Image copyright THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF SUSSEX / ALEXI LUBOMIRSKI Image caption The bride had 10 bridesmaids and pageboys including Princess Charlotte and Prince George
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have released three official photographs taken on their wedding day.
The pictures, taken by Alexi Lubomirski, include a group photograph with bridesmaids and close family, including their parents and the Queen.
The couple would like to thank everyone who took part in the celebrations on Saturday, Kensington Palace said.
"Their Royal Highnesses are delighted with these official portraits," a statement added.
Image copyright THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF SUSSEX / ALEXI LUBOMIRSKI
Mr Lubomirski, who also took the couple's official engagement pictures, said it had been an "incredible honour" to document the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's "inspiring journey of love".
"This has been a beautiful chapter in my career and life, that I will happily never forget," he said.
Thousands of well-wishers gathered in Windsor as Prince Harry wed Meghan in St George's Chapel on Saturday afternoon.
More than 110,000 people filled the town's streets with about 67,000 train trips made in and out of Windsor's two stations on Saturday, according to the council.
Meanwhile, an average of 11 million viewers watched on BBC or ITV at any one time.
Image copyright THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF SUSSEX / ALEXI LUBOMIRSKI Image caption Meghan's mother Doria Ragland was the only member of her family to attend the wedding
Mr Lubomirski is normally found shooting for fashion magazines like Vogue and Harpers Bazaar and can count celebrities including Beyoncé, Julia Roberts, Nicole Kidman and Scarlett Johansson among his subjects.
According to his website, in 2014 he published a book called 'Princely advice for a happy life', written for his sons, about behaving like a 21st Century prince.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Alexi Lubomirski (right) and his wife Giada were among the guests at the ceremony on Saturday
Meghan's pure white, boat neck gown was designed by British designer Clare Waight Keller, the first female artistic director of French fashion house Givenchy.
A five metre-long white silk veil - which covered her face as she entered the chapel - included embroidered floral detail representing all 53 countries of the Commonwealth.
This was kept in place by Queen Mary's diamond encrusted bandeau tiara, loaned to her by the Queen.
For the couple's private evening reception, the Duchess of Sussex changed into a lily white, silk crepe halter-neck dress designed by Stella McCartney.
On Monday, the British fashion designer shared an animated sketch of the gown and said making it was "one of the most humbling moments of my career".
As a member of the royal family, Meghan now has an official profile on the Royal Family website, which details her work for a number of charitable causes.
"I am proud to be a woman and a feminist," the Duchess of Sussex, said on the site.
All pictures subject to copyright
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The Kingdom Choir performed Stand By Me at Prince Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle
"Oh darling, darling..."
These sound like words from a straightforward love song, but everyone who heard it performed in St George's Chapel on Saturday knew that Stand By Me was more than that.
And there's a reason that the song sounded right coming from the gospel singers of the Kingdom Choir. Here's a line from the book of Psalms that sounds very much like the second verse:
"Therefore will not we fear, though the Earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea."
Royal wedding 2018: The music behind the ceremony
Stand By Me sounds like gospel because it was once a hymn which adapted that psalm. It was published in 1905 by Charles Albert Tindley, though it may go further back into the black American oral tradition.
A 'civil rights anthem'
Tindley was a slave's son who volunteered as a janitor at an Episcopalian church in Philadelphia. He taught himself Greek through a correspondence course and learned Hebrew at a local synagogue, and eventually became the church's pastor, addressing its mixed-race congregations much like Michael Curry, who delivered the address at Saturday's wedding. He also wrote a collection of gospel numbers.
Flash-forward to 1960. Ben E. King - who knew his gospel - had left his successful band The Drifters over a contractual dispute, and he was wavering between chasing a solo career and asking for a job in his father's restaurant.
One evening, in his bedroom "with a cheap guitar", he noodled about, finding an update of Tindley's song. Proud of what he'd done, he sent it to his old band. "We don't need it," they replied.
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Ben E King was the first to turn Stand By Me into a mainstream hit
So it was that, when King got a recording contract, and had a quarter of an hour spare at the end of a studio session, his producers asked whether he had anything knocking around to fool around with.
He sang Stand By Me acapella; everyone set to work. The producers - serial hit-makers Lieber and Stoller - added a Brazilian-inspired baiaó rhythm.
They upended a snare drum and scraped a brush across the wire for that scratchy sound which is one of the song's many hooks; as King recalled it, Lieber and Stoller were always seeking "that one little thing that your ear would pick up on and would not turn you loose".
A young Phil Spector was also there, contributing ideas.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption In 2011, King explained how The Drifters turned down Stand By Me
Then they decided to add an orchestra. The sessions ran into overtime, they got into trouble with the record label… until it became a hit.
In fact, it's found success many times over, constantly adapted to new ends. In the movie that borrowed its title, it's about the strength of friendship among 12-year-old boys; in T-Rex's version, it's about unity among the hippie children.
But in the original — and in the hymn that inspired it — something else is going on. Historian Craig Werner says that in the context of 1960s America, a black man singing the words "No, I won't be afraid" is "a classic case of political masking".
In other words, Stand By Me became a covert protest song, sung alongside We Shall Overcome - which was also based on one of Tindley's hymns.
Chuck Scruggs, a black American DJ, recalled putting the song to political use. "I'd go from a message song like [The Impressions'] Keep On Pushing to, say, Stand By Me. You see what I mean?… Stand by me people, cause we gotta keep on pushing for our freedom."
For many, this ballad is also, in fact, a civil-rights anthem.
That's why Harry and Meghan's choice of song meant more than if they'd gone with, say, Ed Sheeran's Shape Of You. And the performance by the Kingdom Choir takes Stand By Me back further still, re-infusing it with the defiance as well as the devotion of gospel.
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Royal Wedding photos: first official pictures of Duke and Duchess of Sussex released
The first official photos of the newly married Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been released by Kensington Palace. Taken by Alexi Lubomirski, the photos include one depicting the couple with the page boys and flower girls who assisted them during Saturday’s ceremony.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Duke and Duchess of Sussex with (left to right): Back row: Brian Mulroney, Remi Litt, Rylan Litt, Jasper Dyer, Prince George, Ivy Mulroney, John Mulroney. Front row: Zalie Warren, Princess Charlotte, Florence van Cutsem. Photograph: Alexi Lubomirski/PA
A second image features other members of the royal household, including Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Prince Harry’s brother, William, Duke of Cambridge, who acted as best man at the weekend also features, alongside their father, Prince Charles.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Back row, left to right: Jasper Dyer, the Duchess of Cornwall, the Prince of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Doria Ragland, the Duke of Cambridge. Middle row: Brian Mulroney, the Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth II, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Charlotte, Prince George, Rylan Litt, John Mulroney. Front row: Ivy Mulroney, Florence van Cutsem, Zalie Warren, Remi Litt. Photograph: Alexi Lubomirski/PA
The picture also features Meghan’s mother, Doria Ragland, who was the only member of her close family to attend the ceremony.
A final picture shows the couple smiling together on the east terrace of Windsor Castle.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Official wedding photograph released by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Photograph: Alexi Lubomirski/PA
Photographer Lubomirski is himself royalty, through the lineage of the Polish House of Lubomirski – his official title is His Serene Highness Prince Alexi Lubomirski. He also took the couple’s official engagement photos last year.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest One of two official engagement photos taken in December 2017 by Alexi Lubomirski. Photograph: Reuters
Prince Harry and his new bride Meghan Markle are spending their first night at their home in Kensington Palace as a married couple after returning this afternoon.
The two were pictured at the gates of the palace for the first time since they tied the knot on Saturday.
Earlier stunning official photographs were released showing the newly-married Duke and Duchess of Sussex beaming shortly after the ceremony at Windsor Castle.
As normal service is resumed, the Queen has been pictured on official duties at the Chelsea Flower Show today.
Harry and Meghan will have little time to recover from their fairytale wedding as they head straight back to work this week.
Unlike other newlyweds, they will not be jetting off on a honeymoon straight away and will instead be back on royal duty, carrying out their first official engagements as husband and wife.
The couple, who exchanged vows in a ceremony watched by millions across the world on Saturday, are due to attend a Buckingham Palace garden party on Tuesday as part of the Prince of Wales's 70th birthday celebrations.
It will mark the beginning of a new life for former actress Meghan, who has already spoken of her desire to "hit the ground running" in her role as a full-time royal. The couple left Windsor yesterday but were not seen returning to Kensington Palace.
More details about the couple's special day are emerging, including what proud dad Prince Charles said in his speech and the designer's sketches of Meghan's wedding dress.
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