ROYAL WEDDING

Queen's consent letter for Meghan Markle, was it a snub?

TOPSHOT-BRITAIN-ROYALS-COMMONWEALTH Britain's Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, (2R) and her husband Britain's Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (R), arrive with Britain's Prince Harry (C) and his fiance US actress Meghan Markle to attend a Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey in central London | AFP

The Queen issued a letter of consent for the marriage of Meghan Markle with Prince Harry, which is to take place this year in May.

But shortly after the consent letter emerged, some questions were raised by several media organisations and individuals, speculating that the wordings of the consent letter showed that the Queen likes Kate Middleton more than the soon-to-be-royal American actor.

The comparisons were made on the basis of wordings from the Queen's letter of consent written for Kate in 2011 which referred to Kate as "our trusty and well-beloved Catherine Elizabeth Middleton," whereas Meghan is simply referred to as "Rachel Meghan Markle", according to The Independent.

While the wordings might seem like a snub, it turned out that the letters were for two different occasions.

The experts then compared Kate's 'Charter of Declaration' letter to Meghan's - and it was found that the wordings were similar - referring to the Duchess of Cambridge as "Catherine Elizabeth Middleton".

A Twitter handle named, Gert's Royals, tweeted the comparison pictures and wrote, "No, the Queen did not slight Meghan Markle by not refering to has "Our Trusty & Well-beloved" like she did Kate in the formal Consent with offical seal released the day of wedding. If you look at the 2 online consents from Privy Council records for Will & Harry, same wording".

Kate's consent letter was actually from the Instrument of Consent, which occurs closer to the wedding day, and not from the Charter of Declaration like Meghan's was, reported The Independent.

As fifth and soon to be sixth in line to the British throne, Harry is among a handful of senior royals who must seek the monarch's permission to marry under the Succession to the Crown Act, People Magazine reported.

The British monarch issued a declaration consenting "to a Contract of Matrimony between My Most Dearly Beloved Grandson Prince Henry Charles Albert David of Wales and Rachel Meghan Markle" on Thursday.

Alongside the declaration, the queen signed an Instrument of Consent, a formal notice of approval, transcribed in calligraphy and issued it under the Great Seal of the Realm.

The royal wedding will take place on Saturday, May 19, 2018, at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.