All of the details for the upcoming Royal wedding are coming together. It has been reported that Prince Harry has selected his chief supporter (what the English title the role of best man). But the palace has not released the information. Royal grooms normally select their brothers or a very close family member to stand beside them. Miss Markle has also selected her maid/matron of honor. The palace has only confirmed that Prince George and Princess Charlotte will serve as a pageboy and bridesmaid during the ceremony. More information on the wedding parties is found here in Royal Wedding Wednesdays Always A Bridesmaid.
Royal Wedding Wednesdays Always A Bridesmaid
The choice of those in the wedding party may overwhelmingly come from Prince Harry’s side of the family. This is not at all unusual for a Royal Wedding. It was a similar story at the wedding of his mother and father.
Prince Charles and Lady Diana
Prince Charles’ supporters were his two brothers, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. His page boys included Lord Nicholas Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent and Edward van Cutsem. Both boys were godsons of Prince Charles.
Lady Diana’s bridesmaids included Lady Sarah Armstrong ~ Jones, the daughter of the Earl of Snowdon and Princess Margaret. India Hicks, granddaughter of the Earl Mountbatten of Burma and daughter of David (of interior design fame) and Lady Pamela Hicks. Catherine Cameron, daughter of Donald and Lady Cecil Cameron, granddaughter of the Marquess of Lothian. Sarah-Jane Gaselee, daughter of Nick Gaselee and his wife. Clementine Hambro, a former student of Diana’s and daughter of Rupert Hambro and the Hon. Mrs. Hambro (now Countess Peel). Clementine is also the granddaughter of Lord and Lady Soames and great-granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill.
When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were married on April 29, 2011, Prince William chose his brother, Prince Henry “Harry”, to be his chief supporter. The Duchess selected her sister, Phillipa “Pippa” Middleton as her maid of honor.
There were four young bridesmaids and two pageboys. They included Lady Louise Windsor, (daughter of Prince Edward). Lady Margarita Armstrong-Jones (granddaughter of Princess Margaret). Grace van Cutsem (daughter of a friend). Eliza Lopes (granddaughter of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall). William Lowther-Pinkerton (son of William’s private secretary) and Tom Pettifer (son of Princes William and Harry’s former nanny, “Tiggy”).
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip
When Queen Elizabeth married Prince Philip in 1947 she had a total of eight bridesmaids. They included her sister, Princess Margaret, Princess Alexandra of Kent, Lady Caroline Montagu-Douglas-Scott, Lady Mary Cambridge, and Lady Elizabeth Lambart. The Hon. Pamela Mountbatten (who later married designer David Hicks), The Hon. Margaret Elphinstone and The Hon. Diana Bowes-Lyon. Prince Philip’s supporter was the Marquess Milford-Haven (also spelled as Marquis Milfordhaven). The two pageboys were Prince William of Gloucester and Prince Michael of Kent, sons of the Duke of Gloucester.
Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes~Lyon
When the Duke of York married Lady Elizabeth Bowes~Lyon in 1923 he was merely the younger brother of the man who would be King David VIII. Fast forward thirteen years later and the Duke of York became King George VI after his brother abdicated to marry Wallis Simpson. The Duchess of course eventually became the beloved Queen Mum. While their wedding was lovely in all its flapper fashion, it was a ceremony fitting a Prince versus a future King.
There were a total of eight bridesmaids: The Lady Mary Cambridge, daughter of the Marquess and Marchioness of Cambridge, she was a great-niece of Queen Mary and the groom’s cousin. The Lady May Cambridge, daughter of Princess Alice and the Earl of Athlone, also a niece of Queen Mary. The Lady Mary Thynn, daughter of the Marquess and Marchioness of Bath, The Lady Katharine Hamilton, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn, The Hon Diamond Hardinge, daughter of Lord and Lady Hardinge. The Hon Cecilia Bowes-Lyon. daughter of Lord and Lady Glamis, and a niece of the bride. The Hon Elizabeth Elphinstone, daughter of Lord and Lady Elphinstone, niece of the bride. Miss Betty Cator (who later became the bride’s sister-in-law when she married the bride’s brother, Hon. Michael Bowes-Lyon).
King George V and Queen Mary
The Duke of York’s parents, the future King George V and Queen Mary, had ten bridesmaids who were all princesses~ as they were sisters and cousins of the groom. They included the future Queen Maud of Norway (standing on the far right) and the Duke of Edinburgh’s mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg (seated on the far left). Of an interesting note, Queen Mary had at one time been engaged to Prince Albert, George’s older brother, who was expected to be King. When Prince Albert died of pneumonia during his engagement to Princess May (later Queen Mary), Prince George not only inherited his place of succession to the throne, but also his fiancée.
Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra of Denmark
When the Prince of Wales, son of Queen Victoria (Later King Edward VII) married Princess Alexandra of Denmark there were a total of eight bridesmaids on hand to carry the long silver moire train. The attendants were all daughters of Peers of the Realm and included Ladies Diana Beauclerk, Victoria Scott, Georgina Hamilton, Victoria Howard, Elma Bruce, Agneta Yorke, Eleanor Hare and Feodore Wellesley.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert
When Queen Victoria married her beloved Prince Albert, she had a total of twelve bridesmaids. They included Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, Princess Sophia Matilda of Gloucester, the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Mary, and Princess Augusta of Cambridge, and the Duchess Gloucester among others.
Here is a description of what each of the attendants wore, please note they were not, “matchy, matchy”.
The dress worn by her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Kent, was of white satin splendidly brocaded with silver and trimmed with three flounces of blonde. It was trimmed with net and silver. The train was of sky-blue velvet lined with white satin and trimmed with ermine. The body and sleeves were tastefully ornamented with ermine and silver with blonde ruffles. The headdress was of diamonds and feathers with a necklace and earrings en suite. The articles in the dress were solely of British manufacture.
H.R.H. Princess Augusta wore a corsage and train of rich blue velvet trimmed with Brussels point lace and tastefully ornamented with aigrettes of diamonds. There was a rich white satin petticoat with volants and heading with Brussels point lace. The headdress was of Brussels point lace with superb lappets to correspond and a magnificent spray of diamonds.
The Duchess of Sutherland wore a dress of white satin trimmed with barbs of Spanish point lace and white roses. Included was a stomacher of brilliants, point ruffles, and berthé; plus a train of white moiré magnificently embroidered in coral and gold. The headdress was of feathers and point lappets with splendid diamonds.
The Countess of Carlisle had a dress of sapphire blue velvet with a Brussels point tucker and ruffles. Her headdress was a torque of velvet and Brussels point lappets.
Were you ever a bridesmaid?
Laura
Wow…you have done your homework, Laura. Very interesting. You can always count on children for a few good chuckles, like the pictures of Harry and William you shared! lol! I think it is great that Kate has chosen Pippa to be the bridesmaid…shows who is in charge!
XO,
Jane
A facinating and fun royal history lesson!
What a great visit.
Yvonne
WHAT AN AWESOME POST! Oh, I'm sorry, was I yelling? How unpolite of me. I got a wee bit excited. I can't WAIT to see what Kate's bridesmaids will be wearing. I wish I still had some of my old bridesmaids dresses, but they went to Goodwill years ago. Not that they would fit my pregnant self anyway. 🙂
I think QEII's wedding is an example of the perfect royal wedding. Everyone looks so…well royal. Diana's wedding, while iconic, is a bit too frou-frou for my tastes.
That was fun! Is there some sort of “History of English Royal Weddings” book out there with all this information you keep giving us? If not, I think you should write one for sure. I get completely engrossed in it all.
I had to chuckle at Victoria's bridesmaids all wearing different colors, I remember recently when that started becoming the trend and we all thought it was “new” – ha.
Hi Laura,
I wish I had all kinds of goodies to play dress-up with….but I don't. I have one faux fur hat I bought in York, but I don't think it qualifies. Very excited to see you again at your tea, and I think we're gonna' have a grand time at my luncheon…..I've got so many goodies to share!
Love ya'
Meri
One interesting thing I noted while looking at all the wedding photos was the changing styles from tight fitted and corsetted to loose and unstructured and back to fitting again. It's so interesting to see how the women's fashions were a constant change while the men might have all pretty much worn the same uniform the whole way through! (Maybe times were tight and they had to make do with hand-me-downs for the occasion???!? 😀
Thanks for sharing!:)
Love your post. The upcoming party should be fun. I need to decide which category I am going to participating in.
I love all these neat old photos and pictures! It's so interesting how different the English customs with weddings are like with the MUCH younger bridesmaids and that the bridesmaids wear white, too! Can't wait to see Kate & William's wedding photos!
Laura,
A very hardy Wednesday to you.
Like the hats for adorning their heads.
Such care went into the hair.
Enjoying your post!
d
Wonderful again….I have just posted photos from the wedding of Queen Victoria's son Edward from the Illustrated Times of March 21, 1863. Huzzah for a great royal post!
Ruth
HI!!!
I again loved this post, but since I am sick with the REAL FLU, I have not been to active here!!
I am suppose to be in Calif the week of your wedding attire day, so I may miss it, unless I feel up too getting all dressed up for the day!!
Have a Great week Laura
I LOVE all this Royal Wedding Wednesdays, I MUST one day POST all my ROYAL clippings I inherited from my Grandmother, they go WAY back to the 50's!!!
Some of these newspaper clippings are quite fragile!!!
I cherish them more then she will ever know!!
Hugs 2 U,
jamie
Thank you for yet another very in depth look at the Royal Weddings. I think the young children are just adorable!
Oh I love to see all the wedding pictures. Maybe you posted this but I thought of this am when I saw there is now an offical wedding website.
http://www.officialroyalwedding2011.org/
ann
Lovely Laura, I must admit, I truly love Queen Victoria..she is my favorite of all the Queens. I sure hope one day when Kate takes her place as Queen Chatherine she takes top Queen of all times..
~Shirley
p.s. your daughter is beautiful.
Oh I love the pictures! You must spend so much time finding all of this. I am so glad you are doing the research for me! 🙂 Loved your Oscar party too. I really need to live closer so I can get invited to one of your fabulous parties! Lisa~
The history here
is just amazing,
Laura! Such a
sense of continuity
over the years!
Love it. And I know
you'll rock that
royal wedding look!
xx Suzanne
I loved how you went through the history of Royal weddings… I remember visiting an exhibit on Royal Weddings a few years ago, I guess in Windsor, not sure though… I was so excited I danced from items to items: invitations, boxes for wedding cake slices…
Last weekend I found in a antique shop a “Daily Telegraph” dating from 1937 about the Queen's parents coronation… I have no idea how it was here, but I couldn't leave it there, so I bought it. It's fascinating to see the Queen as a child at the ceremony. Would you like pictures of it for your blog?
Magali@The Little White House
I always enjoy these Wednesday posts!
I apologize for missing the tea party last week. I went into the hospital (emergency) see tonight's post.
Katherine
ANOTHER VERY informative post! I have to say that Kate and William's will probably be one of the more attractive wedding parties …. don't you think?
~Liz
This is just so interesting!!!! thanks for this post. Love the dresses from the 1800s and prior. wow!
Wow, you always amaze me with such history. So interesting. Can’t wait to see the wedding.
I’ve only been a bridesmaid 3 times and all of those times were for my sisters’ weddings. I don’t have close girlfriends or any who got married, so there’s that. 🙂 When I got married the first time, I was very low key (still am) and didn’t want all the hoopla of a large wedding party, so I only had one of my sisters as my Maid of Honor and that was it. When Jim and I married, we had no attendants other than our 3 daughters who stood beside us and were involved.
Sarah tends to be very untraditional as well – it’s interesting planning a wedding with her. For instance, she hates table linens and has decided to go with an urban warehouse type place for her wedding that has open ceilings with cool lighting and big rustic tables of various forms that are attractive enough that they don’t require table linens. She is however, having a bridal party (much to my surprise) but she isn’t requiring any special dresses — rather she’s having an assortment of colors and people just get to choose whatever they want to wear. 🙂
Well, Laura, it is the stuff little girls dream about. But, I bet the brides parents won’t have to pay the bill! It would be interesting to know if either of them, I don’t know if her father is living, were embarrassed that they couldn’t possibly kick in!
Another great post, Laura, with great history.
Having 8 siblings, yes, I was Jr bridesmaid and bridesmaid 3 times, and MOH for one friend. 🙂
Always the bridesmaid, never the bride (which was fine!) And quite the never-to-be-worn-again wardrobe, too. One dress was lovely. In a different time I would have shortened it to a tea dress and might have had some use from it. The worst dress became the most worn. Baby blue, puffy sleeves, ribboned empire waist. Cut off above the knee it was worn often at Halloween parties as Fat Shirley Temple, with mary janes and a big bow. (Probably could have been Baby Snooks but I didn’t know about her then!) My first ensemble was junior bridesmaid — my first high heels at 12! I’m coming up with seven but I think I left someone out. Yikes. That’s bad!
A very fun post, Laura!
Love the post. I was a matron of honor to my sister, and she was my maid of honor. I love weddings, especially, royal weddings. Looking forward to another post next Wednesday and find out more information about the Royal Wedding. We are getting closer to May 19, 2018.
Joyously,
Betty
Great post. I love your royal posts.
I was a bridesmaid four times.
I always always wanted to be a bridesmaid! My mother was very often a bridesmaid when she was a kid and when she talked about it I started to wish it too. But I never was. I was never even a guest, I was always a musician… But this October I could visit the first wedding in my life, I was so excited. It was a traditional Catholic mass in Latin. I could wear a dream dress (I think mine was the most beautiful in all the wedding:).
I was a bridesmaid 3 times, but I would have loved to have done it more often! I always enjoyed it. I really enjoyed this post. It was so well researched and I really enjoyed the photographs. Coincidentally I was at Kensington Palace viewing the newly refurbished Victoria Revealed Exhibit again this week. One of favourite parts is the room with Queen Victoria’s wedding dress, and Prince Alberts wedding suit! Thank you so much for sharing this post, Laura, and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party. I hope you are having a lovely weekend!
Laura, this post was far more comprehensive than I was expecting! Love it! Thanks for sharing the photos and info with us. I would like to know why the invitation “requests the pleasure of the company of” rather than “requests the honour of the presence of.” In the US the latter is customary for a formal church wedding.
I can’t begin to tell you how delightful this was. There’s nothing like a Royal Wedding! I think the most beautiful wedding I’ve ever seen was Princess Diana’s. The style and color of the dresses with the pink sashes and her dress just makes my heart swell. They were/are overwhelmingly beautiful to me. She glowed that day, but by the time I saw the honeymoon photos, I knew something was amiss. She lit up the world in spite of the heavy load she carried.