Why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle Are Forgoing Traditional Wedding Gifts

With Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s royal wedding right around the corner, we’ve been doing a lot of educated guesswork as to what the uber-fancy reception will be like. So far, we’ve acquired some pretty solid info on what the couple’s cake might taste like, who might walk the bride down the aisle, and even whether or not the couple will sign a prenup. (Hint: they won’t!)

We’ve been eating up all of these juicy deets in the same way that we pour over Game of Thrones spoilers—sometimes we literally can’t wait to see what’s going to happen with these two! So, when we recently got more official wedding info, straight from the Royal Family themselves, we just knew that you had to hear it for yourself!

Just yesterday, Kensington Palace posted a link to its Twitter account, in response to the many public inquiries it has received in regards to wedding gifts. Believe it or not, plenty of folks end up sending presents to the Royal Family—especially its youngest members during the holidays—which means that, unless the Palace provides instructions, it will become inundated with gifts galore.

Of course, the Prince and his soon-to-be royal bride are in need of material things like they are in need of holes in their heads, so the two lovebirds came up with a plan for paying the well-wishers’ gifts forward.

In lieu of flowers or presents, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are urging the public to make charitable donations to seven, hand-chosen organizations. This is what Kensington Palace said in the official announcement:

Prince Harry and Ms. Markle do not have any formal relationships with the charities chosen. The couple have chosen charities which represent a range of issues that they are passionate about, including sport for social change, women’s empowerment, conservation, the environment, homelessness, HIV and the Armed Forces. Many of these are small charities, and the couple are pleased to be able to amplify and shine a light on their work.

The first charity mentioned, CHIVA, which stands for Children’s HIV Association, supports over 1,000 juveniles in the U.K. as they battle the virus.

Anyone who knows anything about Prince Harry is aware of the fact that he aspires to follow in his late mother Princess Diana’s footsteps. Because she spent much of her time working with AIDS organizations at the height of the crisis, it comes as no surprise that CHIVA is at the top of the list.

The charitable move clearly is the “right” thing to do, but we still think it’s brilliant that the soon-to-be bride and groom are using their upcoming wedding as a platform for peace! To learn the names of the seven organizations on the list, and to find out how you can donate, too, be sure to watch the video below.

We’d love to hear your take on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s untraditional gift requests. Are you surprised that they decided to promote charities in lieu of receiving gifts? Did you do a similar good deed for your wedding? Do you know of any great charities that you would like to shine a light on?