Prince William and his fiancée Kate Middleton are set to wed on April 29. As the big day approaches, we look at the differences and similarities between the royal couple’s planned nuptials and the wedding of William’s parents Prince Charles and Diana Spencer.
The Date: Unlike Charles and Diana, who opted for a summer wedding (July 29, 1981), William and Kate are going in for a spring affair with their wedding set for April 29, 2011. It’s not known if the most recent couple chose the date because it coincides with St. Catherine’s Day (the palace has been referencing Kate as Catherine since her engagement). Despite being royals, both William and Charles have had to schedule their nuptials around parliament and Anglican holidays. William and Kate’s do is slotted between Lent, Easter and a busy political program in May and June.
Age: While she isn’t quite the “old maid” she has been pegged as by some of the tabloid press, 29-year-old Kate Middleton will be considerably older than 20-year-old Diana was on her wedding day. William, on the other hand, is on the young side, beating his father to the aisle by four years.
Engagement ring: The 18-carat oval sapphire surrounded by diamonds is the same ring that Charles gave Diana. William carried the ring in his backpack for three weeks, during a vacation in Kenya, before digging it out from under his socks and proposing to Kate. Priced at $60,000 when it was chosen by Diana, the ring was not without controversy. The British press quickly renamed the stone “commoner’s sapphire” because of its relative affordability to the rest of us plebs. Since Kate is a fellow commoner, the stone is additionally appropriate for William’s bride-to-be.
Engagement photos: Taken by the photographer who did many of Diana’s later photo shoots, the official photo captures Kate and William in a casual embrace very similar to Charles and Diana’s pre-wedding shots. Unlike his parents’ shot (deep gasp), William and his love were airbrushed. Both couples opted for casual clothing, with Diana and Charles in blue denim shirts, while Middleton sparked a surge in high street sales with her choice of a Whistles blouse.
Location: While Charles and Diana opted for the expansive St. Paul’s Cathedral, William and Kate have decided to follow in the Queen’s footsteps and have their nuptials at Westminster Abbey. The pair want a more intimate wedding than the ’80s opulence of William’s parents’ trip down the aisle. Prince William’s private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, told the BBC the couple chose the Abbey for its “staggering beauty,” 1,000-year royal history and its feeling of intimacy. In today’s tough economy, an Abbey that seats 2,000 over a Cathedral that seats 3,500 is considered downsizing.
Bachelor party: Prince Charles held his bachelor party at White’s, a 300-year-old gentleman’s club in London. William’s celebration of his last single days is expected to be wilder, with his brother Harry overseeing arrangements.
Coin: Apparently, The Royal Mint’s head of design, Matthew Bonaccorsi, took the old hag comments to heart, transforming Kate from a healthy woman in her twenties to a dour girl celebrating her upcoming big day with a steady stream of crisps. William doesn’t fare much better. He’s shown with a prominent Adam’s apple and a gaping mouth. Charles and Diana seem to have had a better rapport with the coin engraved by Philip Nathan – or at least didn’t annoy him enough for him to expand Charles’ infamous ears.
Officiators: Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Robert Runcie led the traditional Church of England service for Charles and Diana, accompanied by a team of assisted clergymen. Kate and William are lining up a similar team of the devout, but this time the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will only get to oversee the vows, while the Dean of Westminster, the Very Rev. Dr. John Hall, will actually conduct the wedding.
Guests: William and Kate will be inviting 2,000 guests to their big day, 1,500 short of Charles and Diana’s mega-wedding. The engaged couple have said they only want people who have a personal connection to them, on top of 100 members of the public who have yet to be picked. On the foreign-leader front, this would suggest Stephen Harper and the Governor General are in (as both have met with the royals) but Barack Obama is out. Most of Europe’s crowned and elected heads attended Charles and Diana’s wedding, apart from King Juan Carlos I of Spain, who was protesting the couple’s honeymoon stop in the disputed territory of Gibraltar and the Taoiseach over the dispute in Northern Ireland.
Wedding Gifts: In 1981, Charles and Diana received more than 6,000 wedding gifts. In an attempt to avoid unwrapping multiple matching towel sets, William and Kate seem to be opting to ask guests to give donations to charity.
Route: Although it crumpled the immense train on her dress, Diana rode in the royal carriage all the way to her wedding and back. In a break from tradition, Kate will be taking a car to the wedding, but she and William will hitch a lift in the horse-drawn carriage to get back to the palace.
Dress: Designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel created Diana’s flowing silk taffeta gown with its eight-metre train. Speculation is rife over who will design Kate’s gown. Will it be Brazilian-born Issa designer Daniella Helayel? Or perhaps classic bridal label Phillipa Lepley? A recent surge of wagers and paparazzi shots of the bride and her family near the shop of Bruce Oldfield, one of Diana’s favourites, led to a suspension of betting. Don’t expect the dress designer to be revealed soon. After rumours spread that the Emanuels would be designing Diana’s dress, journalists rummaged through their garbage and attempted to bribe their staff for details.
Memorabilia: Tea towels, plates, kettles and pill pot, William and Kate’s wedding is sure to come with the same truckloads of tacky souvenirs as Charles and Diana’s. But those hawking royal wedding gear in 2011 have taken a more irreverent tone. If you want something more classic, don’t despair: The Royal Household has said they will print the official wedding tea towel that had been put on hold. For those of you still stashing away your Princess Diana thimble until you can make millions on eBay, there is a whole new deluge of commemorative oven mitts to buy.
Title: Diana became the Princess of Wales after her marriage to Charles, but Kate could be in for a much clunkier title if her hubby doesn’t take a dukeship offered by the queen. How does Princess William sound to you? Not that great. William is petitioning his grandmother to let his future wife be known as Princess Catherine, but as the Princess title is passed on only to those born into the royal family, it could prove to be a thorny issue for the tradition-bound family.
Music: Charles and Diana made their way out of St. Paul’s to the refrain of Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance.” No news on what will play when Kate and William march down the aisle, but speculation is abounding over who will play at the couple’s wedding reception. Sir Paul McCartney is being pegged as their number 1 choice, but that hasn’t stopped other bands bidding for the role, with Kings of Leon drummer offering the band’s service. “Wills and Kate look like nice people,” he told the BBC, “but Harry is the dude. His is the wedding we would most likely play.”
After-party: Charles and Diana’s wedding was followed by a dinner that featured 27 wedding cakes, and a breakfast reception the next day with 120 guests. Kate and William seem set on a larger party, with hundreds of guests. Imagine how many wedding cakes they’ll need for that.
Honeymoon: Charles and his wife kicked off their honeymoon at Balmoral, the royal residence in Scotland, before travelling to Tunisia, Sardinia, Greece and Egypt (including a few official engagements) before returning to Scotland. While William and Kate’s post-wedding plans aren’t known, it doesn’t look like they’ll be stopping in Canada. Gaming house Ladbrokes puts the likelihood of a Canadian sojourn at 21-to-one (at least we’re beating the Falkland Islands, at 1,001-to-one).
Things that could go wrong: So far, a bishop has said William and Kate’s marriage will last only seven years and hairdresser Nicky Clarke has criticized Kate for her uninspiring locks. Charles and Diana didn’t escape gaffes on their wedding day. Diana confused the order of Charles’ names during their nuptials, calling him Phillip Charles Arthur George (the name of the Prince’s father). Charles also blundered, declaring “I will share all ‘your’ goods with you” instead of offering his earthly goods to his wife.
The Queen: When her son, Charles, wed Camilla Parker-Bowles on April 9, 2005, Queen Elizabeth II donned a cream suit, coat and hat. At his previous wedding, to Diana, on July 29, 1981, the Queen wore a turquoise blue dress and hat. Her outfit for William’s wedding? Well, for sure it will include a hat.
National holiday: Brits are rejoicing that the royal wedding means a day off, so go to the pub and maybe catch some of the wedding if it’s on the telly near the bar, just like Charles and Diana’s big day.
The Date: Unlike Charles and Diana, who opted for a summer wedding (July 29, 1981), William and Kate are going in for a spring affair with their wedding set for April 29, 2011. It’s not known if the most recent couple chose the date because it coincides with St. Catherine’s Day (the palace has been referencing Kate as Catherine since her engagement). Despite being royals, both William and Charles have had to schedule their nuptials around parliament and Anglican holidays. William and Kate’s do is slotted between Lent, Easter and a busy political program in May and June.
Age: While she isn’t quite the “old maid” she has been pegged as by some of the tabloid press, 29-year-old Kate Middleton will be considerably older than 20-year-old Diana was on her wedding day. William, on the other hand, is on the young side, beating his father to the aisle by four years.
Engagement ring: The 18-carat oval sapphire surrounded by diamonds is the same ring that Charles gave Diana. William carried the ring in his backpack for three weeks, during a vacation in Kenya, before digging it out from under his socks and proposing to Kate. Priced at $60,000 when it was chosen by Diana, the ring was not without controversy. The British press quickly renamed the stone “commoner’s sapphire” because of its relative affordability to the rest of us plebs. Since Kate is a fellow commoner, the stone is additionally appropriate for William’s bride-to-be.
Engagement photos: Taken by the photographer who did many of Diana’s later photo shoots, the official photo captures Kate and William in a casual embrace very similar to Charles and Diana’s pre-wedding shots. Unlike his parents’ shot (deep gasp), William and his love were airbrushed. Both couples opted for casual clothing, with Diana and Charles in blue denim shirts, while Middleton sparked a surge in high street sales with her choice of a Whistles blouse.
Location: While Charles and Diana opted for the expansive St. Paul’s Cathedral, William and Kate have decided to follow in the Queen’s footsteps and have their nuptials at Westminster Abbey. The pair want a more intimate wedding than the ’80s opulence of William’s parents’ trip down the aisle. Prince William’s private secretary, Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton, told the BBC the couple chose the Abbey for its “staggering beauty,” 1,000-year royal history and its feeling of intimacy. In today’s tough economy, an Abbey that seats 2,000 over a Cathedral that seats 3,500 is considered downsizing.
Bachelor party: Prince Charles held his bachelor party at White’s, a 300-year-old gentleman’s club in London. William’s celebration of his last single days is expected to be wilder, with his brother Harry overseeing arrangements.
Coin: Apparently, The Royal Mint’s head of design, Matthew Bonaccorsi, took the old hag comments to heart, transforming Kate from a healthy woman in her twenties to a dour girl celebrating her upcoming big day with a steady stream of crisps. William doesn’t fare much better. He’s shown with a prominent Adam’s apple and a gaping mouth. Charles and Diana seem to have had a better rapport with the coin engraved by Philip Nathan – or at least didn’t annoy him enough for him to expand Charles’ infamous ears.
Officiators: Archbishop of Canterbury Dr. Robert Runcie led the traditional Church of England service for Charles and Diana, accompanied by a team of assisted clergymen. Kate and William are lining up a similar team of the devout, but this time the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will only get to oversee the vows, while the Dean of Westminster, the Very Rev. Dr. John Hall, will actually conduct the wedding.
Guests: William and Kate will be inviting 2,000 guests to their big day, 1,500 short of Charles and Diana’s mega-wedding. The engaged couple have said they only want people who have a personal connection to them, on top of 100 members of the public who have yet to be picked. On the foreign-leader front, this would suggest Stephen Harper and the Governor General are in (as both have met with the royals) but Barack Obama is out. Most of Europe’s crowned and elected heads attended Charles and Diana’s wedding, apart from King Juan Carlos I of Spain, who was protesting the couple’s honeymoon stop in the disputed territory of Gibraltar and the Taoiseach over the dispute in Northern Ireland.
Wedding Gifts: In 1981, Charles and Diana received more than 6,000 wedding gifts. In an attempt to avoid unwrapping multiple matching towel sets, William and Kate seem to be opting to ask guests to give donations to charity.Route: Although it crumpled the immense train on her dress, Diana rode in the royal carriage all the way to her wedding and back. In a break from tradition, Kate will be taking a car to the wedding, but she and William will hitch a lift in the horse-drawn carriage to get back to the palace.
Dress: Designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel created Diana’s flowing silk taffeta gown with its eight-metre train. Speculation is rife over who will design Kate’s gown. Will it be Brazilian-born Issa designer Daniella Helayel? Or perhaps classic bridal label Phillipa Lepley? A recent surge of wagers and paparazzi shots of the bride and her family near the shop of Bruce Oldfield, one of Diana’s favourites, led to a suspension of betting. Don’t expect the dress designer to be revealed soon. After rumours spread that the Emanuels would be designing Diana’s dress, journalists rummaged through their garbage and attempted to bribe their staff for details.
Memorabilia: Tea towels, plates, kettles and pill pot, William and Kate’s wedding is sure to come with the same truckloads of tacky souvenirs as Charles and Diana’s. But those hawking royal wedding gear in 2011 have taken a more irreverent tone. If you want something more classic, don’t despair: The Royal Household has said they will print the official wedding tea towel that had been put on hold. For those of you still stashing away your Princess Diana thimble until you can make millions on eBay, there is a whole new deluge of commemorative oven mitts to buy.
Title: Diana became the Princess of Wales after her marriage to Charles, but Kate could be in for a much clunkier title if her hubby doesn’t take a dukeship offered by the queen. How does Princess William sound to you? Not that great. William is petitioning his grandmother to let his future wife be known as Princess Catherine, but as the Princess title is passed on only to those born into the royal family, it could prove to be a thorny issue for the tradition-bound family.
Music: Charles and Diana made their way out of St. Paul’s to the refrain of Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance.” No news on what will play when Kate and William march down the aisle, but speculation is abounding over who will play at the couple’s wedding reception. Sir Paul McCartney is being pegged as their number 1 choice, but that hasn’t stopped other bands bidding for the role, with Kings of Leon drummer offering the band’s service. “Wills and Kate look like nice people,” he told the BBC, “but Harry is the dude. His is the wedding we would most likely play.”
After-party: Charles and Diana’s wedding was followed by a dinner that featured 27 wedding cakes, and a breakfast reception the next day with 120 guests. Kate and William seem set on a larger party, with hundreds of guests. Imagine how many wedding cakes they’ll need for that.
Honeymoon: Charles and his wife kicked off their honeymoon at Balmoral, the royal residence in Scotland, before travelling to Tunisia, Sardinia, Greece and Egypt (including a few official engagements) before returning to Scotland. While William and Kate’s post-wedding plans aren’t known, it doesn’t look like they’ll be stopping in Canada. Gaming house Ladbrokes puts the likelihood of a Canadian sojourn at 21-to-one (at least we’re beating the Falkland Islands, at 1,001-to-one).
Things that could go wrong: So far, a bishop has said William and Kate’s marriage will last only seven years and hairdresser Nicky Clarke has criticized Kate for her uninspiring locks. Charles and Diana didn’t escape gaffes on their wedding day. Diana confused the order of Charles’ names during their nuptials, calling him Phillip Charles Arthur George (the name of the Prince’s father). Charles also blundered, declaring “I will share all ‘your’ goods with you” instead of offering his earthly goods to his wife.
The Queen: When her son, Charles, wed Camilla Parker-Bowles on April 9, 2005, Queen Elizabeth II donned a cream suit, coat and hat. At his previous wedding, to Diana, on July 29, 1981, the Queen wore a turquoise blue dress and hat. Her outfit for William’s wedding? Well, for sure it will include a hat.
National holiday: Brits are rejoicing that the royal wedding means a day off, so go to the pub and maybe catch some of the wedding if it’s on the telly near the bar, just like Charles and Diana’s big day.
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