TEL AVIV – President Reuven Rivlin on Monday congratulated Britain’s Prince Harry on his engagement to U.S. actress Meghan Markle and invited the couple to honeymoon in Israel following their spring 2018 wedding.
“Sending our warmest regards to Her Majesty the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh, all the Royal Family & the British people, from Nechama & me, & all the Israeli people,” Rivlin tweeted. “We invite them to enjoy their honeymoon in Israel!”
No member of the British royal family has made an official visit to the Jewish state.
Meanwhile, the internet has been rife with rumors that Markle, 36, who is best known for her role in the TV legal drama “Suits,” may have Jewish blood. Vanity Fair, Elle UK, and Tablet cited a Daily Express article claiming that Markle’s father is Jewish.
According to the British tabloid, a spokesperson for Westminster Abbey, the landmark London church where British royals usually wed, confirmed Markle’s Jewish background.
“The spokesman also confirmed that Meghan’s Jewish background would not prevent her from having an ‘interfaith’ marriage there,” the article said.
However, the claim is entirely fictitious. Jewish news wire JTA cited Duncan Jeffery, Westminster Abbey’s head of communications, as saying that the church never said that Markle was Jewish. The church only said that due to a new clause instituted in 2002, Markle could be married at the church despite being a divorcee.
Markle’s father is Irish and her mother is African-American.