Our first look at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s inner circle
THE royal wedding party has provided a unique look into who is “in” with Meghan and Harry. This is the couple’s most trusted crew.
THE bridal party of the year has been announced, with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle choosing 10 children to star in their royal wedding.
It was no great surprise that Prince William and Kate Middleton’s children — Prince George, 4, and Princess Charlotte, 3 — were in the mix. But the other eight children who make up the exclusive wedding party give a unique insight into the couple’s inner circle.
These children are from the families closest to the royal couple. The children’s parents are Meghan and Harry’s most trusted crew and include a glamorous wedding planner and a former entertainment lawyer.
This is who is ‘in’ with Meghan and Harry.
BENITA AND DARREN LITT
The bridesmaids will include Ms Markle’s goddaughters, sisters Rylan and Remi Litt.
According to The Sun, these adorable bridesmaids are sure to steal the show on Saturday.
Remi, 6, and Rylan, 7, are the daughters of Benita Litt, who Meghan has been friends with for many years. According to Harpers Bazaar, Litt has her own bag brand Legend of Lido.
Litt says on their site: “Every bag is designed from an exotic, one-of-a-kind print inspired by the world’s vibrant colors and whimsical essence. We are on a mission to create the ultimate brand for the global nomad.”
Ms Markle is so close to the family that she even helped them decorate their Christmas tree last year, and nicknames the gorgeous girls her “fairy goddaughters”.
Married to Darren Litt, who is an investor and entrepreneur, Mrs Litt worked as an intellectual property and entertainment lawyer in California prior to starting Legend of Lido.
MAJOR NICHOLAS VAN CUTSEM AND ALICE VAN CUTSEM
Little Florence, 3, is the goddaughter of Prince Harry, and the daughter of his longstanding family friend Major Nicholas van Cutsem and Alice van Cutsem.
Major van Cutsem, a major with the Household Cavalry’s Life Guards, has been a friend of Harry and William’s since childhood.
Alice and Nicholas have extremely close ties with the royal family, and he even guarded the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s carriage at their wedding.
While three-year-old Florence hasn’t been in the public eye much, the toddler’s cousin Grace made headlines when she was photographed covering her ears as Prince William and Kate Middleton wed in 2011.
Here’s hoping young Florence doesn’t make the same mistake.
JAKE AND ZOE WARREN
Zalie, 2, is the goddaughter of Prince Harry and the daughter of one of his best friends, Jake Warren.
Harry grew up with Jake, who was one of Princess Diana’s godson’s.
The pair have been frequently spotted at royal events, and even attended Ludgrove Preparatory School and Eton College together.
According to The Telegraph, he is one of the closest friends of the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry. He is also the son of John Warren, the Queen’s racing manager.
Jake’s mother, Lady Carolyn Warren, is the daughter of the late 7th Earl of Carnarvon, who was a previous racing manager to the Queen and one of her closest confidants.
Zalie will be the youngest bridesmaid on the day, but will not be joined by her twin sister India — on the account she isn’t a goddaughter to Harry.
Zalie’s parents Zoe and Jake Warren tied the knot in 2013.
READ: Everything we know about the royal wedding so far
JESSICA AND BEN MULRONEY
Four-year-old Ivy will be joined by her seven-year-old twin brothers Brian and John, and are the children of Meghan Markle’s best friend, Jessica Mulroney.
The youngest in the family’s name is actually Isabel Veronica but she is nicknamed Ivy.
Jessica has already been heavily involved in the wedding planning, said to have flown to the UK earlier this year for some of Meghan’s wedding dress fittings.
Jessica is married to the son of former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, Ben.
The mum-of-three is also a celebrity stylist and PR expert — and also the founder of The Shoebox Project — which collects and distributes gifts in the form of shoeboxes to women who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
According to Vanity Fair, Meghan has also asked her closest girlfriends, including Jessica, to help take charge of the children so that everything goes according to plan.
Meghan is not only close with Jessica — but the whole family — and often holidays with them. She and Harry reportedly hid out at the Mulroney family’s house in October 2016, when news of their romance broke to the world.
The kids apparently call her “Aunty Meg”. It is rumoured that Jessica will be making a custom piece for Meghan to wear on the big day.
AMANDA AND MARK DYER
Six-year-old Jasper is the godson of Prince Harry, and the son of Amanda and Mark Dyer.
Mark Dyer has been a key figure in Prince Harry’s life since his childhood, becoming a mentor to the 33-year-old royal.
Cheltenham College-educated Dyer, known as Marko to his friends, became a big brother figure to the princes in the mid-90s when he worked as an equerry to the Prince of Wales for 18 months.
In 2002, a then 17-year-old Prince Harry was taken to a rehab centre after he admitted he had smoked marijuana and illegally drank alcoholic beverages.
After learning of his son’s drug use, Prince Charles sent Harry, then 16, to a drug rehabilitation centre in south London for a day, where he was accompanied by Mr Dyer — who escorted him along with his royal protection officers. The pair have also travelled to Australia, Lesotho and Argentina together.
“Mark Dyer had been invaluable; he had done a superb job in supporting and guiding both Princes through their adolescence and showing them something of the world — also introducing them to Africa,” Penny Junor wrote in her biography Prince Harry: Brother, Soldier, Son.
“He’s a very straightforward, hard-living adventurer and a great soldier.
He was also somebody the Princes could relate to at that age; and they remembered him from their childhood when he’d shown them guns and tanks and things and taken them rock climbing.
“The press thought he was a bad influence but he did a bloody good job for them. He had huge integrity, and he was around when they needed advice that didn’t come from their father.”
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