With the actress’ father missing the royal wedding on Saturday (May 19), Prince Charles, the father of groom Prince Harry, will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle.
Markle “has asked His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales to accompany her down the aisle,” Kensington Palace said Friday (May 18). It added that Markle’s future father-in-law “is pleased to be able to welcome Ms. Markle to the Royal Family in this way.”
Markle and Prince Harry requested “understanding and respect” for her father Thomas. A palace statement on “this difficult situation” did not confirm a TMZ report that said he suffered a heart attack and was also upset over the way his decision to have staged paparazzi photos taken of him preparing for the wedding was received, deciding to miss the wedding to avoid embarrassing his daughter and the royal family.
Prince Charles is the heir to the British throne and will now walk Markle down the aisle at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle midday Saturday local time. Meanwhile, Markle’s mother, Doria Ragland, is set to meet Queen Elizabeth II later on Friday.
This article originally appeared on THR.