Fifteen years ago this year came arguably the greatest royal wedding in recent memory: that of Prince William to Kate Middleton, now the Prince and Princess of Wales. The couple sent the nation—and the world—into a love-filled fantasy, complete with an heirloom tiara, lace bridal gown and royal carriage procession. Now, those bright-eyed newlyweds are proud parents of three beautiful children, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, seven.
In Europe, the 2000s brought a golden era of royal weddings, including Prince Felipe of Spain and Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano (now King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia). The loved-up couple looked impossibly chic on their wedding day, setting the sartorial tone for their enviably stylish reign.
Of course, royal weddings are also prime territory for forging bridal fashion trends: Queen Rania of Jordan’s custom Bruce Oldfield gown—a gold-embellished confection with a bold collar and belted waist—helped consolidate her status as a global style star; while Princess Angela of Liechtenstein’s striking bateau-neck dress (her own design) was a precursor to the Duchess of Sussex’s wedding gown, created by Givenchy’s Clare Waight Keller for her wedding to Prince Harry some 18 years later.
So, as the world celebrates love this weekend, there is surely no greater time to celebrate the 11 most iconic and romantic royal weddings of all time.
Who is Meghan Markle? Gayle King anchors a CBS News special on the future wife of Prince Harry — the woman who went from a grade school advocate to half of a global power couple for a new era — as told by those who know her best: her friends, teachers and co-stars. Watch Friday, April 20 at 10/9c on CBS.
The relationship between King Charles and his youngest son, Prince Harry, has been strained in recent years, but the monarch has a touching image of his daughter-in-law, Meghan Markle, on display at his London home.
The Queen invited children, supported by the organisations Helen & Douglas House and Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity, to decorate the Christmas tree at Clarence House on Thursday, and the framed photograph could be seen on a table in the background.
The black and white shot shows the then Prince Charles arm-in-arm with blushing bride Meghan on her wedding day to Prince Harry at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on 19 May 2018.
When Meghan’s estranged father, Thomas Markle, was unable to attend his daughter’s nuptials after suffering a heart attack, Charles stepped in to accompany his daughter-in-law halfway down the aisle.
WATCH: Meghan Markle kisses King Charles in sweet behind-the-scenes wedding moment
While it hasn’t always been visible, reports that the photograph was included among the personal ones on display first surfaced in 2020.
A frame inside Clarence House featured a picture of Charles and Meghan on her wedding day to Prince Harry
The snap of Charles and Meghan is placed next to an official portrait taken at Prince Louis‘s christening the same year, with the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge posing with their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and a baby Prince Louis, as well as Charles and Camilla, and Harry and Meghan.
Paying tribute to his father in the 2017 BBC documentary, Prince, Son and Heir: Charles at 70, Harry spoke about the moment he asked Charles to walk his future wife down the aisle: “I asked him to 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, and you know he’s our father so of course he’s going to be there for us.”
The Sussexes also spoke about Charles’s role at their wedding in their Netflix series, Harry & Meghan, released in 2022, which documented their departure from the royal family in 2020.
“My father helped us choose an orchestra, which made all the difference,” Harry explained alongside clips of the orchestra serenading Meghan as she walked down the aisle.
Meghan added: “Harry’s dad is very charming and I said to him ‘I’ve lost my dad in this,’ so him as my father-in-law is very important to me.”
The King and Prince Harry were reunited for the first time in 19 months during a 55-minute meeting at Clarence House when the Duke returned to the UK in September.
On what would have been their 78th anniversary, The Royal Collection Trust has recalled the wedding of the late Queen Elizabeth II and her beloved husband, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Taking to Instagram on Thursday, the charity shared two photos from the historic occasion, which began with a ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London, followed by a reception in the Ball-Supper Room at Buckingham Palace. “Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey on this day in 1947,” the caption began. “This photo by Baron, taken in the Throne Room of Buckingham Palace, shows the happy couple on their wedding day.
“The second photo shows Jack Bryant making the final adjustments to their wedding cake. The cake was 2.7 metres (9 feet) high and weighed 226 kg (500 pounds). One tier of the wedding cake was kept for the christening of their first child, Prince Charles, in December 1948.” According to the Royal Collection Trust’s official website, the bride and groom received eleven wedding cakes, but their official choice was baked by McVitie and Price, using ingredients which were sourced from around the world, including Australia.
Queen Elizabeth’s wedding cake was made with ingredients from around the world, earning it the nickname, the ‘10,000 mile’ wedding cake
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s historic wedding cake
A decadent and highly detailed creation, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s wedding cake featured the arms of both families, as well as their respective monograms and regimental and naval badges. After the Pâtisserie team at Le Cordon Bleu London was offered the opportunity to recreate the cake for the ITV documentary, A Very Royal Wedding, Chef Julie Walsh revealed what she and her colleagues learned about the design.
WATCH: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip’s 1947 wedding
“The original recipe was developed by Fredrick Schur, Lead Confectioner at McVities & Price. He had his original design for the cake selected by the happy couple out of 11 possible designs. The recipe for the original cake was not disclosed and may have been lost in a fire that devastated the McVities & Price factory many years ago,” explained Julie, “therefore, we had to piece together the information we had to develop the recipe.
“We discovered that as the royal wedding took place in 1940s post-war Britain, food rationing was still in force, many of the ingredients for a cake of this magnitude would have been scarce and hard to find in the quantities required. The people of Britain and the Commonwealth donated as much as they could spare to ensure the young princess had a fitting cake for the celebrations.
Ingredients were shipped over from all around the world, including Australia
“The most notable donation came from the Girl Guide Association of Australia (Princess Elizabeth held the office of Chief Ranger of the British Empire), who sent seven crates containing ingredients for the cake, including powdered milk, flour, spices, and dried fruit, as well as one bottle of the best Australian Brandy! In addition to the Girl Guides donation, others received included flour from Canada, Rum from Jamaica and brown sugar from Barbados.”
The bride’s choice of dress was decidedly 1960s in style. Designed by John Cavanagh, on the recommendation of her future mother-in-law, Princess Marina, it featured a round neck with fitted sleeves, as well as a full skirt with a 15-foot train. There were some concerns that the dress was too awkward and heavy to maneuver, with the bride reportedly practicing her curtsy multiple times. She borrowed a diamond and pearl tiara from her mother-in-law’s collection, one that had belonged to her husband’s grandmother, Queen Mary. The same tiara was later loaned to Katharine’s daughter, Lady Helen Taylor, on her wedding day in 1992.
The wedding of the Duke of Kent to Katharine Worsley at York Minster
Keystone/Getty Images
Guests at the wedding included the late Queen, as well as the Queen Mother, the Duke of Edinburgh, King Charles III (then Prince Charles), and Princess Anne, who served as a flower girl. There were also royals from Denmark, Greece, the Netherlands, and Norway in attendance. It was at this wedding that the future King Juan Carlos of Spain would meet his royal bride, Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark, too.
The Duchess of Kent’s train is adjusted on arrival at Hovingham Hall, after her wedding ceremony at York Minster.PA Images/Getty Images
The wedding reception was held back at the bride’s family seat, another touching nod to where the couple first met.
The Duke and Duchess of Kent shared three children, Lord Nicholas Windsor, Lady Helen Taylor, and George, Earl of St Andrews, as well as 10 grandchildren, including Lady Amelia Windsor, Lady Marina Windsor, and Cassius Taylor.
Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton got married at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, in a stunning ceremony where the bride wore Alexander McQueen.
Surrounded by family and friends, the wedding ceremony was also a massive public affair with a celebration by what appeared to be the entirety of the United Kingdom. Since officially tying the knot, William and Kate have expanded their family, welcoming three kids together.
Their first-born son, future King of England Prince George, arrived in July 2013. In the years that followed, William and Kate welcomed two more kids, Princess Charlotte in May 2015 and Prince Louis in April 2018.
Stronger than ever in 2024, the couple marked their 13-year anniversary amidst a challenging time in which Kate’s health struggles and subsequent retreat from the public eye sparked speculation worldwide. Following an abdominal surgery, Kate revealed in a March 2024 video filmed at Kensington Palace that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing preventative chemotherapy.
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“Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too, as is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you,” she said at the time. “It means so much to us both. We hope that you’ll understand that as a family, we now need some time, space, and privacy while I complete my treatment.”
Keep scrolling to look back the photos from William and Kate’s wedding:
On Wednesday, King Charles and Queen Camilla made their first visit to the City of London, the one-mile square neighborhood in the metropolitan area with a degree of legal independence from the monarchy. Following a centuries-old tradition, their majesties marked the visit with a Temple Bar ceremony, where Charles was presented with a ceremonial Pearl Sword, and an official dinner at Mansion House, the Lord Mayor’s official residence. In an homage to the late Queen Elizabeth II, Camilla used the dinner to make her debut appearance in the Girls of Great Britain and Ireland tiara, one of the Windsors’ most illustrious and historic pieces of jewelry.
The tiara was given to Charles’ great-grandmother Queen Mary on the occasion of her wedding in 1893. When Mary and the future George V were wed, it was customary for groups around the nation to fundraise for wedding gifts for the heir to the throne. Lady Eva Greville led a fundraising drive for women’s associations across the British Isles to purchase Mary a new tiara, and scholars eventually gave the Garrard & Co-designed headpiece its name in their honor. When then-Princess Elizabeth married Prince Philip in 1947, the widowed Queen Mary gave her the tiara as a wedding present.
Along with the tiara, Camilla also made her first appearance in a necklace and bracelet set that belonged to her late mother-in-law. On the occasion of her 21st birthday in 1947, the late queen received a necklace with 21 diamonds during a visit to South Africa.
Though the visit to the City of London followed in tradition’s footsteps, Charles focused on contemporary issues in a speech he delivered during the dinner. In addition to mentioning climate change and artificial intelligence, he discussed the importance of relationships between people of different faiths.
“Is our society, with its deep and ancient roots — nurtured and enriched by our welcome of new citizens from the four corners of the globe since the dawn of our history — up to the challenges and ready to meet them, head-on? I believe so,” he said. “Because at such a juncture in our national life, there are special strengths which we can summon to help us — deep wells on which we can draw, filled not just with our shared histories and experiences, but with literally countless individual stories too; a mix of memories past and ambitions future, to help give ourselves a sense of perspective.”
“[She] felt like she was bringing an element of each of those countries down the aisle with her. So that her new role—and that bridge to the new role—was captured in what she was wearing,” Waight Keller says. “For both of us, we felt it was a really beautiful signature, and I think even Prince Harry was just thrilled at the idea that we really tried to capture something for everyone in that service.”
To symbolize love and charity, crops of wheat were intricately blended into the floral motif at the front of the veil, which was secured with Queen Mary’s diamond and platinum bandeau tiara. The Givenchy atelier workers in Paris sewed for hundreds of hours and washed their hands every 30 minutes to ensure that the threads and tulle remained immaculate.
The groom’s father, a staunch supporter of British hand-craftsmanship and artisan traditions, was also moved by the gesture. “King Charles was just in awe of the dress and the [veil] embroidery, and he asked me about it while we were waiting inside the nave,” Waight Keller says. “He was really very interested, actually, in all the different motifs and the floral representations.”
Celebrating Prince Harry With “Something Blue”
The duchess put a creative twist on her serendipitous “something blue.” After dismissing “a garter or something like that,” Waight Keller explains, Markle snipped a piece of fabric from the dress she wore on her first date with Prince Harry.
“We basically sewed it into the hem of the wedding dress, so she was the only one that knew that it was there. It was a little blue gingham check,” Waight Keller says, dropping a significant clue about the Sussexes’ origin story—and for social media sleuths to scour the Wayback Machine. “It was the perfect personal memento that was secretly hidden inside the dress.”
Coordinating With the Bridesmaid Dresses
The six bridesmaids (or flower girls), including Prince William’s daughter, Princess Charlotte, coordinated with Markle in crisp white Givenchy haute couture. “She said, ‘I don’t want them to feel trussed up or like they’re in some old-fashioned dress,’” Waight Keller explains. “So these were just really modern and clean, but also something that they could move around in and felt like they were real children’s clothes.”
Evoking “very simple little T-shirt shapes,” in look and comfort, Waight Keller animated the ivory silk radzimir frocks with lively details: empire waistlines, short puff sleeves, tiny pleats, and hand-finished double silk ribbon bows at the back. “They had the same principles of modernity that the wedding gown had,” says Waight Keller, who also added pockets. “It was an important link between the two.”
When Queen Victoria married her beloved Prince Albert in 1840, she cast aside the traditions of earlier noble-born brides—and unwittingly changed the course of wedding history. For one thing, she proposed. In lieu of a velvet jewel-toned look, she chose a white dress (a trend that she is credited with starting). As for her hair, she wore a humble wreath of orange blossoms, rather than the requisite diamond-encrusted tiara. The sweet white flower is said to symbolize love and virtue, a blessing in full bloom.
Since that high-profile moment, orange blossom has remained a staple of royal nuptials in a more lasting form: perfume. For her 1981 wedding to the then Prince Charles, broadcast to a global audience of 750 million, Diana Spencer ascended the steps of St. Paul’s Cathedral wearing Houbigant Quelques Fleurs eau de parfum, with orange blossom and bergamot alongside jasmine and rose. A generation later, Meghan Markle wed Diana’s son PrinceHarry in a custom Floris scent, its orange blossom notes inspired by the line’s Bergamotto di Positano.
“The tradition of perfuming weddings is almost as old as weddings themselves,” says Amandine Clerc-Marie, a French perfumer whose work has been bottled up by Chloé, YSL, Mugler, and Burberry. “In ancient China, women wore a crown of fragrant orange blossoms at their wedding to ensure their fertility, and the tradition has spread to the West. That’s why orange blossom is still such a popular note for weddings.”
Geography and custom have also shaped the occasion’s olfactory palette. In the ancient Middle East, dousing oneself with agarwood (also known as oud) was a familiar pre-wedding ritual, as documented in the Old Testament’s Psalm 45:8. Incense-fumed ceremonies and flower necklaces have carried symbolic associations in certain Eastern cultures. Attending to the matrimonial scentscape is a practice that has endured to present day, when choosing a perfume has become as weighty a decision as designing the bridal bouquet.
“Over the last couple of years with social media, it has made it feel like wedding scents all of the sudden were a thing,” says Jennifer Capuano, vice president of fragrance at Macy’s. Everyone is in search of a signature fragrance, and brides are paying special attention. When Sofia Richie Grainge’s South of France wedding took TikTok by storm this past spring, the public clamored to find out what she wore—and not just her lace-embroidered Chanel haute couture dress. The fragrance of the day was reported to be a blend of two Jo Malone scents: Peony Blush and English Pear & Freesia.
“Brides put so much effort into finding a dress that you likely will only wear once,” says Clerc-Marie. “Spending some time to find the right fragrance can be equally as important.” Her latest creation—Burberry Goddess, a vanilla-and-lavender confection that launched earlier this month—is a worthy bridal contender. Practically speaking, she adds, a scent “carries with it the infinite potential to wear it repeatedly, instantly transporting you back to that special day.”
Yvan Jacqueline, president of the Americas for Parfums de Marly, a French perfume maison, echoes the point. “If there is one day you remember all your life, and you want to remember all your life, it is your wedding day,” he says. The brand’s most recent launch, Valaya, which blends lily of the valley with orange blossom and vetiver, was formulated with brides in mind.
In neurobiological terms, the olfactory sense is the one most closely connected to the amygdala and hippocampus, two parts of the brain responsible for emotion and memory. If you’ve ever been brought to your knees by the middle school montage that plays out with one whiff of Bath & Body Works Sweet Pea perfume, you’ve experienced this phenomenon. Scent offers a portal back in time, so when you select a fragrance for a special occasion, you link the two forevermore.
The wedding industry gets more opulent with every passing day, with brides routinely pulling four distinct white looks and renting out whole castles in Italy. There are shoes and veils and jewelry to think about, but if the history of wedding day fragrance teaches us anything, it is that nothing lives on quite like perfume.
Thankfully, brides are spoiled for choice, between niche fragrance brands and established houses, not to mention high-end options for a custom scent. Popular notes like orange blossom, rose, tuberose, and vanilla invariably do well, but choosing a perfume is a deeply intimate process. “Like a wedding dress, you need to try it on, see how it sits on your skin, how it moves with you,” says Clerc-Marie of the way scent reacts with the wearer. “Ask yourself, ‘Does it fit?’”
Finding a fragrance that mixes with your chemistry, suits your personality, and evokes something sentimental—such as the royal obsession with orange blossom—can take a good deal of trial and error. That said, some creations never go out of style. “One of the legacy go-to’s for wedding scents is definitely Chanel No. 5,” says Capuano. “It’s often a scent many remember a mother or grandmother wearing, and now they wear it because of the memories and nostalgia that it evokes.”
Once a selection is made, it can be worth turning up the volume. “You want people to be offended by how strong you smell,” jokes David Moltz, the perfumer behind the Brooklyn-based fragrance studio D.S. & Durga. He recommends the brand’s Rose Atlantic (with notes of rose and sea salt) and Jazmín Yucatan (a humid blend of jasmine and vetiver) as bridal scents. “You want it to be unique and specific, like you are not just smelling it everywhere,” adds cofounder Kavi Moltz—“especially if the whole point is to be reminded of that day.” On the eve of their own wedding, David presented Kavi with three custom fragrances in a series of ornate vintage vessels: one unique scent for each day of their traditional Indian ceremony. Naturally, the couple went on to launch his-and-her scents inspired by these sentimental creations: D.S. for David, with notes like sandalwood, saffron, and rose; Durga for Kavi, the requisite orange blossom mingling with tuberose and orris butter. “It should be fancy,” she continues. “It’s your fucking wedding.”
The goal is a singular sensation. Then again, some nuptials have the kind of sparkle that transforms a wedding day fragrance into a pop-culture commodity. For her 1956 wedding to Prince Rainier III of Monaco, Grace Kelly commissioned a new scent from perfumer James Henry Creed— a veritable bouquet of florals, including white tuberose, violet, and rose, grounded in powdery iris and sandalwood. Called Fleurissimo, it instantly evokes midcentury glamour, and it smells exactly as you imagine a movie star turned princess would. A fragrance worthy of a fairy tale.
Amman, Jordan — Jordan’s highly anticipated royal wedding day got underway on Thursday with the surprise announcement that Britain’s Prince William and his wife Kate had arrived to witness the nuptials of Crown Prince Hussein and his Saudi Arabian bride. The attendance of the British royals had been kept under wraps and was only confirmed by Jordanian state media a few hours before the start of the palace ceremony.
The wedding of Jordan’s 28-year-old heir to the throne and Rajwa Alseif, a 29-year-old architect linked to her own country’s monarch, emphasizes continuity in an Arab state prized for its longstanding stability. The festivities, which are to start Thursday afternoon, also introduce Hussein to a wider global audience.
Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein, second left, sits with his father, King Abdullah II, third left, during a celebration in Amman, Jordan, May 31, 2023, a day before the crown prince’s wedding to Saudi architect Rajwa Alseif.
Raad Adayleh/AP
The celebration buttresses the royal family’s order of succession, refreshes its image after a palace feud and may even help resource-poor Jordan forge a strategic bond with its oil-rich neighbor, Saudi Arabia.
On Thursday morning, Saudi wedding guests and tourists — the men wearing white dishdasha robes and the women in brightly colored abayas — filtered through the sleek marbled lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel in Amman. Noura Al Sudairi, an aunt of the bride, was wearing sweatpants and sneakers on her way to breakfast.
“We are all so excited, so happy about this union,” she said. “Of course it’s a beautiful thing for our families, and for the relationship between Jordan and Saudi Arabia.”
A poster with pictures of Crown Prince Hussein and his fiancee, Saudi architect Rajwa Alseif, is seen on a road in Amman, Jordan, May 31, 2023.
Nasser Nasser/AP
Excitement over the nuptials — Jordan’s biggest royal event in years — has been building in the capital of Amman, where congratulatory banners of Hussein and his beaming bride adorn buses and hang over winding hillside streets. Shops had competing displays of royal regalia. Royal watchers speculated about which dress designer Alseif would select- still an official secret,
Nancy Tirana, a 28-year-old law intern, said she spent the last week scrutinizing Alseif’s every move and stitch of clothing.
“She’s just so beautiful, so elegant, and it’s clear from her body language how much she loves the queen,” she said, referring to Hussein’s glamorous mother, Rania. “I feel like all of Jordan is getting married,” Tirana gushed as she ate mansaf, Jordan’s national dish of milky mutton and rice, before heading to a wedding-themed concert.
Jordan’s 11 million citizens have watched the young crown prince rise in prominence in recent years, as he increasingly joined his father, King Abdullah II, in public appearances. Hussein has graduated from Georgetown University, joined the military and gained some global recognition speaking at the U.N. General Assembly. His wedding, experts say, marks his next crucial rite of passage.
Crown Prince Hussein attends a celebration in Amman, Jordan, May 31, 2023, a day before his wedding to Saudi architect Rajwa Alseif.
Royal Hashemite Court via AP
“It’s not just a marriage, it’s the presentation of the future king of Jordan,” said political analyst Amer Sabaileh. “The issue of the crown prince has been closed.”
The wedding may create a brief feel-good moment for Jordanians during tough economic times, including persistent youth unemployment and an ailing economy.
Palace officials have turned the event – a week after Jordan’s 77th birthday – into something of a PR campaign. Combining tradition and modernity, the royal family introduced a wedding hashtag (#Celebrating Al Hussein) and omnipresent logo that fuses the couple’s initials into the Arabic words “We rejoice”
Photos and reels from Alseif’s henna party — a traditional pre-wedding celebration featuring the bride and her female friends and relatives — and the couple’s engagement ceremony in Saudi Arabia last summer have splashed across state-linked media.
The kingdom declared Thursday a public holiday so crowds of people could gather after the wedding service to wave at the couple’s motorcade of red Land Rover jeeps — a nod to the traditional procession of horse riders clad in red coats during the reign of the country’s founder, King Abdullah I. Tens of thousands of well-wishers are expected to flock to free concerts and cultural events. Huge screens have been set up nationwide for crowds to watch the occasion unfold.
The signing of the marriage contract will take place at Zahran Palace in Amman, which hasn’t seen such pomp and circumstance since 1993, when, on a similarly sunny June day, Abdullah married Rania, who was born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents. Decades earlier, Abdullah’s father, the late King Hussein, sealed his vows in the same garden with his second wife, the British citizen Antoinette Gardiner.
In addition to the Prince and Princess of Wales, the guest list includes an array of foreign aristocrats and dignitaries, including senior royals from Europe and Asia, as well as First Lady Jill Biden and U.S. climate envoy John Kerry. Other likely attendees include Saudi aristocrats, as Alseif’s mother traces her roots to the influential wife of Saudi Arabia’s founder, King Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Her billionaire father owns a major construction firm in the kingdom.
After the ceremony, the wedding party will move to Al Husseiniya Palace, a 30-minute drive away, for a reception, entertainment and a state banquet. The royals are expected to greet more than 1,700 guests at the reception.
Experts consider the marriage an advantageous alliance for the Hashemites, historic rivals of the Al Saud family to the east. Jordan has recently sought closer ties with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab petrostates, which once doled out billions of dollars to the aid-dependent country but since have reined in their spending.
Even as restaurants blared call-and-response Arabic wedding songs and cars honked in celebration downtown, some signaled the royal fairy tale was fraught as Jordanians struggle to make ends meet.
Osama, a 25-year-old bookseller, was thrilled about the occasion and festooned his car and shop windows with portraits of the royal family. But he also knew reality would return quickly.
“Of course, it’s joyful,” he said, declining to give his last name for fear of reprisals. “But in a couple days, we’ll just go back to our problems.”
Are Prince Andrew and Fergie back together? Since the Duke and Duchess of York’s divorce in 1996, royal watchers have been asking if the exes will tie the knot for a second time. The Yorks have given the public many reasons to speculate. The controversial, scandal-prone couple still live together at the Royal Lodge, and even adopted Queen Elizabeth’s corgis, Muick and Sandy, after the monarch’s death in September 2022. For the world’s “happiest divorced couple,” it’s their own version of happily ever after. “We enjoy each other’s company; we allow each other to blossom,” Fergie once said. “I know it sounds like a fairytale but that’s the way we are.”
1985: Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson Start to Date
According to reports, Princess Diana believes her friend Fergie, the fun-loving, outgoing daughter of Prince Charles’s polo manager, will get along famously with Prince Andrew, the queen’s favorite son whose raunchy ways have earned him the nickname “Randy Andy.” And she’s right. On June 18, 1985, Prince Andrew and Fergie are seated next to each other for a luncheon at Windsor Castle, during the week of the Royal Ascot. They get on like a house on fire. “He fed her profiteroles and she punched him in the arm, saying they were much too fattening,” Kitty Kelleywrites in The Royals. “He tried to stuff them into her mouth, and she laughingly threatened a food fight.”
Thus begins a whirlwind romance. “In Andrew I found my perfect man and soul mate. He was relaxed and endlessly charming, a prankster like me, yet solid and kind,” Fergie writes in Finding Sarah: A Duchess’s Journey to Find Herself. “In me, I suppose Andrew saw a wildflower — a bubbly and forthright woman without pretense or motives. Together we were like well-matched bookends, pleasant to look at and equally supportive of one another.”
1986: The Engagement
On February 19, 1986, Prince Andrew proposes to Fergie at Floors Castle in Scotland. According to The Royals, the proposal goes off in the couple’s signature cheeky fashion:
During a game of hide-and-seek, Andrew hid under a table, and Sarah, who was blindfolded, crawled around the floor looking for him. When she found him, she pinched his behind — hard. “Steady on!” he shouted. “You’re not allowed to squeeze the royal bottom yet!” That evening he proposed. Sarah replied, “When you wake up tomorrow morning, you can tell me it’s all a huge joke.” The next morning Andrew proposed again and gave her a $37,000 ruby ring.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson photographed at Buckingham Palace after the announcement of their engagement, 1986. Tom Stoddart Archive/Getty Images.
The engagement of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson is announced publicly on March 19, 1986. “I know that the decision I made to marry Sarah was, and always will be, the best decision I have made, or ever will make in my life,” Prince Andrew says.
1986: Prince Andrew and Fergie Wed
On July 23, 1986, Prince Andrew and Fergie’s wedding is held at Westminster Abbey in London. The ceremony is viewed by an estimated 500 million people worldwide. Despite the enormous public interest, the newly styled Duchess of York calls it “the happiest day of my life.”
“With nearly a million people lining the one-mile route, Dad looked desperately flustered. But I was just cruising. This was fun,” Fergie recalled. “On my wedding day all I knew or cared about was that Fergie was in glorious vogue.”
Waving from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day. Derek Hudson/Getty Images.
Prince Harry has angered many inside the palace with the disclosures in his memoir, Spare, but his decision to include a conversation between Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton in the run-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding could be the most controversial. In describing the now-infamous bridesmaid’s dress incident, Harry included a few terse words from Kate about how Princess Charlotte cried over her ill-fitting dress, along with a few responses from Meghan looking for a solution.
Last week, sources close to Prince William told Vanity Fair that he was angry that Harry had turned on Kate, whom he was once close with, and for revealing that Charlotte was in tears. This week, a royal insider told Us Weekly that Buckingham Palace “does not love” that the private messages have been made public. “They claim it’s just part of the story, and in any event, it’s egregious of Harry to publish these abbreviated excerpts,” the insider continued, adding that the texts “clearly show that there are two sides” to every story. “Harry feels strongly it’s important to get the true account of what happened out there.”
It’s worth noting that in Spare, Harry doesn’t say he is sharing any text messages verbatim, only the fact that Kate and Meghan had texted about the issue with the dresses. Then, he writes, “They set up a time to speak that afternoon.” The words that follow, which some outlets have quoted as text messages, are actually snippets from the conversation that Harry subsequently implies he didn’t witness. The confusion seems to stem from a Page Six report from the day before the book was released, and a subsequent Daily Mail graphic that recreated them onto an iPhone to illustrate the story.
Still, it’s clear that Harry is unveiling the details of private conversations, which has been the main driver of criticism against him. Now, conversation about the bridesmaid incident is growing exponentially. We even got some input from Ajay Mirpuri, the tailor on standby to alter the dresses, who told the Daily Mail that he didn’t see a fight but did fix all six dresses. Obviously, thrumming underneath the outcry about certain segments of the book is a real frustration that we’re litigating all of this again. Let’s call this “bridesmaid-incident fatigue.”
It’s understandable to feel tired of this by now. It all happened a long time ago, and Meghan and Harry will be celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary in May. The world didn’t first hear hints about the incident until six months after their wedding, and Vanity Fair’s first article about the controversy ran over 1,500 days ago, in November 2018. In his interview with ITV’s Tom Bradby earlier this month, Harry had a fairly straightforward reason for rehashing it again. “There’s been over 25 versions of that story now,” he said, but for years, they weren’t disputed by the palace. “My understanding is the reason they didn’t want to come out and say it wasn’t true would therefore lead to, Well, if it wasn’t that, was it the other way round? When, in fact, you didn’t need to confess that it was the other way round.”
In the book, Harry expands on his motivations for sharing the story, and based on his explanation, there’s a case to be made that the bridesmaids incident is actually the crucial moment for understanding why Harry is so angry at his family, specifically William, King Charles III, and Queen Consort Camilla. It’s less about the substance of the incident itself—of course, it’s not at all vital to know about Charlotte’s original reaction to the dress—but about who knew it happened and how it got out.
In Spare, Harry first tells the story of the initial conversation, then says that later he “arrived home and found Meg on the floor sobbing,” adding that Kate visited the next day “with flowers and a card that said she was sorry.” He returns to the event later, after the original story that mentioned it ran in The Telegraph. Harry writes that Meghan hadn’t read the story but she did hear about it, and it upset her that the story claimed that she made Kate cry when the opposite was true. “As long as I live,” he writes, “I’ll never forget the tone of her voice as she looked me in the eye and said: Haz, I made her cry? I made HER cry?”
On April 29, 2011, Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton were married in a lavish ceremony at Westminster Abbey.
In this photo, Prince William kisses his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the royal wedding in London.
Prince William
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Prince William waves to the crowds with his brother Prince Harry of Wales as they arrive to attend the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Queen Elizabeth II greets The Right Reverend Dr. John Hall, Dean of Westminster, as she arrives to attend the royal wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Royal wedding
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Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall and HRH Prince Charles, Prince of Wales arrive to attend the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William
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Prince William (R) and his brother and best man Prince Harry (L) arrive at Westminster Abbey ahead of the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Prince William (center) and his best man, Prince Harry (left), are greeted by Receiver General Stephen Lamport (right) as they arrive at Westminster Abbey ahead of William’s royal wedding to Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Prince Harry
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Prince William (L) and his best man Prince Harry (R) wait inside Westminster Abbey ahead of the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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General view of the congregation before the wedding at Westminster Abbey of Prince William to Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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The procession leads at the start of the wedding at Westminster Abbey ahead of the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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(L-R) British Prime Minister David Cameron, wife Samantha Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, Frances Osborne and husband Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne take their seats in Westminster Abbey ahead of the royal wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Pippa Middleton
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Pippa Middleton arrives with the bridesmaids and pageboys at Westminster Abbey for the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
The marriage of the second in line to the British throne is to be led by the Archbishop of Canterbury and will be attended by 1900 guests, including foreign Royal family members and heads of state. Thousands of well-wishers from around the world have also flocked to London to witness the spectacle and pageantry of the Royal Wedding.
Kate Middleton
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Kate Middleton arrives to attend the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Catherine Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Kate Middleton
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Kate Middleton arrives with her father Michael Middleton and sister and Maid of Honor Pippa Middleton to attend the Royal Wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
WPrince William and Kate Middleton
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Page boy Tom Petiffer (R) looks up as he waits with bridesmaids and page boys inside the Westminster Abbey before the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Kate Middleton has her dress adjusted as she arrives with her father Michael at Westminster Abbey before her marriage to Britain’s Prince William in central London April 29, 2011
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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A woman adjusts the dress of Kate Middleton as she arrives with her father Michael Middleton (L) at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Kate Middleton walks down the isle with father Michael at Westminster Abbey, central London, for her wedding to Britain’s Prince William, Friday, April 29, 2011.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Prince William and his new bride Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge walk down the aisle at the close of their wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Father of the bride Michael Middleton, leads his daughter Kate down the aisle to be wed to Prince William during their wedding at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Father of the bride Michael Middleton, leads his daughter Kate down the aisle to be wed to Prince William, followed by Pippa Middleton during their wedding at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Prince William stands beside his bride, Kate Middleton, with her father, Michael Middleton, on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Prince William greets Kate Middleton as she arrives at the alter with her father Michael Middleton, prior to their marriage in London’s Westminster Abbey, Friday April 29 2011.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Father of the bride Michael Middleton, gives his daughter Kate to be wed to Prince William during their wedding at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Britain’s Prince William, center right, and Kate Middleton, center left, stand at the altar during their wedding service at Westminster Abbey, London, Friday April 29, 2011.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Prince William and Kate Middleton, hold hands in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury at Westminster Abbey during their wedding service in central London, Friday, April 29, 2011.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey, London, during their wedding service, Friday, April 29, 2011.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Prince William exchanges rings with Kate Middleton in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams inside Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton exchange rings in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury at Westminster Abbey, London, Friday, April 29, 2011
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Prince William takes the hand of his bride Kate Middleton, now to be known as Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, followed by Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton as they walk down the aisle inside Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Prince William takes the hand of his bride Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, followed by Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton as they walk down the aisle inside Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Prince William and his new bride Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge walk down the aisle inside Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Britain’s Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge leave Westminster Abbey at the royal wedding in London, Friday, April 29, 2011.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Britain’s Prince William and his wife Catherin, Duchess of Cambridge stand outside of Westminster Abbey after their royal wedding in London Friday, April, 29, 2011.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Britain’s Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, leave Westminster Abbey after their wedding ceremony, in London, on April 29, 2011.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Their Royal Highnesses Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge walk to make their journey by carriage procession to Buckingham Palace following their marriage at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton
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Prince Harry and Pippa Middleton are seen inside of Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Carole Middleton, Queen Elizabeth II and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall speak following the marriage of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge wave from the balcony of Buckingham Palace after their wedding in London, April, 29, 2011.
Prince William kisses his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, on the balcony of Buckingham Palace after the Royal Wedding in London Friday, April, 29, 2011.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Prince William, right, and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, left, make the journey by carriage procession to Buckingham Palace past crowds of spectators following their marriage at Westminster Abbey, London, Friday, April 29, 2011.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Wellwishers wave flags as they surge along the Mall behind the police towards Buckingham Palace to celebrate the Royal Wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Their Royal Highnesses Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge travel along the Mall following their marriage ceremony on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Their Royal Highnesses Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge journey by carriage procession to Buckingham Palace following their marriage at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 in London.
Prince William and Kate Middleton
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Prince William and his wife Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge drive away from Buckingham Palace in a convertible after the Royal Wedding in London Friday, April, 29, 2011.
