Love is The Only Truth – Insights on The Royal Wedding

Light has penetrated the darkness and the cracks can no longer remain hidden.

It has been two days since the Royal Wedding and I still cannot shake off the look of the bride’s mothers face as her daughter walked down the aisle and in two words forever changed the history of the world.

‘I will’, two words… Two words filled with grace, with trust, with humility, with unadulterated love.

I had not intended to watch the Royal Wedding nor had I ever paid much mind to the English Royals for the matter. A friend of mine had attempted to get me to watch the tv series ‘The Royals’, completely unrelated yet in her perspective as close as one would get to the inner workings of the oldest British family, yet it had simply not caught my interest. I am not one for drama, I rarely watch the news and have never subscribed to any gossip columns; whether one is famous or not is irrelevant to me, we all have our own lives and our own sets of sorrows and joys that go along with it. It was close to 4am the morning of May 18 when I logged into my YouTube account preparing to end my day with my early morning prayers and meditations, when I received a notification that the wedding was happening live. Out of sheer curiosity I clicked on the link for the live stream and my eyes landing on this beautiful black woman with eyes that had seen too much of the world. My first reaction was surprise – who was this woman, this woman so clearly out of place among the finery yet so perfectly at peace in her own quiet dignity? Then the camera panned out to the entrance of the cathedral as Queen Elizabeth II was just arriving at the church which meant the wedding was about to begin. Somehow I had caught the stream at the perfect moment to skip all the frivolities and get to the heart of the matter, and curious to learn the identity of the black woman I decided to delay my meditations and watch the wedding. In between roving across the many faces who had gathered inside and outside the church to witness the union, the camera kept zooming back to the solitary black woman sitting with the greatest poise and my heart strings plucked, tears prickling my own eyes as I observed this woman.. Who was she…?

A few moments later I quickly deduced she was the mother of the bride and my entire world swam, I had no idea the about-to-be princess was biracial and I swallowed the lump in my throat. Even though my heart had prayed for so many years for peace in our world, to see it finally happening before my very eyes was simply a shock. I could not help but notice the discomfort in several faces of the crowd, faces whose names I assume others would know but to me all looked the same – perfectly groomed soldiers who knew their places and positions and lines, yet some were unable to hide their distinct discomfort to find themselves at this union. I was particularly surprised by Prince’s William’s wife Catherine and kept wondering why her smile seemed so forced. And then Meghan arrived at the church, a vision with a smile that simply refused to leave her countenance, shining brighter than all of the jewels in the room combined. My heart soared, I felt deep gratitude for the internet and the ability to be witnessing this union live from the comfort of my own home, to get my own firsthand look at the Royals and all their associates without the stories of the media having previously poisoned my mind.

And between Harry, Meghan and her mother the ice dissolved, a light had entered the Royal family and there was no more denying the changes the world was witnessing. Love had championed against all odds and the descendant of slaves oppressed by the very same ancestors she was about to marry stood there before the face of God and the entire world to dissolve the illusions and break the chains that bind.

But then, as if this union was not enough to feed the discomfort growing in the crowd, Reverend Curry delivered a speech that really driveled the point home, LOVE IS THE ONLY TRUTH! I lay here on the massage table that has been my bed for a few weeks now and shook with joy and laughter, I could feel the energy of the darkness seeping through the live stream and so I lit some sage and started praying, chanting the great compassion sutra and pouring out gratitude for the answered prayers. I could only begin to imagine the thoughts of the brides mothers and the millions of black descendants watching the union and hearing the words of fire and power dripping from the Good Reverend, I could only imagine the spirits of the ancestors trumpeting the victory across the heaves because yes, love had indeed overcome all odds and returned full circle to the heart of its oppressors to win them over in the union of two humans from seperate ends of the world.

This black woman whose soulful eyes had caught my attention and kept me transfixed to my little I-Phone screen, because of her I had decided to watch the wedding and I felt such deep gratitude to be alive in this moment of history witnessing love dissolving all illusions of separation. And then the black choir sang ‘Stand By Me’ and my heart burst open, I jumped out of my bed and danced and hooted, singing along through the tears. I thought about how I myself as a brown woman who wears a veil gets constant racist commentary and looks anytime I step out the door, a mixture of curiosity and horror that shamelessly presents itself on the faces of many hardened humans who have been indoctrinated with the ideologies of separation. I thought back to the many times I have received the question ‘Are you Muslim’ and how I have always smiled and responded ‘No, I am human’, their confused spiteful faces sliding away as I stand strong in my own truth of love. I thought of the many coloured people across the world who continue to be persecuted again and again simply for the colour of their skin and how now, now with two simple words ‘I will’ the entire course of history had been changed forever. I marveled at how poised and dignified Meghan’s mother remained, a woman Royal in her own right, a Queen leading by example on how to allow love with grace and patience to conquer all.

Later on I learnt Meghan wore Princess Diana’s ring at her reception and I just burst into bittersweet laughter again. The gracious lady had died too young, her life cut short because her light was too bright for the darkness that had a stronger hold of the Royals then. But now, now 21 years had passed and the times had shifted greatly giving room for another light to enter the Royal family. A light from the outside world had broken through the iron walls of the monarchy and it was absolutely right and fitting for Meghan to honour the Princess by wearing the ring, yet another act of love showing the world she is indeed a beacon of light and hope as she proudly accepts her humble role.

Let us learn from this sacred union. I pray that this act of courage reminds every human of the power of love, of the power of hope and faith, of the power of peace. Love is the only truth, we are not our skin or the possessions we have, we are not our histories or our society, we are love. And the greatest thing we can ever learn in this human existence is how to love and be loved in return.

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