Kate Middleton's Seat At Prince Harry's Wedding

Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, and Prince Harry have had a close relationship over the years, with Harry fondly remembering her joining the royal family in his memoir, 'Spare'. At Prince Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018, the Prince of Wales and Middleton ignored the seating plan, changing the place cards at the last minute to ensure spouses sat separately. This contradicted the wishes of the newlyweds, who had chosen to follow an American tradition of seating couples together.

Kate and William ignored the seating plan

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, hosted a lunchtime wedding reception at Windsor Castle after exchanging vows at St George's Chapel. For the sit-down meal, the newlyweds had chosen to incorporate an American tradition and asked couples to sit together. However, according to Harry's memoir, Spare, Prince William and Princess Kate, the Prince and Princess of Wales, ignored the seating plan and changed the place cards to ensure spouses were seated separately.

Harry's book reveals that William accused him of changing seats to suit his own agenda at Pippa Middleton's wedding. However, Harry insisted that he respected Pippa's wishes and was forced to sit separately from his then-girlfriend, Meghan Markle, who had flown from America to the UK to attend the celebration.

At their wedding, Harry and Meghan had invited 600 people, a significantly smaller number than the approximately 1,900 people invited to William and Kate's wedding at Westminster Abbey. The smaller venue of St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle meant that only close friends and family of the couple would receive invitations.

While the Kensington Palace did not provide details on the seating arrangements for the ceremony, it was expected to broadly follow that of William and Kate's wedding. Breaking with the traditional 'Bride's side' and 'Groom's side', members of the British Royal Family and close Markle family members were seated at the front, with the former on the right and the latter on the left.

Despite the last-minute changes by William and Kate, Harry and Meghan's wedding day was a memorable occasion, with the couple incorporating unique touches, such as naming their tables after famous kings and queens, royal residences, gemstones, or even football clubs.

Kate's wedding dress

Kate Middleton's dress at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding was a pale yellow Alexander McQueen dress. She paired the dress with a Philip Treacy hat and Jimmy Choo heels. Interestingly, Middleton had worn the dress twice before: at Princess Charlotte's christening and the Queen's birthday party. The dress was designed by Sarah Burton, the creative director at Alexander McQueen, who also designed Middleton's wedding dress in 2011.

The choice to re-wear a dress was likely to avoid upstaging the bride, as Middleton knew that everyone would be curious about her outfit. The Duchess of Cambridge often recycles her looks, which is both environmental and elegant.

The dress was a near-exact copy of another McQueen dress in Middleton's closet, with eagle-eyed royal watchers noting that the stitching was different and there was an added button detail on the sleeves.

The pale yellow colour was linked to someone feeling bright and cheery, and less saturated colours like blush and cream do not take attention away from the main event, in this case, Meghan Markle.

Meghan's wedding dress

Meghan Markle's wedding dress for her marriage to Prince Harry on 19 May 2018 was designed by British designer Clare Waight Keller, the artistic director of the fashion house Givenchy. The dress epitomised "a timeless minimal elegance", according to a Kensington Palace announcement. The dress was made of silk with three-quarter-length sleeves, an open bateau neckline, and a train with a built-in triple silk organza underskirt. It featured only six seams and no lace or other embellishments.

Markle chose Waight Keller because she wanted to highlight the success of a leading British talent and because of the designer's "elegant aesthetic" and "relaxed demeanour". The two worked closely together on the design, with Markle praising Waight Keller for respecting her vision for the dress.

The dress was kept a closely guarded secret until the wedding day, with Waight Keller unable to tell anyone that she had been chosen as the designer. The designer reflected on the pressure of creating a dress for a royal wedding with billions of viewers, saying, "It has to be flawless. It has to be perfect."

Markle also wore a 5-metre-long veil, hand-embroidered with a variety of flowers representing the 53 countries of the Commonwealth, as well as her home state of California and Kensington Palace, where she and Harry lived. The veil took 500 hours to complete, with the embroiderers washing their hands every 30 minutes to ensure it remained immaculate.

For the evening reception, Markle wore a second dress: a high-neck, halter-style gown designed by Stella McCartney. This dress brought a modern touch to traditional royal aesthetics and reflected Markle's personal style and interest in eco-friendly and sustainable fashion.

Kate and Meghan's tiaras

For her wedding to Prince William in 2011, Kate Middleton wore the Cartier Halo Tiara, which was loaned to her by Queen Elizabeth II. The tiara was designed in the 1930s and is made of platinum and nearly 1,000 diamonds. It was purchased by King George VI as an anniversary gift for his wife in 1936 and later given to Queen Elizabeth II as an 18th birthday present in 1944.

Meghan Markle, on the other hand, wore Queen Mary's Diamond Bandeau Tiara for her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018. The tiara was made in 1932 and features a detachable brooch that dates back to 1893. It was inherited by Queen Elizabeth II from her grandmother, Queen Mary, in 1953.

The Duchesses chose very different tiara styles for their weddings. Kate's tiara was a beginner piece with a smaller-than-average size, while Meghan's tiara was an art deco-style diamond-encrusted band.

There was some controversy surrounding Meghan's choice of tiara, as she had initially wanted to wear the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara, another piece from the royal collection. However, she was encouraged to select a different piece, as the emerald tiara was possibly of Russian origin, and there were concerns about how it had been acquired.

Kate's bridesmaids and page boys

Kate Middleton and Prince William's wedding included four bridesmaids and two page boys. The bridesmaids were:

• Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, the seven-year-old daughter of the Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.
• Margarita Armstrong-Jones, the eight-year-old daughter of David Armstrong-Jones, Viscount Linley, and Serena, Viscountess Linley.
• Grace van Cutsem, the three-year-old daughter of the couple's friend Hugh van Cutsem.
• Eliza Lopes, the three-year-old granddaughter of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.

The page boys were:

• William (Billy) Lowther-Pinkerton, the ten-year-old son of William's private secretary, Major Jamie Lowther-Pinkerton.
• Tom Pettifer, the eight-year-old son of Princes William and Harry's former nanny, Tiggy Pettifer.

Frequently asked questions