Royal Wedding: Charles And Diana's Date

On July 29, 1981, Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding took place at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, United Kingdom. The wedding was hailed as the wedding of the century and watched by a record-breaking 750 million people worldwide. The couple's nuptials were a traditional Church of England wedding service presided over by the Most Reverend Robert Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Very Reverend Alan Webster, Dean of St Paul's Cathedral. The bride and groom's vows were not without their slip-ups, with Diana accidentally referring to her husband as Philip Charles Arthur George instead of Charles Philip Arthur George, and Charles offering Diana thy goods instead of my worldly goods.

Princess Diana's wedding dress

The dress was designed according to Diana's wishes, who wanted it to have the longest train in royal wedding history. It was also completely the designers' creation, with no input from the palace. "There was no red tape, there were no limitations," David told E! News.

The dress was valued at £9,000 (equivalent to £43,573 in 2023). It was made of ivory silk taffeta, decorated with lace, hand embroidery, sequins, and 10,000 pearls. The Emanuels consulted Maureen Baker, who had made the first wedding dress of Princess Anne, during the construction of the gown. One observer wrote, "the dress was a crinoline, a symbol of sexuality and grandiosity, a meringue embroidered with pearls and sequins, its bodice frilled with lace".

The gown was designed to reflect that Diana was going in as Lady Diana Spencer and coming out as the Princess of Wales, according to David Emanuel. "It was all about drama and making Diana a fairytale princess," he said. "The gown was typical of early '80s style—overblown, romantic, flouncy—but we had to get it right because we knew it would go down in history."

The Emanuels went to great lengths to keep the dress a secret, even code-naming their famous client "Deborah" and hiring security to keep the design under wraps. They also deliberately placed bits of unused fabric in the trash for the press to find.

Diana's ensemble also included matching shoes created by royal cobbler Clive Shilton, which featured the letters C and D in pearl-encrusted, lace floral appliqués. She completed the look with the Spencer family tiara atop a 40-foot-long veil, which was hand-embroidered with more than 450 feet of tulle and 10,000 micro-pearls.

The dress has since been displayed at various exhibitions, including "Royal Style in the Making" at Kensington Palace, which closed in January 2022.

The guest list

The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on 29 July 1981 was a "state occasion", which meant that many foreign heads of state were invited to the ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral in London. In total, there were around 3,500 guests in attendance, including members of other royal families, republican heads of state, and members of the bride's and groom's families.

Relatives of the Groom

The groom's parents, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, were in attendance, as were his sister and brother-in-law, Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, and his brothers, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. Other relatives included his maternal grandmother, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, his maternal aunt, the Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, his first cousin, Viscount Linley, and his first cousin (and bridesmaid), the Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones.

Relatives of the Bride

The bride's father and stepmother, the Earl and Countess Spencer, were present, as were her sister and brother-in-law, the Lady Sarah and Mr Neil McCorquodale, and her sister and brother-in-law, the Lady Jane and Mr Robert Fellowes. The bride's brother, Viscount Althorp, was also in attendance.

Other Notable Guests

Other notable guests included the King and Queen of Belgium, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway, Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and Nancy Reagan, the First Lady of the United States. Prince Charles's friend, Camilla Parker Bowles, was also in attendance, although she was not invited to the more intimate wedding breakfast.

The royal wedding ceremony

The ceremony was a traditional Church of England wedding service, featuring ceremonial aspects such as the use of state carriages and roles for the Foot Guards and Household Cavalry. The Archbishop of Canterbury, in his address, said, "All couples are royal couples on their wedding day."

Princess Diana was famously the first royal to omit the word "obey" from her traditional wedding vows, a purposeful choice that sparked controversy. There were also a few unplanned moments during the ceremony. For instance, Diana accidentally referred to her husband by the wrong name, saying "Philip Charles Arthur George" instead of "Charles Philip Arthur George". Prince Charles, on the other hand, mistakenly said "thy goods" instead of "my worldly goods".

The couple honoured a long-standing tradition when Prince Charles presented Diana with a Welsh gold ring from the Clogau St. David's mine. This tradition has been practised by the Royal Family since 1923.

The wedding ceremony was positively received by the public and was watched by a record-breaking 750 million people worldwide.

The cultural impact of the wedding

The wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana was watched by an estimated 750 million people worldwide and was nicknamed the "wedding of the century" for its extravagance. The event set trends in fashion and culture and had a lasting impact on weddings, including those of the couple's sons.

The wedding was the first royal wedding to be held at St. Paul's Cathedral in London since 1501. The venue was chosen for its acoustics, seating capacity, and room for an orchestra and choir. The ceremony was a traditional Church of England service, presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Dean of St Paul's Cathedral. Notable figures in attendance included members of other royal families, republican heads of state, and members of the bride and groom's families.

Princess Diana's wedding dress, designed by David and Elizabeth Emanuel, was made of silk taffeta with a 25-foot train—the longest in royal history. The dress featured intricate details such as 10,000 pearls and a blue bow sewn into the waistband as her "something blue." The designers deliberately placed bits of unused fabric in the trash for the press to find to keep the design a secret.

The Archbishop of Canterbury's address during the ceremony included the words, "All couples are royal couples on their wedding day," and the public took this to heart. The wedding was the beginning of "Diana-mania," with people copying what the princess did and wore. The over-the-top, romantic style of Diana's dress influenced fashion trends, and those who couldn't afford similar gowns settled for commemorative items like tea towels, posters, and Coca-Cola bottles.

The wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana left an enduring legacy, influencing fashion, culture, and the weddings of their sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, who both carried on the tradition of kissing their brides on the balcony of Buckingham Palace.

The cost of the wedding

The wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana on July 29, 1981, was a lavish affair, costing an estimated $48 million, which would be around $156 million when adjusted for inflation. The ceremony, which took place at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, was attended by 3,500 guests and watched by a record-breaking 750 million people worldwide. The cost of the wedding included various expenses, from the wedding attire to the venue, food, flowers, entertainment, and security.

The wedding attire was a significant expense, with Princess Diana's gown alone valued at £9,000 (approximately £43,573 in 2023 value). The dress, designed by Elizabeth and David Emanuel, featured ivory silk taffeta, hand embroidery, sequins, and 10,000 pearls, with a 25-foot-long train. In addition to the bride's dress, there were also the bridesmaids' outfits, the page boys' attire, and the groom's ceremonial day dress uniform.

The venue, St. Paul's Cathedral, was chosen for its spectacular acoustics and larger seating capacity compared to Westminster Abbey, the traditional site for royal weddings. The cathedral's acoustics were important to Prince Charles, who wanted the wedding to be a "stirring, dramatic, and noisy" event. The couple's wedding rings, made from Welsh gold, were crafted in keeping with the royal tradition.

The food and beverages served at the wedding also contributed to the overall cost. The wedding breakfast at Buckingham Palace for 120 guests featured lavish dishes such as brill in lobster sauce and Suprême de Volaille Princesse de Galles. The couple also had 27 wedding cakes, including a five-foot-tall, 225-pound main cake decorated with their coat of arms and initials.

Flowers were another expense, with two identical bridal bouquets prepared per royal tradition, containing gardenias, stephanotis, odontolglossum orchid, lily of the valley, Earl Mountbatten roses, freesia, veronica, ivy, myrtle, and trasdescantia.

Entertainment for the wedding included music from three choirs, three orchestras, and a fanfare ensemble. Notable performers included the New Zealand soprano Kiri Te Kanawa, who sang "Let The Bright Seraphim" from G. F. Handel's Samson.

Finally, security was a significant expense, with an estimated $600,000 spent on protecting the royal couple and their guests. The increased security measures included sharpshooters stationed due to the potential threat of an attack by Irish Republican guerrillas.

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