It was a quiet country affair, far removed from the pomp and ceremony we’ve come to expect from royal weddings. The setting was an English parish church, the regal guest list only filled a couple of pews, and the bride walked in several minutes late carrying her own train to protect it from the rain. The marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, on 8 July 1972, was a royal wedding with a…
Banbury Cross is of course, synonymous with local Oxfordshire folklore for many, because of the popular rhyme which has a ‘fine lady’ riding to it on her cockhorse. Indeed, this is the main reason why many people know of the existence of the Cross at all. Far less known…
In addition to the private gifts exchanged at royal weddings were also those public gifts given on behalf of a nation. Either to accompany its native bride on her marriage, or increasingly, to take the form of diplomatic presents, such as the Sevres porcelain dinner service…
Royal wedding dresses aren’t just about what the bride wants to wear. While the woman in white has a big say in the design, her dream dress also has to fit the rather regal occasion which will see her and her intended say ‘I do’.
Autumn Kelly and Zara Phillips both had plenty of pressure on them to come up with impressive royal wedding looks even if their celebrations were more low key than…
It’s the cake that keeps on giving. The flower strewn bake that took centre stage at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on April 29th 2011 still makes its presence felt with slices of it popping up at auction with what seems like an almost metronomic…
Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, was the first of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh’s children to wed and she was also the first to contract a second marriage. For both ceremonies, she chose striking outfits which would take their own places in royal wedding…
Some royal wedding dresses stand the test of time, others are always very much of the era they were worn but some are such instant hits that they take on a fame all of their own. The gown worn by the Queen’s only sister, Princess Margaret, for her wedding to photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones on 6 May 1960 at Westminster Abbey is definitely an outfit with its own place in history.
The only daughter of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh is known for her down to earth, no-nonsense approach to life and in many ways, the flowers chosen by Princess Anne for her wedding in 1973 to Captain Mark Phillips were that attitude in petal form. As she became the…
The wedding of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, on July 23rd 1986, was really rather floral indeed. We expect all brides to carry a bouquet but Sarah, unlike many women in recent royal history, chose to wear flowers in her hair, too. As she made her way into Westminster…
Within the historical collections of the Royal Armoury [Livrustkammeran] in Stockholm are preserved some astonishing examples of Swedish royal wedding dresses. Some are in the forms of fully preserved dresses, others sections from the same, such as trains or loosely attachable pieces of the robe de cour,such as the corset. Whilst many are within the collections but mostly not exhibited for…
