Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Honeymoon Wasn’t Always a ‘Glorious’ Experience
TL;DR:
- Prince Harry and Meghan Markle spent 10 days in the Mediterranean after their May 2018 royal wedding.
- The honeymoon, which Prince Harry described as “glorious” in Spare, included a bout of sickness for the newlyweds.
- “The build-up to the wedding had worn us down,” Prince Harry wrote.
Following their May 2018 royal wedding, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle embarked on their honeymoon. While the Duke of Sussex called it “glorius” in his Spare memoir, the 38-year-old also admitted they’d had a surprise that might’ve put a damper on the getaway.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left for their honeymoon in a van with cardboard-covered windows
After getting married at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on May 19, 2018, with millions of people tuning in to watch the ceremony, the newly-minted Duke and Duchess of Sussex took off on their honeymoon. Similar to their wedding, details on the couple’s honeymoon were shrouded in secrecy.
“Our honeymoon was a closely guarded secret,” Harry wrote in Spare, which dropped on Jan. 10, 2023.
At the time, there’d been speculation Harry and Meghan might opt to spend their honeymoon in Canada, where Meghan had lived while filming Suits. Other guesses as to the destination included Namibia, among other African locales.
But as Harry revealed in Spare, they’d opted for a tropical honeymoon, leaving their then-Kensington Palace home of Nottingham Cottage to preserve their privacy in their first few weeks of being newlyweds.
“We left London in a car disguised as a removal van, the windows covered with cardboard, and went to the Mediterranean for ten [sic] days,” Harry wrote.
Harry and Meghan’s honeymoon happened shortly before Trooping the Colour was due to happen back in London, England. Meaning the couple left the city some time after their May 19 royal wedding and returned before June 9, the day of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s official birthday parade, where Harry and Meghan made one of their first public appearances as newlyweds.
Harry and Meghan were sick on their honeymoon after being ‘worn down’ by royal wedding ‘build-up’
While Harry didn’t go into much detail about his and Meghan’s honeymoon, Harry revealed they’d both been sick.
“Glorious to be away, on the sea, in the sun,” he wrote. “But we were also sick. The build-up to the wedding had worn us down.”
Before the couple’s royal wedding, there’d been all sorts of drama. From friction over flower girl dresses with Kate Middleton to Meghan’s father, Thomas Markle, not attending — or walking her down to aisle — amid staged photos and a hospitalization.
Despite being sick during his honeymoon, Harry appeared “relaxed” at a Kensington Palace charity event shortly after. David Price, a patron of the charity OnSide Youth Zones, told Hello! magazine the now-father of two seemed “like he was still on cloud nine.”
You can just tell when someone’s really laid back and relaxed and content with life, that was the vibe he was giving off,” Price said. “He had enough time for everybody and was in such a great mood.”
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding wasn’t their ‘dream,’ wanted ‘Barefoot in Botswana’ nuptials
Also in Spare, Harry shared he and Meghan didn’t get their “dream” wedding. Recalling a conversation he’d had with his brother, Prince William, about possible wedding venues, Harry revealed he and Meghan “wanted to explore” options.
“Barefoot in Botswana, with maybe a friend officiating, that was our dream,” he wrote. “But we were expected to share this moment with other people. It wasn’t up to us.”
