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Royal Wedding bishop breaks his silence after sermon goes viral

Author
Daily Mail,
Publish Date
Wed, 23 May 2018, 10:58AM
Reverend Michael Curry, whose 14-minute sermon at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding became an internet sensation.(Photo/AP)
Reverend Michael Curry, whose 14-minute sermon at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding became an internet sensation.(Photo/AP)

Royal Wedding bishop breaks his silence after sermon goes viral

Author
Daily Mail,
Publish Date
Wed, 23 May 2018, 10:58AM

The American Bishop who became the star of the Royal Wedding with his powerful sermon says he had no idea how much of a hit it would be and that he initially thought his invitation was an April Fool's joke.

Reverend Michael Curry, whose 14-minute sermon at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding became an internet sensation, has since returned to the US following Saturday's grand event in Windsor, reports the Daily Mail.

Speaking of how he thought his sermon went, which became the most-tweeted about moment of the wedding, Curry told the Today show on Tuesday that he had no idea of the impact it would have.

"When I was finished I sat down and said to myself 'I hope that was okay'," he said.

"I didn't know but I knew that they had asked me to come and that's me so I showed up.

"I must admit to being a little nervous at the very beginning... but then after that it turned into a church and I was speaking to a young couple who are in love - they are so passionately in love with each other, you could see it."

Curry said he initially thought his invitation to give a sermon at the wedding was someone playing an 'April Fools joke' on him.

"I didn't believe it... I said 'get out of here'. I couldn't say anything to anybody for almost two months," Curry said, adding that he didn't even tell his wife at first.

When asked about the reactions some members of the royal family had to his powerful sermon, Curry acknowledged that the British might not have been used to his style.

He added, however, that the topics included within his sermon had all been approved prior to the Royal Wedding.

"That whole service had all of the permissions. Nothing would have happened without the blessings," Curry said.

"I've been doing this for a long time... I've learned to be able to hear an amen by looking in their eyes. I was looking in the eyes of people who were there and they were doing quiet British amens."

Reverend Curry said during an appearance on Good Morning America that Prince Harry and Meghan Markle had approved an 'outline' of his sermon in the week leading up to the wedding.

"They were very gracious. I did provide a copy of the manuscript about a week before, I think it was," he said.

"I only deviated slightly. You can't get a preacher - you're going to deviate a little bit.

"They were aware of the basic outline and what was in it."

Curry said he'd had a 'remarkable and very surprising' few days following the wedding given just how much his sermon enchanted the world.

He laughed uncontrollably when he watched Keenan Thompson doing an impression of him on Saturday Night Live just a few hours after his sermon.

Keenan, referencing his lengthy sermon, had said: "They told me I had five minutes, but the good lord multiplied to a cool 16."

"It was brilliant. It was true, he multiplied it," Curry said on the Today show.

"It was a great likeness," Curry said of the impression on GMA. "I can't believe they actually pulled it off just in a matter of hours."

Curry spoke glowingly of the newlywed couple saying their love and wedding had brought together a diverse group people.

"The love between those two people, between that royal couple, was so powerful, not only did we all show up, but it brought all these different worlds together," he said on GMA.

"It brought different nationalities, different ethnicities, different religious traditions, people of all stripes and types, people of different political persuasions, actually for a moment we were together, organized around love."

During a Skype interview with Good Morning Britain earlier on Tuesday Curry also praised the impact the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's marriage could have on others around the world.

"They're going to work to make this world better and empowering women is one of the ways we do that," he said.

At the service in St George's Chapel on Saturday, the Bishop opened his emotional 14-minute speech, entitled The Power of Love, with the words of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

Curry, who is the first African-American presiding Bishop and primate of the Episcopal Church, said: "We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will be able to make of this old world a new world. Love is the only way."

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