Royal wedding week did not get off to a good start with all the Thomas Markle drama. But, as I’ve been saying, the royals know how to carry on…and put on a show. And did they ever turn it around this morning. At around 10am local time here in England, so as to properly dominate the entire day, Kensington Palace released this statement: 

I was hoping that Meghan would walk down the aisle herself but from a strategic maneuver perspective, this is game-changer. Nobody’s talking about the Thomas Markle Zone anymore. And just like that, the royal family has snatched back control of this party. It’s a bonus for all players. 

For Meghan Markle, this is a major show of support from the family she’ll be joining. She’s American, she’s a commoner, she’s divorced, and she’s got a lot of rogue relatives – you know how uppity aristocrats can be and you know there was some judging happening, even before all this sh-t with Thomas Markle and Samantha Markle went down. Now she’s not only marrying the most popular prince of England, the FUTURE KING OF ENGLAND will be greeting her in St George’s Chapel and PERSONALLY HANDING HER OFF TO HIS SON. It’s a big ass seal of approval. It’s a big ass f-cking deal. 

But the biggest winner out of all of this may be…the Prince of Wales himself. Who everyone now sees as the one who has stepped in to save the day and turn a sh-tshow into a brand new story.

He doesn’t have a daughter so, until now, there was really no opportunity for him to take centre stage at an event of this magnitude. I barely remember him at Will and Kate’s wedding, do you? And Prince Charles doesn’t exactly mind the spotlight. But his sons, whose mother is Diana, Princess of Wales, have over the last few years been the headline-makers. William and Harry get so much of the attention. Lately Harry’s gotten almost all of the attention. But it’s Charles who will next be king. And it’s Charles who the Queen has put her focus on recently, as seen last month during CHOGM when she expressed her “sincere wish” for Charles to succeed her as head of Commonwealth. Having Charles walk Meghan down the aisle, then, would have been totally encouraged by Buckingham Palace. On Meghan and Harry’s day, Prince Charles is going to be front and centre, which benefits Meghan, sure, but it might actually benefit Charles more, as a reminder that he’s the monarch, he’s to wear the crown, he’s to be the main man of this family. Think of the pictures alone. How many of them he’ll be in. Meghan will walk partway on her own, surrounded by bridesmaids and page boys, before Charles meets her up the aisle. THAT is now one of the money shots of the day.

It’s a boss move on his part… even though we’re being told that Meghan was the one who asked, and of course that’s how it should be presented to us, but Meghan Markle, who’s not even in the royal family yet, who’s still learning about all kinds of royal etiquette, would it have been in her place to even float the idea? More likely it would have been gracefully, subtly, and tactfully – in other words royally – suggested to her, right? And this way, the embarrassment of the last few days, of her rogue relatives wreaking havoc on the situation, pretty much evaporates. 

BOSS MOVES here on all sides.