Royal wedding guest, 12, describes moment she found out she was invited: COLUMN
Jorja Furze is an amputee from birth and ambassador for the Steel Bones charity.
ABC News asked several royal wedding guests to write about when they found out they were receiving invitations to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding on May 19. On their special day, the couple had asked to meet with representatives of charities for which Harry has served as patron. One of the invitees is 12-year-old Jorja Furze, an amputee from birth and an ambassador for Steel Bones, a charity that provides support to the amputee community. She has also set up an anxiety group that helps new students adjust to life at high school. Opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of ABC News.
When my mum called me and asked me to come through to the kitchen, I could hear from her voice that something was wrong. Mum asked me to sit down at the table because she needed to talk to me.
As I sat down, I quickly tried to think of anything I had done wrong.
Quick, quick, think. What had I done wrong? Nothing, I’m sure. I hoped. Well, I had finished all the cake.
“Jorja,” Mum said, “I need to talk to you about something and I’m not sure if you are going to like this.”
I could feel a lump forming in the back of my throat.
“Remember when we meet the deputy lord lieutenant [Chris Parkhouse] at the launch of the Ely Hero Awards? Well, you have been invited to the royal wedding.”
I screamed, “You’re kidding, this cannot be true!” It took a good minute or so for it to sink in. My mum had to show me the email from the lord lieutenant before I truly believed her. But I couldn’t tell anyone until the press release [went out].
Mum went on to explain that I had been picked to attend the royal wedding because of the charity work I had been doing with Steel Bones and the mental health group I set up at my school.
Steel Bones is a charity which is based in the United Kingdom. Steel Bones was started after a chance meeting between my mum and Emma (Emma's husband is also an amputee) at our local park. I’m the young ambassador for Steel Bones and we help not only amputees but also support their families.
Picking my dress wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. We had planned to go shopping one weekend with my mum and auntie, but I found my dress online and I know it was the one.Now that it has truly sunk in, I can not wait to go to the wedding. I think Meghan will wear something quite classic. They make such a lovely couple I really do wish them all the happiness in the world and hope they have a fantastic day.
Editor's note: Jorja Furze won the Child of Achievement award at the Ely Hero Awards 2017, a local recognition in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, that highlights heroes in the community. The royal couple asked for 1,200 members of the public to join the celebrations, including young people who have shown strong leadership and those who have served their communities, and Jorja was one of the names put forward, according to the Ely Hero Awards.
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