Michael Curry on Royal Wedding sermon: US bishop 'thought Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's invite was a joke'

American bishop Reverend Michael Curry said he thought his invite to the royal wedding was an April fools' joke.

The preacher's passionate 14-minute sermon was one of the stand-out moments of Saturday's ceremony.

Entitled The Power of Love, it was the most tweeted-about moment of the day, and electrified the ceremony as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got married in Windsor.

But Rev Curry said he thought the invitation to speak at Harry and Meghan's wedding was a prank.

He told ITV's Good Morning Britain: "I thought somebody was doing an April fools' joke on me. I just didn't in my wildest imagination..."

The bishop said he "had no idea" his speech had caused such a stir, adding: "When I sat down from the sermon I remember thinking to myself, I hope that was OK."

As he began wrap up his speech, which as expected to run for six or seven minutes, he added: “We gotta get y’all married.”

During the ceremony, some of the royals were caught unable to hide their smiles during the bishop’s sermon.

The Duchess of Cambridge, the Duke of Cambridge, Princess Beatrice and Zara Phillips could all be seen exchanging knowing glances.

Official Royal Wedding Photography

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Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said of Bishop Curry’s sermon: “I think what we saw in that is that preaching is not a past art, the use of language to communicate the good news of Jesus Christ just blew the place open, it was fantastic.”

He also said members of the Royal Family were “excited and gripped” by Bishop Curry’s sermon.

In 2015, Rev Curry - a critic of US President Donald Trump - became the first black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, which is Anglican like the Church of England.

The Episcopal Church – based in New York – is one of just two Anglican churches which allows gay marriage in church, and Curry drew some controversy by backing the move.

As well as equal marriage, during his career the bishop has been outspoken on issues of social justice and immigration policy.

Royal Wedding 2018: Procession - In pictures

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The bishop spoke out ahead of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attending a Buckingham Palace garden party as part of the Prince of Wales’s 70th birthday celebrations.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will also attend the event on the anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing.

They will be joined by members of the emergency services who were on the scene on the night of the attack.

This year’s event will also be attended by more than 6,000 people from charities Charles supports in celebration of his patronage work.

Turning to the newlywed couple, Rev Curry added: "They're going to work to make this world better and empowering women is one of the ways we do that."

The Chicago-born, African-American preacher became the first presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in 2015.

He was hailed for the energy he brought to the service as a congregation of 600 guests looked on.

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