Meghan Markle to be baptised as Anglican Christian before wedding

Meghan MarklePrince Harrys American actress fiancee Meghan Markle is to be baptised and confirmed as an Anglican Christian by the Church of England at a ceremony at Kensington Palace in London this month The 36yearold who was raised as a Protestant Christian in California will formally embrace the Anglican faith in a private service at the palaces 19thcentury chapel by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin WelbyAccording to The Sunday Times among the family members expected to be present for the ceremony is Markles father Thomas Markle who lives in Mexico and has not yet met his future soninlaw Her mother Doria Ragland is expected to travel from her home in CaliforniaA source close to the couple told the newspaper that the bridetobe asked the Archbishop to conduct the service as she has formed a close bond with him She and Harry have been doing wedding prep with himThe couple will marry on Saturday May 19 at St Georges Chapel in Windsor Castle Markle was not required to become an Anglican in order to marry Harry in the royal church but she is understood to have chosen to be baptised and confirmed out of respect for the Queens role as Head of the Church of EnglandMarkles father a Hollywood lighting director belonged to the Episcopalian denomination iquest the main US offshoot of the Anglican church iquest and her mother belonged to another Protestant sect When she was six her parents divorced and Markle went on to attend the Catholic Immaculate Heart girlsonly high schoolHer first husband Trevor Engelson was Jewish but she did not take his faith The couple married in 2011 and divorced two years laterMeanwhile the UK government has approved the late opening of pubs in the UK for celebrations during the royal wedding weekend in MayAt the end of a fourweek public consultation UK home secretary Amber Rudd confirmed this week that licensing hours across England and Wales would be relaxed to mark the royal weddingIt means pubs bars and other licensed premises serving alcohol in the country can keep serving until 1 am on the morning of the nuptials and again after the couple have tied the knotThe royal wedding is a chance for communities across the country to join together and celebrate this momentous and happy occasion for our royal family and for our nation Rudd saidAs shown by the support for the proposal to extend licensing hours its clear that the public back the idea of having more time to raise a glass to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on a day of national celebrationThe Home Secretary can make an order relaxing alcohol serving hours for bars which are usually limited till 11pm every night for a celebration period to mark an occasion of exceptional international national or local significanceCatch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever