A ring that doesn’t fit.
A tiara that breaks.
An iPad on the altar.
Royal weddings are hardly forgettable, but some of these weird moments will stay embellished
in your brain forever!
Princess Catherine's wedding to Prince William on April 29, 2011, was not only the most exciting
thing to happen to the royal family in decades — it was a fashion spectacle.
Kate's dress had to follow the tradition begun by Queen Victoria that the fabric and the
making of the dress all come from and occur in England.
"﻿﻿The inspiration, really, was the dress.
That it shouldn’t be some huge statement, that it should be something very personal."﻿
The dress was created by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen and was top secret until
the great reveal outside of Westminster Abbey.
While Kate's dress was an absolute marvel, it was actually her hair that caused a stir.
The Duchess of Cambridge decided to wear her hair half up, half down in what her stylists
artfully called a demi-chignon – aka a half bun.
Why was it so shocking?
Prior to, there had been a 350-year long tradition of royal brides wearing their hair up.
In the documentary "William & Kate: The Journey", reporter Ashley Pearson explained that Kate
had to stand her ground, revealing:
"Royal sources tell me that the royals indicated very strongly to Kate that they would prefer
her to wear her hair up for this very special occasion.”
However, both Kate and William preferred her hair down and curled.
To complete it, Kate's stylists created mood boards ahead of time to capture the correct
look to go with the coveted Cartier Halo tiara, loaned to her by Queen Elizabeth.
Of all of the surprising guests at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, his exes
might have made the top of the list.
Both Cressida Bonas and Chelsy Davy showed up, fascinators and all, for Harry and Meghan's
big day at St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018.
The two women had previously had major long-term relationships with Harry.
The Zimbabwean Chelsy Davy dated Harry from 2004 to 2010.
Davy ended up finding the prospect of royal life unsavory, and chose to take a different
path in life away from all the scrutiny and pressure.
Bonas, the British actor, dated Harry from 2012 to 2014, according to Us Weekly.
She also found the endless attention on Harry's life, including his relationship, too stressful.
For both of his exes, it was clear that there wasn't any envy at Harry's wedding.
Nevertheless, some found the optics of their being there rather odd.
But if Meghan thought it was strange, she didn't say so.
King Charles hasn't always been the media's darling, certainly not when it comes to any
conversation about Princess Diana.
But when it came to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding day, Charles was the big hero.
Thomas Markle, Meghan's dad, didn't attend the royal wedding because of reports of a
heart attack that followed news that he posed for paparazzi for money.
This left Meghan in the lurch when it came to the tradition of being walked down the aisle.
So Harry turned to his father for help, telling the BBC:
"I asked … and I think he knew it was coming, and he immediately said 'Yes, of course, I'll
do whatever Meghan needs and I'm here to support you.'
For him that's a fantastic opportunity to step up and be that support."
Author Robert Hardman wrote in "Queen of Our Times: The Life of Elizabeth II" how Charles
and Meghan came up with a compromise that worked for both of them.
When Charles offered to step in for Meghan, she didn't just give a flat yes.
Instead, according to a friend, she said, “Can we meet halfway?”
Ultimately, everyone got what they wanted.
Meghan got to enter her wedding ceremony on her terms while Charles got the chance to
step in for his son and daughter-in-law.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding made headlines for the very impassioned sermon
delivered by the Most Rev. Michael Bruce Curry.
The clergyman hit a historic record as the first American preacher to ever speak at a
royal wedding, per "Good Morning America."
Curry's sermon was a vibrant meditation on the healing power of love, but his delivery
might have been a bit more dynamic than many of the British guests expected.
Twitter got all over it, sharing screenshots of Elton John and Zara Tindall appearing to
be shocked in their pews, with someone tweeting:
"The Most Reverend Curry doing his damnedest to try and make these Brits feel ANYTHING."﻿
To make matters even more untraditional, Curry delivered his sermon from an iPad, a charming
departure from the antiquity of St. George's Chapel.
The first Black presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States later told "Good
Morning America" how significant Harry and Meghan's wedding was, sharing:
"Their love was a sign of God's love and what that love can do in our lives.
It brought together our African heritage, our British heritage, our American heritage."
He also laughed about the fact that he thought it was a joke when they first asked him, adding:
"I didn't believe it because a member of my staff called and said, 'They'd like you to
preach at the royal wedding.
I said, 'Get out of here; it's April Fools.
You've got to be kidding me.'"
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding created a lot of headlines, to say the least.
This particular story involves jewelry, namely Harry's.
This is the piping hot tea.
"﻿Here we go, a little slice of home!"﻿
It's a royal tradition that the groom does not wear a wedding ring.
The late Prince Philip didn't wear a wedding band, whereas, according to "Prince Philip
Revealed," Queen Elizabeth wore a classic Welsh gold ring that has a private inscription.
Prince William also opted out of wearing a wedding band.
However, Harry decided to wear a wedding band on his left ring finger.
While Meghan's wedding ring is made of Welsh gold, typical of the royal style, Harry's
is made of platinum, as noted in Vogue.
Royal correspondent Penny Junor told the outlet:
"I think it shows, as if proof were needed, that Harry is the least conventional member
of the Royal Family.
Harry's chosen to do what most married men do today."
Princess Diana and Prince Charles married at St. Paul's Cathedral with Diana sporting
a train that was over 25 feet long.
Clearly, there was nothing minimal about this big day.
That said, they didn't exactly get hitched without a hitch.
With millions watching, Diana made a little jumble of her wedding vows to Charles.
It went a little like this:
"﻿I, Diana Frances."﻿
"﻿Take thee Charles Philip Arthur George."﻿
"﻿Take thee Philip Charles Arthur George."﻿
Given all of the eyes that were on her that day, we've gotta cut the princess some slack
for that switcheroo.
But it wasn't just Diana who mixed up a few key words during the ceremony.
The BBC pointed out that Charles also made a fumble, adding:
"Wedding day nerves were apparent during the ceremony.
The groom referred to 'thy goods' rather than 'my worldly goods.'"
That's not even the end of it.
The two also totally skipped right past the kiss at the end of their ceremony.
Charles and Diana eventually exchanged a post-ceremony smooch on the balcony, a move that ended up
becoming a new royal wedding tradition.
While all of these mishaps sure made for an entertaining event, they seemingly foreshadowed
the pair's marital drama.
There was a funny little moment during Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding where
William struggled to get Kate's wedding band on her finger.
Knowing how fastidiously planned royal weddings are, why on earth didn't Kate's ring fit properly?
It turns out, according to the Daily Mail, that Kate ordered a size too small because
she lost weight before the wedding and had a request for the jeweler.
An insider revealed to the Daily Mail:
"Kate asked Wartski, who made the ring, to make it a size smaller so it didn't slip off."
While the little sizing gaffe did create a brief moment of light drama during the ceremony,
according to an insider who spoke with the Daily Mail:
"It has now become a subject of amusement to her and William."
Whatever the size of the ring, it's clear the two of them are the perfect fit.
There was major drama for Queen Elizabeth II on November 20, 1947.
While prepping for her wedding to Prince Philip, Elizabeth's hairdresser was securing the Russian
Fringe tiara loaned to her by her grandmother, Queen Mary when it broke with only hours to
spare before the event.
To make matters even more stressful, clips of their wedding were going to be televised
that day — a monumental experience for that era — so visual perfection was everything.
Thanks to the fastidious preparation that goes into royal weddings, there was no need
for a backup tiara or glue, nor would the ceremony be postponed.
The royal jewelers, via police escort, whisked the broken headpiece away and put it back
together in the nick of time.
In a sort of charming touch, photographs from the day show that there's a slightly uneven
gap between the highest point of the tiara and the second point.
It just shows that even for royals, accidents happen.
In one of the more curious traditions at Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles' wedding,
the couple publicly renounced their sins.
Following the Book of Common Prayer from 1662, according to CNN, the couple said aloud:
"We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time,
most grievously have committed, by thought, word and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty,
Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us."
The very intense public prayers were, at least partially, said because the couple had an
extramarital affair while Charles was still married to Princess Diana, a choice that plagued
them for years into their relationship, due to the public's allegiance to Diana.
Their wedding, held on April 9, 2005, was unconventional for a number of reasons.
They had to push it back by a day because Pope John Paul II had died on April 2 of that
year and Charles had to go to the funeral on April 8 as a stand-in for Queen Elizabeth.
They also broke with royal tradition by having a civil service first, since both Charles
and Camilla had been previously married, and they followed this with a religious service
at St George's Chapel.
The queen and Prince Philip opted out of the civil ceremony but attended the religious one.
The queen also hosted a wedding reception for the couple.
The wedding also steered clear of the typical fanfare of a royal wedding and kept to a more subdued theme.