With Prince Harry set to wed in St George’s Chapel in Windsor, a church with deep family connections, new research reveals that 45 per cent of British 18-34 year-olds who marry in church do so in the same one as their parents or grandparents – twice as many as older generations.
The national survey of 4,500 adults, commissioned by Ecclesiastical Insurance Group, which insures many of the UK’s Anglican churches, shows that family ties run deep for young newlyweds. Michael Angell, church operations director at Ecclesiastical, said: ‘Churches are places people return to again and again to celebrate and commemorate key milestones in their lives. They are deeply rooted in family history and tradition and hold a special place in the hearts of the nation.’
Holly Merrett, 30, from The Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, wed in 2012 at St James Church in Bream. She said: ‘My sister and I, my parents, aunts, grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great grandparents and even further back than that, have all got married in the same church…