 Diana and Charles on their wedding day | |
| Date | 29 July 1981; 44 years ago (29 July 1981)[1] |
|---|---|
| Venue | St Paul's Cathedral |
| Location | London, England |
| Participants |
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The wedding of Prince Charles (laterKing Charles III) andLady Diana Spencer took place on Wednesday, 29 July 1981,[1] atSt Paul's Cathedral in London, England. The groom was theheir apparent to theBritish throne, and the bride was a member of theSpencer family.
The ceremony was a traditionalChurch of England wedding service.Alan Webster,Dean of St Paul's, presided at the service, andRobert Runcie,Archbishop of Canterbury, conducted the marriage. Notable figures in attendance included many members of other royal families, republican heads of state, and members of the bride's and groom's families. After the ceremony, the couple made the traditional appearance on the balcony ofBuckingham Palace. The United Kingdom had a national holiday on that day to mark the wedding.[2] The ceremony featured many ceremonial aspects, including use of thestate carriages and roles for theFoot Guards andHousehold Cavalry.
Their marriage was widely billed as a "fairytale wedding" and the "wedding of the century". It was watched by an estimated global television audience of 750 million people.[2][3] Events were held around theCommonwealth to mark the wedding. Many street parties were held throughout the United Kingdom to celebrate the occasion. The couple separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996 after fifteen years of marriage. Diana died in 1997 and Charlesremarried toCamilla Parker Bowles in 2005.
Prince Charles had knownLady Diana Spencer for several years. They first met in 1977 while Charles was dating her elder sisterLady Sarah.[4] He took serious interest in her as a potential bride in 1980 when they were guests at a country weekend, where she watched him playpolo. He invited her for a sailing weekend toCowes aboard the royal yachtBritannia as their relationship began to develop. This was followed by an invitation toBalmoral Castle, the Royal family's Scottish home, to meet his family.[5][6] Diana was well received at Balmoral byQueen Elizabeth II,Prince Philip, andQueen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The couple then had several dates in London. Diana and Charles had been seeing each other for about six months when he proposed on 3 February 1981 in the nursery atWindsor Castle. Diana had planned a holiday for the next week, and Charles hoped she would use the time to consider her answer.[7] Diana accepted, but their engagement was kept secret for the next few weeks.[8] Diana later claimed that the couple had met only 13 times in total before the announcement of their engagement.[9]
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Their engagement became official on 24 February 1981,[10] and the couple gave an exclusive interview.[11] During the public announcement of the engagement, Diana wore a "cobalt blue skirt suit" by the British label Cojana.[12][13] Diana selected a largeengagement ring that consisted of 14 solitaire diamonds surrounding a 12-carat oval blue Ceylon sapphire set in 18-carat white gold,[3] which was similar to her mother's engagement ring. The ring was made by the Crown jewellersGarrard. In 2010, it became the engagement ring ofCatherine Middleton, fiancée of Charles and Diana's eldest son,William.[14] The Queen Mother gave Diana a sapphire and diamond brooch as an engagement present.[15] A series of photographs taken by theEarl of Snowdon were published inVogue in February 1981 to mark the engagement.[16][17]Clayton Howard did Diana's make-up andJohn Frieda did her hair for the official portrait.[18] The couple later sat down for another interview withBBC'sAngela Rippon andITV'sAndrew Gardner.[19]
Two nights before the wedding, a gala ball was held atBuckingham Palace, and the Queen subsequently hosted a dinner for a crowd of 90 individuals.[20] A reception with dancing for 1,500 people was also held. Among the invitees were the royal household's members and staff.[21] The night before the wedding 150 people, including heads of states and governments, were invited for a dinner with the Queen.[21]
In a series of tapes recorded for her 1992 biography, Diana said that she recalled discovering a bracelet which Charles had bought for his longtime loverCamilla Parker Bowles shortly before their wedding. Due to her suspicions she wanted to call off the wedding but was put off the idea by her sisters.[22] In March 1981, she was photographed holding back tears at the airport where Charles was departing for a trip to Australia. Diana later revealed that she had been left disturbed after hearing a telephone conversation between Charles and Camilla in his study.[23]
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 Royal Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer (1981) (external video) |
The wedding took place on 29 July 1981. 3,500 guests made up the congregation atSt Paul's Cathedral.[7] Charles and Diana selected St Paul's overWestminster Abbey, the traditional site of royal weddings, because St Paul's offered more seating[9] and permitted a longer procession through London.
The ceremony was a traditionalChurch of England wedding service, presided over byThe Most ReverendRobert Runcie,Archbishop of Canterbury,[2] andThe Very ReverendAlan Webster,Dean ofSt Paul's Cathedral. Two million spectators lined the route of Diana's procession fromClarence House, with 4,000 police and 2,200 military officers to manage the crowds.[7] The security increased and sharpshooters were stationed due to the potential threat of attack by theIrish Republican Army.[9][20][24] The security screenings in the airports also increased.[25] The cost of the wedding was later estimated to be $48 million in total (between $70M and $110M when adjusted for inflation), with $600,000 being spent on security.[9][26][27] Regiments from theCommonwealth realms participated in the procession, including theRoyal Regiment of Canada.[28]
At 10:22 BST the Queen and the Royal Family were taken to the cathedral in eight carriages, the Prince of Wales in the1902 State Landau, which was later used following the ceremony to take the couple back to Buckingham Palace.[21] Lady Diana arrived at the cathedral in theGlass Coach with her father,Lord Spencer; she was escorted by six mountedMetropolitan Police officers.[7] She arrived almost on time for the 11:20 BST ceremony.[2] The carriage was too small to hold the two of them comfortably due to her voluminous dress and train.[9] As the orchestra playedTrumpet voluntary, an anthem byJeremiah Clarke, the bride made the three-and-a-half minute walk up the aisle.[2][29]
Diana accidentally changed the order of Charles's names during her vows, saying "Philip Charles Arthur George" instead of the correct "Charles Philip Arthur George".[2] She did not promise to "obey" him as part of the traditional vows. That word was eliminated at the couple's request, which caused a sensation at the time.[30] Charles also made an error, saying he would offer her "thy goods" instead of "my worldly goods".[31] In keeping with tradition, the couple's wedding rings were crafted fromWelsh gold from theClogau St David's mine inBontddu.[29] The tradition of using Welsh gold within the wedding rings of the Royal Family dates back to 1923.[21] Upon marriage Diana automatically acquired the title ofPrincess of Wales.[32]
Other church representatives present who gave prayers after the service were a former Archbishop of Canterbury,Donald Coggan,Basil Cardinal Hume, the Right Reverend Andrew Doig and theReverend Harry Williams CR.[33][29]
Three choirs, three orchestras and a fanfare ensemble played the music for the service. These wereThe Bach Choir, the Choir of St Paul's Cathedral, the Choir of the Chapel Royal, the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, thePhilharmonia Orchestra and theEnglish Chamber Orchestra and a fanfare ensemble from the Royal Military School.[34] The choirs were conducted byBarry Rose, the choirmaster at St Paul's. The cathedral's organist,Christopher Dearnley; and its sub-organist,John Scott; played the organ. The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, the Philharmonia Orchestra and the English Chamber Orchestra were conducted byDavid Willcocks, who was the director of the Royal College of Music and of the Bach Choir;[35]Richard Popplewell, the organist at Chapel Royal; andColin Davis, who was the musical director of Covent Garden.[34][33] Music and songs used during the wedding included the "Prince of Denmark's March", "I Vow to Thee, My Country", Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance No.4" and theBritish National Anthem ("God Save the Queen").[33] New Zealand sopranoKiri Te Kanawa sang "Let The Bright Seraphim" from Handel'sSamson,[21] withJohn Wallace as solo trumpeter.[36]
Diana's wedding dress was valued at £9,000[37] (equivalent to £43,573 in 2023).[38] The dress was made of ivory silktaffeta, decorated withlace, handembroidery,sequins, and 10,000 pearls. It was designed byElizabeth andDavid Emanuel and had a 25-foot (7.6 m) train of ivory taffeta and antique lace.[9] The dress was designed according to Diana's wishes who wanted it to have the longest train in the royal wedding history.[9] The bride woreher family's heirloom tiara over an ivory silk tulle veil, and had her hair styled short crop down by hair dresser Kevin Shanley.[39][40] She wore a pair of low-heeled Clive Shilton shoes "with C and D initials hand-painted on her arches" and decorated with 542 sequins and 132 pearls.[9] For the customary bridal themes of "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue", Diana's wedding dress had an antique lace "made with a fabric spun at a British silk farm" (the "old"), the Spencer family tiara andher mother's earrings (the "borrowed"), and a blue bow sewn into the waistband (the "blue").[41] The official parfumeur of the royal wedding wasHoubigant Parfum, the oldest French fragrance company. Diana chose the floral scent Quelques Fleurs, which featured "notes of tuberose, jasmine and rose".[42] She was reported to have accidentally spilled perfume over a part of her dress which she later covered with her hand during the ceremony.[9] The bride also had a pair of slippers made out of hand-made ivory silk with pearl and sequin embroidery.[43] Barbara Daly did the bride's make-up for the ceremony.[42]
Per the Queen's orders, two similar bouquets were prepared for the bride by David Longman which contained "gardenias,stephanotis, odontolglossum orchid,lily of the valley, Earl Mountbatten roses,freesia,veronica,ivy,myrtle and trasdescantia".[44]
As aCommander in theRoyal Navy, Charles wore hisceremonial day dress uniform.[45] He wore the star and riband of theOrder of the Garter, the star of theOrder of the Thistle, the neck badge of theOrder of the Bath, theQueen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal andSilver Jubilee Medal. The uniform was completed with a gold aiguillette across the right soldier and the Queen's cypher on his epaulettes, reflecting his position as personalaide de camp to the Sovereign. He carried a "full dress sword tassled in gold."[21]
The royal couple had seven bridal attendants. Eleven-year-oldLord Nicholas Windsor, son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and eight-year-old Edward van Cutsem, godsons of the Prince of Wales, werepage boys. Diana'sbridesmaids were seventeen-year-oldLady Sarah Armstrong-Jones, daughter of the Earl of Snowdon andPrincess Margaret;[45] thirteen-year-oldIndia Hicks, daughter ofDavid andLady Pamela Hicks, and granddaughter ofLord Mountbatten; six-year-old Catherine Cameron, daughter of Donald and Lady Cecil Cameron and granddaughter of theMarquess of Lothian; eleven-year-old Sarah-Jane Gaselee, daughter of Nick Gaselee and his wife; and five-year-old Clementine Hambro, daughter of Rupert Hambro and the Hon Mrs Hambro and granddaughter ofLord andLady Soames and great-granddaughter ofWinston Churchill.[20][46] PrincesAndrew andEdward were the Prince of Wales's supporters (the equivalent of "best man" for a royal wedding).[20]
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All of thegovernors-general of theCommonwealth realms, as well as the reigning European monarchs, attended, with the exception ofKing Juan Carlos I andQueen Sofía of Spain. (The Spanish king was "advised" not to attend by his government because the newlyweds' honeymoon included a stopover in the disputed territory ofGibraltar.)[47] Most of Europe's elected heads of state were among the guests, with the exceptions of thePresident of Greece,Konstantinos Karamanlis (who declined because Greece's exiled monarch,Constantine II, a kinsman and friend of the bridegroom, had been invited as "King of the Hellenes"), and thePresident of Ireland,Patrick Hillery (who was advised byTaoiseachCharles Haughey not to attend because of thedispute over the status of Northern Ireland).[fn 1]First LadyNancy Reagan represented the United States at the wedding.[48] While Gambian PresidentDawda Jawara attended the wedding, theGambia Socialist Revolutionary Party attempted acoup d'état in his home country.[49] Among other invitees were the couple's friends and the bride invited the staff of the nursery school in which she had worked to the wedding.[21]Spike Milligan andHarry Secombe were among the entertainers who were invited to the ceremony by the Prince of Wales.[21]
The couple and 120 guests went toBuckingham Palace for a wedding breakfast following the ceremony.[7] Diana and Charles made a traditional appearance on a balcony of Buckingham Palace at 13:10 BST, and delighted the crowd when they kissed,[2][7] initiating the tradition of kissing the bride on the balcony.[48] Over the night, fireworks were displayed above Hyde Park and 100 beacons were lit up across the country to celebrate the royal wedding.[21]
The couple had 27wedding cakes.[9] The Naval Armed Forces supplied the official wedding cake. David Avery, head baker at the Royal Naval cooking school in Chatham Kent, made the cake over 14 weeks. They made two identical cakes in case one was damaged. The Prince of Wales's coat of arms and the Spencer family's crest were used in the decoration of the five-foot-tall layered fruitcake which weighed 225 pounds.[9][50] The couple's other wedding cake was created byBelgianpastry chefSG Sender, who was known as the "cakemaker to the kings".[51] Another wedding cake was created byChef Nicholas Lodge; Chef Nicholas had previously made the Queen Mother's 80th Birthday Cake and also commissioned to create a Christening Cake for Prince Harry.[52] A slice of the couple's wedding cake was later auctioned off byJulien's Auctions in 2018 and was estimated to sell between $800–$1,200.[53] Another slice sold for £1,850 ($2,565) in a 2021 auction.[54]
An estimated 750 million people watched the ceremony worldwide,[2] and this figure allegedly rose to a billion when the radio audience is added in, although there are no means of verifying these figures.[7] 28.4 million watched the event on BBC and ITV in the UK.[55]Angela Rippon,Peter Woods,Tom Fleming,Wynford Vaughan-Thomas,Rolf Harris, andTerry Wogan provided the coverage for the BBC on television and radio.[55]BBC Two's coverage was designed to draw in hearing impaired viewers by providing subtitles, which marked "the first big outing for thePalantype system".[55] The event was broadcast in 50 countries with near 100 television companies covering it.[21] In the UK, theNational Grid reported ahuge surge in demand for power after the service.[56] The wedding ceremony was positively received by the public,[57] and according toThe New York Times symbolised "the continuity of the [British] monarchy".[29]
A number of ceremonies and parties were held at different places by the public to celebrate the occasion across the United Kingdom.[58][59][60] 600,000 people lined the streets of London to watch the ceremony,[55] and it was estimated that around 10 million people took part in the street parties.[61] The wedding was widely broadcast on television and radio in many countries, and news channels covered the ceremony in different languages.[62]Poet Laureate of the United KingdomJohn Betjeman released a poem in honour of the couple.[58]British republicans were largely "muted" during the wedding, with some travelling to France or Ireland or releasing black balloons over London to express their disapproval. However, these represented only a small minority of the British public, andThe New York Times noted that "even cynics felt a surge of sentimentality" towards the royal family.[29]
The couple received gifts from foreign officials, including an engravedSteuben glass bowl andBoehm porcelain centerpiece from the United States; a set of antique furniture and "a watercolor of loons" by Canadian Robert Bateman for Prince Charles, together with "a large brooch of gold, diamonds and platinum" for Diana from Canada; handcrafted silver platters from Australia; an "all-wool broadloom carpet" from New Zealand; "a matching diamond and sapphire watch, bracelet, pendant, ring, and earrings" from theCrown Prince of Saudi Arabia; a "small oil painting by the American artist Henry Kohler of Prince Charles playing polo" as the personal gift ofJohn J. Louis Jr., theAmerican ambassador to the UK; and a clock in Art Deco style byCartier's chief designer, Daniel Ciacquinot.[9][63] TheEdinburgh District Council was among the organisations that made a charitable donation in honour of the couple's wedding and donated $92,500 to the Thistle Fund, "a charity for the disabled".[63] TheGreater Manchester Council offered engineering apprenticeships for a small number of unemployed young people, andCambridge University sent "a spare copy ofThe Complete English Traveller" byRobert Sanders.[63] TheWorshipful Company of Glovers of London presented the couple with gloves made out of leather, silks and cotton. A number of these gifts were displayed atSt James's Palace from 5 August to 4 October 1981.[63]
A "just married" sign was attached to thelandau by Princes Andrew and Edward.[29] The couple was driven overWestminster Bridge to catch the train fromWaterloo station to Romsey in Hampshire to begin their honeymoon.[2] The couple left from Waterloo station in theBritish Royal Train +975025Caroline. They travelled toBroadlands, where Prince Charles's parents had spent their wedding night in 1947.[45] They stayed there for three days,[45] then flew toGibraltar, where they boarded the Royal YachtBritannia for an eleven-day cruise of theMediterranean, visiting Tunisia,Sardinia, Greece and Egypt.[29] Then they flew to Scotland, where the rest of the royal family had gathered atBalmoral Castle, and spent time in a hunting lodge on the estate. During that time, the press was given an arranged opportunity to take pictures.[64] Despite their happy appearance, Diana's suspicion over Charles having an enduring affection for his former lover Camilla grew as Camilla's photographs fell out of his diary and Diana discovered that he was wearing cufflinks that were given to him by Camilla.[22][65] By the time the couple returned from their honeymoon, their wedding gifts were displayed at St James's Palace.[21]
Although the figures are hard to come by, the Daily Telegraph recently said there were 10 million street party-goers in 1981 for Charles and Diana's wedding.
