Meghan Markle, Prince Harry receives well-wishes from 'American Pie' singer Don McLean on wedding anniversary
Meghan Markle, Prince Harry receives well-wishes from 'American Pie' singer Don McLean on wedding anniversary. The songwriter discusses his song ‘And I Love You So,’ which was played at the royal wedding.
Don McLean fully supports Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's big move to Los Angeles.
“I think they should live where their hearts tell them to live and do what their instincts dictate,” the “American Pie” singer-songwriter told Fox News. “I give them credit for going [at] it alone in America -- that’s what Americans are supposed to do.
“The British press hounded Harry’s mother to death and he wants no part of it,” the 74-year-old continued. “I think they found royal life stultifying. The problem with the press is that there is a controlled and uncontrolled press. It’s hard when you are very famous as they are.”
It’s been two years since McLean’s 1970 song, “And I Love You So,” was played at the couple’s royal wedding on May 19, 2018. On the pair’s second wedding anniversary, McLean said he’s still grateful for the honor.
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Don McLean performing today. (Courtesy of Don McLean/2911 Media)
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“As for my song ‘And I Love You So,’ it was a nice honor to have the song used for a very important event,” he said. “I think it shows that they have true love and I hope they will be very happy in America.”
Harry, 35, has previously lashed out at British tabloids for their treatment of the former American actress, accusing the media of hounding her the way it did his mother, Princess Diana, who died in a 1997 car crash while trying to elude paparazzi. Harry insisted he didn’t want such history repeated.
The couple, who announced they were stepping back as senior royals on Jan. 8, is currently residing in Markle’s native Los Angeles with their son, Archie, 1.
Some royal experts believe the family’s future is looking bright in America.
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Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at their royal wedding in May 2018 (AP)
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“[The Duke and Duchess’] move to Meghan’s hometown of Los Angeles, with its thriving and vibrant multicultural environment, will offer Archie the chance in his most developmental years to experience a totally heterogeneous, multiracial population,” royal author Leslie Carroll told Fox News.
“Even if the Sussexes were to someday return to the U.K., or even reside in a Commonwealth country and resume their duties as full-time royals, the experiences that Archie will receive as a baby in America … and where he can regularly see other kids who resemble him, will be invaluable as he grows up,” she shared.
She also pointed out that Harry, in particular, has never forgotten how the media hounded his mother and stalked his wife early in their relationship.
“If they were media hounds, they would have sold photos to Archie to every supermarket tabloid,” Carroll explained. “Obviously, this is not the case. And yet the couple has been criticized for being private and wanting to protect their infant’s private as well. … The couple has expressed a desire for low-key, relative anonymity for Archie.”
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Royal historian and blogger Marlene Koenig also told Fox News she suspects Archie’s parents will take a no-nonsense approach when it comes to his safety in America.
“If Harry and Meghan remain here, I assume that Archie will go to a private school in the U.S, probably not boarding,” she said. “It will be a school that provides for his security as well.”
Meanwhile, Carroll believes Los Angeles is an ideal place for Archie’s upbringing, in comparison to the U.K., as it will offer a more normal upbringing than Kensington Palace, or even Frogmore Cottage, which is located on the grounds of Windsor Castle.
“Life in America will provide Archie with a much greater understanding of his mother’s culture and background, plus what the real world — where people who don’t live in castles with a retinue of servants and have thousands of acres of deer park as their backyards — live,” she explained. “Sure, it’s lovely if you can get it, but only a handful of people actually live that way.”
Millions in the U.S. tuned in to watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot. (Reuters)
“Unlike other royal babies, Archie is likely to grow up hearing several different languages, including Spanish, a variety of ethnic musical styles everywhere he goes, and if he’s anything like the American women in his life — Meghan Markle and [grandmother] Doria [Ragland] — and even like the English grandmother he will sadly never know — he will be raised from the start to learn about the less fortunate around him and to open his heart and hands to them.”
Still, Koenig hopes that while the family is living across the pond, Harry will lead by example and maintain a positive relationship with the other royals.
“I hope that Harry, especially, will make sure that his son is aware of his heritage, especially when [Prince] Charles succeeds to the throne and becomes Grandpa King,” she said.
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