WINDSOR, England (AP) — Meghan Markle announced Thursday her father will not be at her marriage to Prince Harry due to health problems.
“Sadly, my father will not be attending our wedding,” she said in a statement released by Kensington Palace. “I have always cared for my father and hope he can be given the space he needs to focus on his health.”
The palace has not revealed details about 73-year-old Thomas Markle’s health issues, but the celebrity website TMZ says he is hospitalized in California after undergoing a procedure to clear blocked coronary arteries.
He reportedly told the website he was ok but needed to rest. Thomas Markle had been scheduled to walk his daughter down the aisle when she weds her prince Saturday at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
It is possible Doria Ragland, Meghan Markle’s mother, will fill that role instead. No replacement has been officially named.
Meghan Markle’s statement came as military personnel rehearsed a procession on the streets of Windsor.
Planners used Thursday’s practice session to finalize some of the details of Saturday’s gala.
The wedding day festivities will include a 25-minute carriage ride outside the castle grounds by the newlyweds after the ceremony is concluded. More than 2,600 members of the public have been invited onto the castle grounds to watch the procession.
