Queen Elizabeth FINALLY agrees to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry wedding – thanks to this

Queen Elizabeth II, 91, has finally given her formal consent for Meghan Markle, 36, and the royal’s grandson Prince Harry, 33, to marry.

The couple, who became engaged to wed at the end of last year, are due to tie the knot on 19 May 2018 at St George’s Chapel.

However, what was less widely known is that the Queen still had not issued her formal consent until earlier today.

It is royal protocol that the Queen must approve the weddings of the first six royal members in line to the throne.

This is thanks to the Succession of the Crown Act 2013, which states the approval as necessary.

“I declare my consent to a contact of matrimony between my most dearly beloved grandson Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales and Rachel Meghan Markle,” reads the Queen’s formal letter.

“I am causing to be signified under the Great Seal and to be entered in the Books of the Privy Council.”

A letter of the same nature was written before the wedding of Kate Middleton, 36, and Prince William, 35, in 2011 – although it was penned just a week before the wedding in that case.

It is believed the Prime Minister may have been in a position to advise the Queen against approving the wedding, had she objected.

If the Queen did not consent and Harry married, under the law his descendants would be banned from inheriting the throne for ever.

This was the case when the Duke of Windsor – then King Edward VIII – abdicated the throne in 1936, losing the right of potential heirs to the throne.

Despite the fact the Queen clearly approves of Meghan’s marriage into the royal family, Meghan did not sit front row with the Queen on Commonwealth Day earlier this week.

The Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William were sat at the end of the front row. So why were Meghan and Harry forced to sit behind the major royals at the event?

It is believed Meghan and Harry had to sit on the second row instead because of the seating plan, which was based on the order of succession to the throne.

Harry is fifth in line, therefore he made way for Prince Charles, the heir apparent, and Prince William, who is second in line, and their spouses the Duchess of Cornwall and Kate Middleton.

Prince Harry will soon be sixth in line to the throne when Prince William and Kate Middleton’s third child is born, with the due date expected to be in late April.