Letters Patent - Instrument of Consent to a Royal Marriage [2018-03-14]

Letters Patent - Instrument of Consent to a Royal Marriage [2018-03-14]

Marriage

Royal Family

Queen Elizabeth II's Instrument of Consent to the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Queen Elizabeth II

"Instrument of Consent," May 11, 2018, The Website of the Royal Family, https://www.royal.uk/instrument-consent.

2018-03-14

Jason Loch

(Sgd.) Elizabeth R

E lizabeth the Second by the Grace of God

of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of Our other Realms and Territories Queen Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith

To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting! Whereas by an Act of Parliament entitled the "Succession to the Crown Act 2013", it is amongst other things enacted that "a person who (when the person marries) is one of the 6 persons next in the line of succession to the Crown must obtain the consent of Her Majesty before marrying", such consent to be signified under the Great Seal, declared in Council, and recorded in books of the Privy Council: Now Know Ye that We have consented and by these Presents signify Our Consent to the contracting of Matrimony between Our Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales, K.C.V.O. and Rachel Meghan Markle. In Witness whereof We have caused Our Great Seal to be affixed to these Presents Given at Our Court at Buckingham Palace the fourteenth day of March Two Thousand and Eighteen in the Sixty-seventh year of Our Reign

By The Queen Herself
Signed with Her Own Hand

Sign Manual

Wax Seal

Document is handwritten with significant ornamentation. Royal name begins with a large ornamental letter in red against a backdrop of gold leaf. Letter is adorned with a lion wearing St. Edward's Crown holding a shield with the Royal Arms.

Royal name and "by the Grace of God" are in blue ink with gold initials. The rest of the titles are in red ink.

Names of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are in blue ink with gold initials.

Warranty is written in red with a large ornamental Q in "Queen" with gold leaf in the center. Gold is also used for the rest of "Queen" and the initial letters of "Herself" and "Her".

Document is written in a cursive variant of Foundational Hand.

In the left margin is a design featuring the Red Dragon of Wales and the floral emblems of the United Kingdom along with Prince Harry's heraldic label. Beneath it is a golden coronet.

In the right margin is a design featuring a rose, golden poppies, Welsh leeks and olive branches. Beneath it is a Commonwealth flag.

The eschatocol ("In Witness whereof We have caused Our Great Seal to be affixed to these Presents Given at Our Court at Buckingham Palace the fourteenth day of March Two Thousand and Eighteen in the Sixty-seventh year of Our Reign") is unusual in that the first part is reminiscent of Letters Patent while the second part is reminiscent of Royal Warrants.