Royal Wedding: Medals And Military Honors

At the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, Harry wore the Blues and Royals frockcoat uniform. He wore four medal ribbons: K.C.V.O, Afghanistan with rosette, the Queen's Golden Jubilee medal, and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal. He also wore his pilot's wings, which he earned while serving with the Army Air Corps and flying Apache helicopters. Harry's military uniform was significant because he had a distinguished military career, serving for ten years and completing two tours of Afghanistan.

The Queen's permission

Prince Harry, who served in the British Army from 2005 to 2015, wore the Blues and Royals frockcoat uniform to his wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018. He was granted permission by the Queen to wear the uniform, which he had also worn to his brother's wedding in 2011.

In addition to the uniform, Prince Harry wore four medal ribbons: the K.C.V.O, Afghanistan with rosette, the Queen's Golden Jubilee medal, and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee medal. He also wore his pilot's wings, which he earned while serving with the Army Air Corps and flying Apache helicopters.

Military service

Prince Harry's military career spanned ten years, during which he served in the British Army and undertook two tours of Afghanistan. He was also seconded to the Australian Defence Force before his military career came to an end in June 2015.

Prince Harry joined the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in May 2005 and was commissioned as an Army officer in April 2006. He joined his regiment, the Blues and Royals, in May 2006, and in October of that year, he began the Troop Leaders' Course, his special-to-arm training to become an armoured reconnaissance troop leader. After completing the course, he rejoined his regiment in Windsor and was put in charge of a troop of 11 soldiers and four Scimitar reconnaissance vehicles.

Prince Harry was promoted to Lieutenant in April 2008 and, in February 2008, it was confirmed that he had been deployed to Helmand Province in Afghanistan. During his time there, he is believed to have helped Gurkha troops repel an attack from Taliban insurgents and undertook patrols. For his service in Afghanistan, he was awarded the Afghanistan Operational Service Medal in 2008.

In October 2008, Prince Harry announced that he wanted to fly military helicopters and he qualified in May 2010. In April 2011, he was promoted to the rank of Captain, and in September 2012, he was deployed to Camp Bastion in southern Afghanistan with the Army Air Corps on a 20-week tour.

In addition to the Afghanistan campaign medal, Prince Harry has been awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal (2002), the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), and the Queen's Platinum Jubilee Medal (2022). He also wears wings, indicating that he is a qualified army pilot in the Army Air Corps.

The Afghanistan Campaign Medal

The design of the medal is also significant. It was designed by the U.S. Army Institute of Heraldry, featuring six approved campaign phases with respective dates. These phases include the "Liberation of Afghanistan" and "Transition II". The ribbon devices authorised to be worn on the medal include campaign stars, arrowhead devices, and the Fleet Marine Force Combat Operation Insignia, among others.

At the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Prince Harry wore four medal ribbons, one of which was the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with a rosette. This was to recognise his service in the country, where he completed two deployments and served as a joint terminal attack controller and an Apache helicopter co-pilot and gunner. Prince Harry's medals were a reflection of his military career and a source of pride for him and his family.

The Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal

The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal, was created in 2002 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne in 1952. The medal was awarded to active personnel in the British Armed Forces and Emergency Personnel who had completed five years of service. Over 330,000 medals were awarded to members of the Armed Forces, with over 94,000 going to the Army, 32,000 to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, and almost 39,000 to the Royal Air Force.

The obverse of the medal features a profile of Queen Elizabeth II wearing a crown, circumscribed by the inscription ELIZABETH • II • DEI • GRA • REGINA • FID • DEF. The reverse features the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, flanked by the years 1952 and 2002. The ribbon is royal blue with a central stripe of white with a red line through it and thin red lines on the edges.

The Canadian version of the medal, awarded to those who contributed to public life, is gold-plated bronze with a thin raised edge. The obverse features an effigy of Queen Elizabeth II, wearing the George IV State Diadem and circumscribed by the words QUEEN OF CANADA • REINE DU CANADA. The reverse features a stylised maple leaf with CANADA at the bottom and the years 1952 and 2002 on either side of the Royal cypher and crown. The Canadian medal was designed by Cathy Bursey-Sabourin and produced at the Royal Canadian Mint.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal

There are four versions of the medal, issued by the United Kingdom, Canada, eight Commonwealth realms in the Caribbean, and Papua New Guinea. The ribbons used with the medals differ slightly between the versions, with the Canadian and British versions using the same red, blue, and white ribbon, while the Caribbean and Papua New Guinean medals feature black stripes.

Prince Harry wore The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal at his wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018. He served in the British Army between 2005 and 2015 and completed two tours of Afghanistan, rising to the rank of Captain in the Blues and Royals. His four medal ribbons, from left to right, were for the K.C.V.O, Afghanistan, The Queen's Golden Jubilee, and The Queen's Diamond Jubilee.

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