Royal wedding questions the Brits won't ask

The UK's most eligible bachelor is no longer a bachelor. Prince Harry "put a ring on it" when he wed an American actress in a ceremony on Saturday.

The fairytale wedding captured the imaginations of millions of royal watchers from Hollywood to Hampshire - but there are some questions a Brit would never think to ask.

Prince Harry, grandson to the Queen and the son of the Prince of Wales and the late Diana, Princess of Wales, has married Hollywood actress Meghan Markle.

He is sixth in line to the throne.

They met through mutual friends in 2016 and the prince popped the question as they cooked roast chicken one night.

Are you a hopeless romantic? Do you like to follow the lifestyles of the rich and famous? Were you moist-eyed when Prince Charles wed Diana?

If you answered Yes to any of these questions, then you probably tuned in. The royal wedding was a celebrity-studded spectacle of love, tradition and colourful sermons.

Regardless of whether your country has a monarchy or not, or which system you support, who doesn't want a bit of romance and glamour sprinkled liberally on the current news cycle?

Ms Markle's father, Thomas Markle, had been expected to walk her down the aisle, but days before the wedding celebrity news site TMZ reported he had decided not to attend after having a heart attack.

The retired lighting designer had also been embroiled in controversy, following reports that he staged paparazzi photographs of himself in the run-up to the wedding.

Mr Markle lives in Mexico, where he was spotted reading a book titled "Images of Britain: A Pictorial Journey Through History" in a local Starbucks.

In a statement, Ms Markle said she had "always cared" for her father and hoped he could be given space to focus on his health.

So instead she walked up half the chapel alone and took the arm of her future father-in-law, Prince Charles, for the final stretch of the aisle.

Her mother, Doria Ragland, arrived in London on Wednesday. She met the Queen for the first time on Friday.

Although few celebrities confirmed they had been invited, some of the biggest names in the UK and US attended.

Sir Elton John, who cancelled two of his concerts around the royal wedding because of a "scheduling conflict", was present. Hollywood actor George Clooney and his wife, lawyer Amal Clooney, were also there.

Mel B had hinted that she and the other Spice Girls were invited, but in the end only Victoria Beckham and her husband David were seen among the guests.

Ms Markle's good friend, the tennis star Serena Williams, attended, as did US talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

As far as Prince Harry's guests went, there were all the usual royal faces. Besides his father and step-mother, the Duchess of Cornwall, his uncle, Earl Spencer, the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, and the Duchess of Cambridge's sister, Pippa Middleton, all attended.

Other celebrities in attendance included TV personality James Corden, singer James Blunt, actor Carey Mulligan, and rugby star Jonny Wilkinson.

About 1,200 members of the public, many noted for their charity work, were invited to watch the ceremony on the grounds of Windsor Castle.

There was a lot of chatter about whether US President Donald Trump - who once joked about how much he would have enjoyed dating Princess Diana - would be excluded and his predecessor Barack Obama, who is friends with Prince Harry, included.

Instead, there were no invitations given to political leaders. Cue a huge sigh of relief from Downing Street staff who wouldn't have enjoyed explaining that one to the White House.

So Prime Minister Theresa May and Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn were out, as well as Mr Trump and Mr Obama.

Ms Markle has two estranged half-siblings from her father's first marriage who were also not on the list.

The ceremony took place at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle, 21 miles (34 km) west of London, at noon local time on 19 May. That means that if you had wanted to watch from North America, you would have had to tune in at 7:00 EDT.

For you Aussies on the east coast, it would have been 22:00 AEST

After the service, the newlyweds began their carriage procession through the town of Windsor, which is home to Windsor Castle, one of the Queen's official residences. The couple chose the Ascot Landau carriage, which is used in official and ceremonial state events.

The procession ended at St George's Hall, a banquet hall at the castle, where about 600 guests were invited to a luncheon reception hosted by the Queen.

Later that evening, the newlyweds will dance the night away at Frogmore House alongside 200 of their closest friends.

It's the royal residence which provided the backdrop for their engagement photos.

No, but don't try to go sightseeing in Windsor just yet, unless you love crowds.

It was a big TV event in the UK, of course, but it also fell on a Saturday, so many Britons will have carried on with their weekend as usual.

For football fans, the wedding coincided with FA Cup Final day, which for them is far more important.

In 2011, more than 24m Britons watched Prince William and Kate tie the knot on television, placing it among the top 10 most-watched TV programmes in British history. More people watched the 1966 World Cup Final (32.3m) and Princess Diana's funeral in 1997 (32.1m).

But in the digital age, there are so many more ways to watch, and the total figure across all BBC platforms was 34m in 2011.

Hundreds of millions of people around the world are believed to have tuned in to see William's younger brother do the same.

The BBC waived the licence fee for communities hosting viewing parties of Prince Harry's wedding, and the government extended pub licences for the night before and the night after the ceremony.

The Queen is the head of the Church of England, which is part of the Anglican Communion, a branch of Protestant Christianity.

That means that members of the Royal Family are expected to be active members in the church - Ms Markle was baptised into the Church of England in March by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Justin Welby.

Mr Welby also officiated their wedding ceremony, which included vows, religious hymns, and readings from the Bible.

An American preacher, the Most Reverend Michael Curry, made a powerful address.

The ceremony featured the gospel group Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir in addition to traditional English choral music. The cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason, who won BBC's Young Musician award in 2016, also played.

"Princess" is a tricky title for British royalty. As Prince Harry's wife, she will be known as Her Royal Highness Princess Henry of Wales.

But only those born into the royal family can use the title "princess" followed by their first name. Instead, the Queen has bestowed the couple with a Dukedom, as she did with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince Harry's brother and sister-in-law.

The couple have been made Duke and Duchess of Sussex, so Ms Markle shall be known as Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.

Diana was never officially called Princess Diana. She was the Princess of Wales and, after her divorce from Prince Charles, she was Diana, Princess of Wales.

In the same way, Sarah Ferguson was never Princess Sarah and Sophie Rhys-Jones - the wife of Prince Edward - is not Princess Sophie.

Regardless of title, the Duchess of Sussex can certainly don some royal bling. When Lady Diana died, she left her jewellery to her sons to be given to their wives. The Duchess of Cambridge has worn many of her pieces, as well as pieces that belong to the Queen, during official celebrations.

Ms Markle paired her dress by British designer Clare Waight Keller with Queen Mary's diamond bandeau. It was lent to her by the Queen, Kensington Palace says.

They also revealed that her veil featured flowers from each Commonwealth country.

Prince William his brother's best man - payback for Prince Harry taking on the role during his own wedding in 2011.

"Revenge is sweet," Prince William said.

Meghan did not have a maid of honour and all of her bridesmaids and pageboys were children under the age of seven, including Princess Charlotte and Prince George.

The palace's communications secretary, Jason Knauf, said the now Duchess of Sussex "has a very close-knit group of friends and she did not want to choose one over the other".

Close family members are meant to sit nearest to the royal couple as they take their vows. When Prince William married Kate in 2011, Kate's mother Carole Middleton sat next to the Queen.

Meghan's mother, Doria Ragland, the only representative from her family, in the end sat opposite the Queen in the chapel.

The fabulous array of whimsical hats worn by female wedding guests is perhaps the greatest sartorial gift the English have ever given the world.

But where did this tradition come from?

For centuries, women covered their hair in public during the day as an expression of modesty. This custom died out in the 1950s, but women continued to cover their hair for special occasions, such as those held in a church.

Royal protocol dictates that all female royals must cover their heads during official engagements, and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has been spotted carrying on that tradition already, such as when she donned this jaunty cream beret during the Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey earlier this year.

It's unlikely to be a cash bar.

While the official menus for the luncheon or the dinner reception are set, one can count on the champers to flow liberally.

There are currently eight champagne manufacturers who have a royal warrant. The Queen served Bollinger at her own wedding, but popular brands Moet & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot also have the royal seal of approval.

The Duchess opted to pass on the royal wedding tradition of serving fruitcake.

Instead, she showed a nod to her heritage by having American chef Claire Ptak bake a classic, white wedding cake.

Like Meghan, Ms Ptak is California-raised and London-based. Her Hackney bakery Violet Cakes focuses on seasonal and organic ingredients. She prepared a lemon elderflower cake that incorporated the "bright flavours of spring".

It is covered with buttercream and decorated with fresh flowers, according to Kensington Palace.

Our money is on a band.

If the rumours are true and the Spice Girls are perhaps invited for the latter parts of the wedding, their hit Two Become One could be the happy couple's first dance as husband and wife.

Or Sir Elton John could step up and perform Can You Feel The Love Tonight.

We don't have any intel on the playlist but rumours have it that the couple has chosen Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody as the one to start the party, the Sun reports.

Well the wedding is already over, but you can watch highlights of the ceremony on the BBC News website.

We have also covered the Royal Wedding on the BBC News Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

Unlike his brother, Prince Harry is not in direct line to the throne, and so his wedding to Meghan Markle is less of a fuss (by royal standards).

Take for example, the wedding date itself. Prince William married Kate on Friday 29 April 2011, which prompted the government to declare the day a bank holiday so that people could have the day off to watch the ceremony at home.

There was no such luck for the working man this time around, as Prince Harry's wedding took place on a Saturday, 19 May.

Neither did the Duke and Duchess of Sussex get married at Westminster Abbey, the famed church that has hosted several modern royal weddings, including the weddings of Harry's brother, his paternal aunt, one of his paternal uncles, and of course, his grandmother the Queen.

In comparison, Prince Harry and Meghan's ceremony was downright intimate at St George's Chapel, which holds a mere 800 guests, compared to the Abbey's 1,900.

Reporting by Robin Levinson-King