Who is Justin Welby? Harry faces Archbishop of Canterbury who refuted Meghan Markle’s secret wedding claim
Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who officiated the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, is offering the blessing at Prince Philip's funeral. Prior to the funeral, the archbishop remarked that the event would be an 'anguished moment' for the Queen, even though she might show 'extraordinary dignity and extraordinary courage'. He also added that the Queen would require the support of the entire nation at such a difficult time, as she proceeds towards her 95th birthday on Wednesday, April 21, 2021.
However, things are believed to be especially awkward between Welby and Prince Harry, after the former refuted Meghan's claim of officiating their secret backyard wedding. During their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021, Harry and Meghan claimed that they were married in secret three days before the royal wedding, at a private ceremony in Kensington Palace. Meghan said that they exchanged vows in presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.
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Who is Justin Welby?
Justin Portal Welby is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury and thus the most senior bishop at present in the Church of England. Since 2013, he has served in the role prior to which he was the Bishop of Durham and vicar of Southam, Warwickshire.
He was born on January 6, 1956, in London, to Jane Gillian Portal, who served as the personal secretary to Sir Winston Churchill for while. Welby was born nine months after his mother's marriage to Gavin Bramhall James Welby. He had always believed that he was the biological son of Gavin Welby until recently. In 2016, a paternity test revealed that his biological father was Sir Anthony Montague Browne, Churchill's private secretary with whom his mother had a brief relationship.
Both of Justin Welby's parents were alcoholics, who divorced when he was just three years old. He stayed in the custody of Gavin Welby, who died later due to alcoholism. Meanwhile, his mother gave up drinking and married Charles Williams in 1975, who became a supportive stepfather to Justin Welby.
Welby attended Trinity College, Cambridge, and earned a graduate degree in history and law. It was during his college days at Cambridge that he felt a spiritual connection and had a moment of self-realization. Later, he worked for eleven years in the oil industry, before retiring from his executive position in 1989 to get ordained. He then studied theology and was trained for priesthood.
After years of serving in various positions, Welby was appointed as Bishop of Durham. Despite being bishop for a short time, Welby was announced as the Archbishop of Canterbury in 2013.
In personal life, Welby is married to Caroline with whom he has six children. His extensive experience in business prior to his ordination earned him a seat on the panel of the 2012 Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards at the House of Lords.
What did the archbishop say about Meghan's secret wedding claim?
In an interview with Italy's La Repubblica newspaper, Welby confirmed that Harry and Meghan did not legally marry before the royal ceremony that he conducted at Windsor's St George's Chapel on Saturday, May 19, 2018. “If any of you ever talk to a priest, you expect them to keep that talk confidential. It doesn't matter who I'm talking to,” he told the publication. The archbishop explained that he had “a number of private and pastoral meetings” with Harry and Meghan prior to the actual wedding. The wedding on May 19 was the only legal wedding that took place between the former royals.
Refuting the claims, he added, "I signed the wedding certificate, which is a legal document, and I would have committed a serious criminal offense if I signed it knowing it was false. So you can make what you like about it. But the legal wedding was on Saturday. But I won't say what happened at any other meetings."
What did Welby say about the Queen?
Speaking to BBC about the Queen on the occasion of Prince Philip's funeral, the Archbishop of Canterbury said, "She is saying farewell to someone to whom she was married for 73 years... I think that must be a very, very profound thing in anybody’s life and I hope the whole nation, if they believe in that, they pray for her, and if they don’t, they sympathize in their hearts, offer their condolences to her, and they hope for her to find strength in what must be an anguished moment.”
Adding that people should refrain from judging the Queen on external appearance at the funeral, he said, "She is the Queen. She will behave with the extraordinary dignity and extraordinary courage that she always does.”