Serena Williams reveals why her father didn't walk her down the aisle

Even though the news about Meghan Markle’s father not walking her down the aisle surprised many, she is not the only woman who endured that.

Serena Williams, the tennis star who married Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian on November 16, 2017, went through the same. As reported by Vogue, Richard Williams, Serena’s father, was intended to walk her down the aisle.

He was in New Orleans, the city where the wedding took place, he had his suit, and everything was pretty much set for him to walk his daughter down the aisle in such an important day in her life.

Only one hour before the ceremony, Serena got a text message from her father. He said he didn’t want her to get mad at him but he couldn’t do it because he was not himself anymore.

Knowing that Richard suffered a stroke in July 2016 and that he needed speech, psychological, and physical therapy afterward, Serena calmly said that if he felt he wasn’t ready to do so it was fine.

She added that it was okay if he didn’t want to go to the wedding at all and that she wouldn’t be upset about it. Even though the sudden change of plans affected the ceremony a bit, it ended up being a success.

Later, Serena acknowledged that probably not many people would have reacted the way she did it, but that she knew the issues Richard had gone through lately and it was the best thing to do.

She added that even though his health condition was much better when the wedding took place, he wasn’t feeling like himself, which made her consider that it was okay for him not being in front of a lot of people.

A very similar thing will happen to Serena’s friend, Markle, during her wedding, which will take place on May 19. Serena and her husband are set to attend the ceremony and celebration in Windsor Castle.