Meghan Markle's religious path: from Judaism to embracing Anglicanism to being a princess
Years ago, she married a Jewish producer in Jamaica. But it is not clear if she ever converted to Judaism.
When Meghan Markle decided to venture into a marriage with the British Royal Family, she not only had to leave Suits, her television show of the last seven years. She agreed to change her religion, embrace Anglicanism, be baptized and confirmed by the Archbishop of Canterbury at Kensington Palace.
A pilgrimage that had also complicated Kate, current Duchess of Cambridge, when she married Prince William, despite having been baptized when she was a commoner baby.
A private ceremony, sometime in March, in the 19th century palace chapel, with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge as witnesses. It was the end of a long religious journey for the young American actress, who was born into a Protestant family, was educated at the Catholic College of the Immaculate Heart, a private institute for girls in Los Angeles and later married to a Jewish producer, of whom got divorced. It is not yet very clear whether or not she converted to Judaism.
Since the 17th century, the Anglican Church - whose head is Queen Elizabeth - does not allow a divorced woman to remarry. But the rules were relaxed when Prince Charles had a prayer service after her civil ceremony with her lover, Camilla Parker Bowles. Queen Elizabeth did not attend the ceremony. In 2002, the general synod, which is the legislative body of the church, allowed divorced people, whose partners were alive, to marry only in "exceptional circumstances."
Permission must be granted by a priest, who ensures that couples have a “mature view” of the crisis of their broken marriage and that they understand that divorce is a breakdown of God's desire for union.
As in the Royal Household, Queen Elizabeth authorized the wedding next Saturday at St George's Chapel in Windsor. The likely Duchess is going to study to be a British citizen and will take a nationality test.
At this ceremony with 600 guests and millions of viewers around the world, the wedding will be concelebrated. The Archbishop of Canterbury will be accompanied by the Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, primate of the North American Episcopal Church and the first African American to serve in his role as bishop. since November 2015.
"I am delighted that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have asked Prince Michael Curry to deliver a sermon at their ceremony. Curry is a brilliant pastor, impressive preacher, gifted at sharing the good news of Jesus Christ," said Justin Welby, former banker and today Archbishop of Canterbury.
But is it that Meghan is Jewish and is going to face an interfaith marriage? Although many described her as an American Jewish actress, the reality is more complex. Duncan Jeffery, the chief of communications for Westminster Abbey, said the church never claimed that Markle was Jewish. She only confirmed that she could marry, despite her divorce from Jewish producer Trevor Engelson, whom she was married to between 2011 and 2013. They were married in Jamaica in a Jewish ceremony. You can get married in the Anglican church thanks to your conversion to Anglicanism and the flexibilities that were instituted in 2002.
The future wife of Prince Harry is the daughter of a Dutch Irish cinematographer, who lives in Mexico, and an African-American mother. In an essay she wrote for Elle magazine in 2015, she never mentioned her Jewish identity or her conversion to Judaism prior to her marriage. In Britain a Roman Catholic cannot be British Queen but there are no legal barriers for a Jew, Buddhist, Muslim or atheist to formally marry a member of the Royal Family.
