Justin Welby quotes Stormzy to sooth Royal Wedding nerves

The archbishop of Canterbury is taking inspiration from grime artist Stormzy's song Blinded By Your Grace to calm any Royal Wedding nerves. 

Justin Welby, 62, will officiate at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19 and has admitted to being nervous.

Asked what he was doing to prepare and keep calm the archbishop, who is the most senior cleric in the Church of England, quoted a line from the south London artist.

'There's a line in that - "I stay prayed up and get the job done" - I think that sort of sums it up,' he told BBC Coventry and Warwickshire.

He told presenter Lorna Bailey: 'I'm always nervous at weddings because it is such an important day for the couple - whoever they are.'

He added: 'I've made a couple of cack-handed mistakes over the last couple of weddings I've been involved in and I'm thinking this is probably not a good moment to make it a hat-trick.'

Justin Welby has spoken about his nerves ahead of the Royal Wedding later this month. ITV

The last wedding Welby officiated at, for his head of communications at Lambeth Palace, he dropped one of the rings. And in the one before, for his daughter, he gave the vows in the wrong order during the rehearsal.

Welby has been involved in preparing the royal couple for the wedding and officiated when Meghan was baptised into the Church of England in a secret ceremony he described as 'beautiful' and 'very special'.

In a 20-minute interview for BBC Coventry, where Welby was previously canon and sub-dean at the cathedral for 15 years, he chose two songs to play. The first was Simon and Garfunkel's The Boxer, the second was Stormzy's Blinded By Your Grace. 

News
Is it time to spare Gen Alpha an injustice too cruel for words?
Is it time to spare Gen Alpha an injustice too cruel for words?

The neglect surrounding leprosy is condemning Generation Alpha — the very  generation our own children belong to — to avoidable disability, isolation and unimaginable cruelty. 

Foreign aid cuts leave Gen Alpha increasingly exposed to leprosy, Christian aid charity warns
Foreign aid cuts leave Gen Alpha increasingly exposed to leprosy, Christian aid charity warns

Children in some of the world’s poorest communities are facing a growing risk of leprosy, as reductions in overseas aid undermine efforts to detect and treat the disease, according to The Leprosy Mission Great Britain.

Goma experiences revival one year after invasion
Goma experiences revival one year after invasion

Despite great suffering and hardship, God is working.

Is Carney’s Davos sermon the way forward?
Is Carney’s Davos sermon the way forward?

Is there hope? Yes, but it is not in Carney’s Brave New World.