Official: Sophie will promise 'to obey' Edward

SOPHIE RHYS-JONES will promise to "love, honour and obey" Prince Edward at their wedding next week, it was officially confirmed today by the bishop conducting the ceremony.

The traditional commitment was revealed by the Right Rev Peter Nott, Bishop of Norwich, who will officiate at St George's Chapel, Windsor, on 19 June - a week before he retires.

The promise to obey was a commitment that Diana declined to make at her wedding to Prince Charles at St Paul's Cathedral. Bishop Nott said: "It's no big deal. It is a mistaken assumption that when a bride says she will obey it means she is going to be subservient. My wife said obey and she is far from subservient. It is to do with trust and listening. "The partnership is equal and leadership in a good marriage always shifts. I think obey means 'I trust you to make decisions that are for the good of the family'." The bishop said of Edward and Sophie: "I always think of them as a couple. I find it very difficult to think of them individually. They share a lot of characteristics. They are lovely people with a great sense of warmth, kindness, humanity and humour and a deep seriousness about this." There was some surprise earlier this year when Bishop Nott was invited to take the ceremony. Some commentators asked why Dr George Carey, Archbishop of Canterbury, had not been asked to officiate as his predecessor did with the marriage of Prince Charles. But Bishop Nott, who first met Edward at Sandringham, was approached by him to conduct the ceremony after the couple had spent a day visiting Norwich Cathedral. Asked about recent publicity, the bishop said: "They are both sensitive people and all sensitive people get hurt. But they are also professional PR people. They know about the media and understand precisely what is going on." On the question of the best man, he added: "You won't be surprised at all."

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