Bishop Michael Curry gave an impassioned address on the power of love when Harry wed Meghan in 2018.
He told People magazine: “After I preached the sermon, I just remember it was like I could feel slaves around the place.
“I don’t mean to be spooky, but it was like their voice was somehow heard that day.
“I included one of their songs There is a Balm in Gilead.
“It was like their voice, one of their songs, one of their descendants was there that day.”
The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the US, who is a descendant of slaves and the son of a civil rights activist, was discussing his new book Love Is The Way.
He described the Queen as “most gracious” and said the experience was a sign of hope.
He added: “That one of their descendants was in the presence of the Queen of England, and he quoted one of their songs.
“That’s hope that we don’t have to be the way we’ve always been.”
The bishop said he is not in touch with Meghan and Harry, who quit as working royals less than two years after the wedding and moved to the US, but he continues to pray for them.
He praised the duchess for her activism and for “lifting up women”.
Former Suits star Meghan became the first mixed-race person in modern history to marry a senior British royal.
She has described how her great-great-great-grandfather created his own identity when freed from slavery, choosing his own last name Wisdom.
