in Florida on Thursday. She appeared on Good Morning Britain earlier this week and was branded a vulture by Piers Morgan for using her "tenuous connection with Ms Markle to make money"

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