Britain’s Prince Harry to Marry Meghan Markle in May 2018

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will marry on May 19, 2018. (Reuters)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will marry on May 19, 2018. (Reuters)
TT

Britain’s Prince Harry to Marry Meghan Markle in May 2018

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will marry on May 19, 2018. (Reuters)
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will marry on May 19, 2018. (Reuters)

Britain's Prince Harry will marry American fiancee, Meghan Markle, on May 19, 2018, announced Kensington Palace on Friday.

Queen Elizabeth's grandson, fifth-in-line to the throne, and Markle, who stars in the US TV legal drama "Suits", announced their engagement last month with the marriage to take place in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.

"His Royal Highness Prince Henry of Wales and Ms. Meghan Markle will marry on 19th May 2018," Kensington Palace said in a statement.

The couple announced their engagement last month after an 18-month romance.

The 33-year-old prince, who is fifth in line to the British throne, and the 36-year-old American actress met through a mutual friend in 2016.

The couple have chosen to marry in Windsor, west of London, because it is "a special place for them". Harry's 91-year-old grandmother, Elizabeth, will attend the ceremony.

Markle intends to become a British citizen, though she will retain her US citizenship while she goes through the process.

The Gothic St. George's Chapel is located in the grounds of Windsor Castle, which has been the family home of British kings and queens for almost 1,000 years.

Within the chapel are the tombs of ten sovereigns, including Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour, and Charles I.



World War II Sergeant Whose Plane Was Shot Down over Germany Honored with Reburial in California

This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)
This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)
TT

World War II Sergeant Whose Plane Was Shot Down over Germany Honored with Reburial in California

This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)
This 1944 photo provided by Honoring Our Fallen shows WWII veteran US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta from Los Angeles. Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany. On Thursday, July 25, 2024 community members lined the roads to honor Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport in southern California to a burial home. (Honoring Our Fallen via AP)

After 80 years, a World War II sergeant killed in Germany has returned home to California.

On Thursday, community members lined the roads to honor US Army Air Force Tech. Sgt. Donald V. Banta as he was brought from Ontario International Airport to a burial home in Riverside, California, The AP reported.

Banta, 21, was killed in action in early 1944 when his plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Gotha, Germany, according to Honoring Our Fallen, an organization that provides support to families of fallen military and first responders.

One of the surviving crewmembers saw the plane was on fire, then fell in a steep dive before exploding on the ground. After the crash, German troops buried the remains of one soldier at a local cemetery, while the other six crewmembers, including Banta, were unaccounted for.

Banta was married and had four sisters and a brother. He joined the military because of his older brother Floyd Jack Banta, who searched for Donald Banta his whole life but passed away before he was found.

Donald Banta's niece was present at the planeside honors ceremony at the Ontario airport coordinated by Honoring Our Fallen.

The remains from the plane crash were initially recovered in 1952, but they could not be identified at the time and were buried in Belgium. Banta was accounted for Sept. 26, 2023, following efforts by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency within the US Department of Defense and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System.