The Prince of Wales described how emotional he felt watching his youngest son marrying the love of his life.
As he addressed 600 guests gathered at the reception St George’s Hall, there was barely a dry eye as he spoke so warmly about his “darling old Harry” and the man he had grown into.
The Prince described how moving it was, at this point in his life, to watch his little boy move on.
Guests described how warmly he welcomed Meghan Markle and her mother, Doria Ragland, to Windsor and into his family. Frequently, throughout the reception, he was spotted with his arm around Mrs Ragland.
Prince Harry then gave an “off the cuff” speech in which he made it clear he was the happiest man in the world.
He too, was effusive about how beautiful his new wife looked, and prompted laughs as he reminded the guests where they were and told them not to be too raucous and disturb the neighbours when they left the castle.
He raised guffaws as he promised that the Americans would not steal the swords. Veronica German, who runs the charity Dolen Cymru Wales Lesotho Link, said: “He couldn’t get very far as every time he said ‘my wife’ everyone cheered and he had to go back to the beginning. It was very funny.”
As he finished his speech, Prince Harry jokingly asked whether anyone present could play the piano before introducing Sir Elton John, who belted out hits including Tiny Dancer, which he dedicated to Ms Markle, Your Song and Circle of Life.
Johnny Hornby, chairman of Prince Harry’s Sentebale charity, said: “It was a really warm atmosphere, the speeches were funny and touching.
“Prince Charles was clearly moved for Harry. The laughs turned it into a bit of a party atmosphere. Then Elton John started playing. There was a lot of tradition but also a lot of modernity.”
Peter Fearnhead, co-founder of African Parks, said the reception was “remarkable”. He said: “Prince Charles made a really gracious speech, it was amazingly endearing. He’s got a wonderfully dry sense of humour. Prince Harry was charming about Meghan, they are so clearly in love. We all had a tear in our eye.”
Guests then mingled as they tucked into bite-sized slices of a magnificent lemon and elderflower sponge cake.
Designed by London-based American baker Claire Ptak, it contained elderflower syrup made at the Queen’s residence in Sandringham using the estate’s own elderflower trees.
The three tiers were decorated with Swiss meringue buttercream and 150 fresh flowers arranged in a non-traditional way.
Guests were also served a selection of seasonal canapes including Scottish langoustines wrapped in smoked salmon with citrus creme fraiche, grilled asparagus wrapped in Cumbrian ham, heritage tomato and basil tartare with balsamic pearls and croquettes of confit Windsor lamb.
Bowl food included free range chicken with morel mushrooms and young leeks, pea and mint risotto with pea shoots, truffle oil and Parmesan crisps and slow roasted Windsor pork belly with apple compote and crackling.
For those with a sweet tooth, there were champagne and pistachio macaroons, orange creme brulee tartlets and miniature rhubarb crumble tartlets.
