by Dylan Howard
The final result was simply breathtaking. Sarah Burton had used traditional Carrickmacross stitching—a form of lace like a decorated net—to make the dress, a technique that dates back to the 1800s, to represent something “old.” There was exquisite, hand-cut Chantilly lace on the sleeves, lace appliqué on the bodice, and individual lace roses, thistles, daffodils, and shamrocks hand-stitched on to the silk tulle. The skirt itself was crafted with white satin pleats reminiscent of an opening flower. The dress was rounded off with a silk tulle underskirt and 2.7m train, while Kate’s veil, created at the Royal School of Needlework, featured hand-embroidered flowers. The whole thing was fastened on the back of her dress with fifty-eight buttons of gazar and organza, in rouleau loops. Those who had waited weeks to see the outfit were dazzled. It was definitely in the McQueen mold, but with a rare elegance and quirkiness, perfect for Kate’s personality.
From dawn, news networks had been broadcasting hours and hours of helicopter camera shots of an unmoving Buckingham Palace, or the exterior of the Goring Hotel, where the Middleton entourage was staying. Innocent tourists stepped nervously past the massed banks of cameras and lights already set up around Westminster Abbey. Other less fortunate reporters had been dispatched to Kate’s home village of Bucklebury to “capture the mood” of the village. That mood brightened considerably when the pubs opened especially early, to allow ruddy-faced locals a chance to sink a few breakfast liveners. John Haley, the landlord at Kate’s local boozing spot, the Bucklebury’s Old Boot Inn, even had an invite to the wedding. “I’ve got the morning suit, top hat,” he boasted to the roving reporters. “It’s fabulous.”
Back in London, there were the obligatory crowds that traditionally turn out for royal events to line the Mall, the vast historic boulevard leading up to the gates of Buckingham Palace. As is usual on such days, they camped out with sleeping bags and flasks of tea and that slightly hysterical bonhomie that the British manage to muster during such times of self-imposed hardship. Many had arrived days in advance, to secure a position as close as possible to a police security barrier.
Reporting for Oprah, former royal bridesmaid India Hicks, who had been on the legendary Palace balcony for the wedding of Charles and Diana, observed how the day had echoes of the past, while being completely different.
“When Princess Diana got married, she was only nineteen years old,” said India. “But at twenty-nine, Kate is the oldest royal bride in history, and probably better prepared to take on the role of princess than her late mother-in-law was. If there’s anything that can be drawn from the terrible, terrible past history that we’ve seen, it is that William is protecting and preparing Kate. However, the tiny, little glimpse that I’ve had into that world shows that nothing, but nothing, can prepare you for it. Nothing can prepare Kate for what she has to face. The press is relentless … ”
Despite the global frenzy around the wedding, William had been emphatic in interviews with his advisors that the wedding was to be as personal and intimate as could be hoped for. “What we want,” he reiterated. “is a personal day that is going to be special to us. But we want it to be a day which will be as enjoyable as possible to as many people as possible.”
It’s clear that the self-effacing, low-key couple would have been happy with a quick registry office wedding and a pie and pint for lunch. But they knew that in their case, a low-key, ordinary wedding was as likely as Prince Philip limboing down the aisle.
The first sight the world had of Kate that morning came when she emerged from the Goring and traveled by vintage Rolls Royce with her father, down the Mall to Parliament Square and the Abbey. She emerged to raucous cheers, looking composed yet with vivid emotion animating her features. As every head in the Abbey craned to catch a glimpse of Kate, Michael serenely escorted her up an aisle lined with eight twenty-foot-high trees—six English Field Maples and two Hornbeams—while Kate’s neat but opulent bouquet consisted of myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet William, ivy, and hyacinth.
“The whole of Westminster Abbey fell completely silent when Kate made her entrance,” recalled Duncan Larcombe, in Elle magazine. “There were over 1,000 people sat there in absolute silence and all we could hear was the echoes of the crowds outside. In terms of the build-up for the bride’s arrival, they probably don’t come much bigger than that.”
As Kate walked down the aisle, the DJ dropped “I Was Glad” by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry. “Here she is now,” observed Harry correctly, as the pair gained the nave of the Abbey, with William’s best man, Harry, standing at the front. Cameras deciphered William quietly reassuring his wife-to-be with a whispered, “You look beautiful, babe.” To her father, he gave the ghost of a wink and said, “So, just a quiet family wedding, then … ” before the horns blared out the triumphant clarion call, signaling the start of the proceedings.
The Archbishop of Canterbury performed the actual wedding ceremony, uttering the vows everyone was agog to hear. The couple had decided on traditional vows, but Kate did not promise to “obey” her new husband. Instead, the couple vowed to “love, comfort, honor, and keep” each other. After, William tried to slip the ring onto Kate’s finger but couldn’t get it to fit. For several eternal, agonizing seconds, millions around the world watched, open-mouthed, in anticipation. The ring was fashioned from the same block of Welsh gold that had spawned rings for the Queen, Charles and Diana, and Princess Anne. Sweating, William managed to finally shove it onto Kate’s finger, announcing as he did so, “With this ring, I thee wed, with my body I thee honor, and all my worldly goods with thee I share, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Amen.”
“Kate had asked Wartski, who made the ring, to make it a size smaller so it didn’t slip off,” Kate Nicholl explained in the Daily Mail. “She had her engagement ring resized because she’d lost weight and didn’t want the same problem with her wedding ring slipping off.”
Following the signing and some brilliant brass numbers by the Fanfare Team from the Central Band of the Royal Air Force, the Bishop of London stepped up to address the 1,900 guests and newly married couple with a rousing yet comfortingly Godly speech. “In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation,” he said, “making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.”
After the ceremony the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge left the Abbey in true Cinderella fashion, in the same carriage that had transported the groom’s parents after their 1981 wedding, a 1902 State Landau originally made for the coronation of Edward VII. They were driven off to the sounds of “Crown Imperial” by William Walton, “Toccata from Symphonie V,” and “Pomp and Circumstance March No. 5” by Elgar. Later on, the wedding bouquet was discreetly placed on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Abbey.
As they traveled the short distance, they were cheered lustily along the streets by the thronging crowds. There was a slight hiccup along the way when a horse tripped on the parade route to Buckingham Palace, throwing its rider to the ground. He valiantly attempted to rein in the horse and pull it off to the side, but instead it bolted and ran down Whitehall until it was stopped by guards before anyone was hurt.
That afternoon, a beaming Queen hosted a reception for the couple and their guests at Buckingham Palace, attended by all the Royals and a select gathering of VIP guests. The mood was light-hearted yet formal, with the customary family photographs and the traditional balcony appearance and RAF fly-past by William’s brother officers. The crowds, numbering some 500,000 stretching back down the Mall, were treated to the sight of not one but two royal kisses, to full-throated roars and applause. Memories flitted between the Royals, memories of a similar summer’s day in 1981, and the couple who had kissed that July day on the balcony. One could feel the painful, aching emptiness in the hearts of William and Harry over the absence of the one person they would most love to have been there.
Then it was time for the wedding cake, almost as big a part of the day
as the dress. And big it was. Made by Fiona Cairns, it was a multitiered traditional fruit-cake decorated with cream and white icing in the Joseph Lambeth technique. The cake was decorated with the couple’s new cipher, and each tier had a different floral theme. The English rose, Scottish thistle, Welsh daffodil, and Irish shamrock were all featured, as were Sweet William, lilies of the valley, and acorns (that grow into mighty oaks, William’s idea, apparently). Speaking to the BBC, baker Cairns said, “It’s a traditional cake but also quite delicate and modern. All the tiers will have a different theme.”
Following their first reception, stuffed with cake, blessings, champagne, and love, the newlywed Duke and Duchess rode off into the spring sunset in an Aston Martin decorated with ribbons, bows, balloons, and a license plate printed JUST WED. Finally, Kate and William were man and wife.
The newlyweds spent their wedding night at Buckingham Palace, in the opulent Belgian suite. They had thrown the party of all parties that night, once the older members of the family had toddled off to bed. The Queen had wisely (and kindly) told William that the Palace was at his disposal for revels that night and to have fun. The couple’s friends then, done up in their party finery, arrived in the early evening for a lavish gala dinner, prepared by top chef Anton Mosimann and featuring the compere without compare, the master of ceremonies himself, Prince Harry. Harry delivered a masterful evening’s entertainment, ribbing his brother about everything from their childhood fights to William’s balding head, his long road to marriage and his general unworthiness of an angel like Kate. The angel’s father also gave a humorous speech in which he recalled, with wry chuckles, that time the groom had landed his helicopter in his back garden, blowing the tops off his prize azaleas.
The carousing carried on into the early hours, with much singing, dancing, drinking, and feasting, before the DJ brought matters to a close at 3a.m., with the Beatles’ “She Loves You.” The pair then climbed into a chic little Fiat, to be driven around the side of the Palace and off to their honeymoon suite, while guests filtered away into the early morning.
It had been an exceptional day. “It was simply magical,” one guest was heard to say, a bit tipsily. “The best party ever imaginable.” The hardcore knew that rather than risk being seen carousing in the usual royal haunts in Mayfair, the afterparty was taking place back at the Goring hotel. There, Harry hosted a number of close pals who toasted the happy couple’s health, in absentia, until past 5 a.m.
The next day, when much of Britain finally awoke, blearily put the kettle on, and took an aspirin for the hangover, speculation was buzzing about the destination for the royal honeymoon. The Bahamas? Botswana? Kenya? Outer Mongolia? In reality, the helicopter’s secret destination was rather more prosaic: William and Kate’s cottage, in RAF Valley in Anglesey, Wales.
The couple returned from London to workaday life on the military base, where Kate was now an RAF wife, away from the spotlight. She would join the wives’ club at RAF Valley and enjoy coffee mornings and social events while their husbands were away, on active duty or training.
The actual honeymoon itself, which was paid for by William and Kate, finally took place some weeks later, on an island in the Seychelles archipelago. The North island was remote, hidden, and allowed the pair to enjoy some of their favorite activities, including scuba diving, swimming, windsurfing, and kayaking. The couple enjoyed ten days of blissful privacy in paradise.
THE DIAMOND JUBILEE
Kate’s first official engagement as the Duchess of Cambridge was in Canada—a country that would later assume significance for William’s brother. When they arrived on June 30 in Ottawa, the reception for the young Royals brought back more memories of the hysteria that had greeted William’s parents in the early days of their marriage. Diana’s presence could not have been greater in the air, on that first visit, as the trip coincided with what would have been her fiftieth birthday.
The nine-day trip to Canada covered Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Prince Edwards Island, Quebec, and the capital, Ottawa, where a ceremony at Rideau Hall saw the new Duke and Duchess plant a tree next to the one planted by Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1983.
The couple helped out with Canada Day celebrations, dressed in cowboy duds for a rodeo in Calgary, escaped on a romantic canoe ride to Eagle Island in the Northwest Territories, and undertook countless walkabouts, meet and greets, tours, photo ops, and more. It was a baptism by fire for Kate, but to everyone’s delight, she handled the grueling schedule like an old pro. Kate had selected a wardrobe that carefully curated a dynamic cross section of Canadian fashion designers, blending in some of the country’s most exciting talent with her own signature, low-key style.
Throughout the whirlwind trip, Kate and William’s body language sparkled with love and joy in each other’s company. Traveling across the country, they met literally hundreds and thousands of people: victims of natural disasters in a remote town in Alberta, politely ignored anti-Monarchist protestors in Quebec, and members of the Canadian air rescue services, who delighted William by teaching him some nifty new tricks with his old favorite, the Sea King rescue helicopter.
Leaving Canada, Kate must have breathed a sigh of relief. She had leaped, with characteristic accuracy and precision, over the first major hurdle of her married life.
Following Canada came a lightning trip to Los Angeles, where the couple’s media firepower was harnessed by charities for fundraising opportunities. In two days, wealthy Angelenos paid up to sixty thousand dollars each to have the chance to hang out with Kate or play polo alongside William, thereby raising colossal sums of money for charities affiliated to the Prince’s causes.
Life had settled into a comfortable pattern for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge by the time 2012 rolled around. William continued his day job, as part of the RAF search and rescue, while Kate got accustomed to her new life, doing the shopping, cooking the supper, and watching a DVD snuggled up with “Big Willie” when he returned, exhausted from another backbreaking rescue shift. In between these moments, the royal diary would call, necessitating a superhero style makeover and reemergence as Britain’s de facto First Couple. Their first Christmas as a married couple had seen Kate join her husband for a traditional family celebration, and in the New Year, she was out and about with William, at the usual round of receptions, parties, cinema premieres, and the countless less-glamorous events, the visits to provincial old peoples’ homes, hospital visits, schools, and countless more.
The Cambridges enjoyed a vacation with the Middleton family in Mustique in early February. Upon their return, William was headed to the Falklands with his Search and Rescue crew for six weeks. Meanwhile, Kate was seen at the launching of a new Lucian Freud exhibition in London, which marked her first solo engagement as a Royal.
Kate’s confidence and easy rapport with crowds meant she was a natural when it came to be going about the usual round of engagements. A few months later, Kate joined the Queen and Prince Philip for a visit to Leicester, as part of their 2012 UK Diamond Jubilee tour. Kate admitted she missed her husband “desperately” but was being “very well looked after.” The contrast with Diana brought sighs of relief within and outside the Palace. Those with long or guilty memories recalled the bulimic Diana in the immediate aftermath of her wedding, haunting the corridors of Buckingham Palace, drifting unhappily around her suite of rooms, while Charles went out night after night alone, making small talk with courtiers and Palace staff, to while away the time. They looked at Kate, happy, confident, and clearly enjoying herself with and without William at her side and knew that the marriage was off to a fine start.
That summer, the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee consumed the country—the parts of it that revered the Royals, at least. Commemorating Her Majesty’s sixty years on the throne, it revived the national sense of celebration that Kate and William’s wedding the year before had begun. Jubilee parties were held around the country, while in London, the Thames Pageant saw over one thousand boats gather on the R
iver Thames from all around the world. The flotilla measured seven miles from end to end and was the largest fleet of ships assembled on the Thames in over 350 years. Leading the way was the boat containing the monarch and her immediate family circle, which now included Kate. As the Queen basked politely in the afterglow of fireworks, surveying the hordes of crowds cheering her, and noting at her side her purposeful grandson and his steady regal wife, she must have felt well pleased with the state of the family.
Barely had the celebrations for the Jubilee died down than London was at the epicenter of global attention yet again as host of the Olympic Games. In a James Bond spoof, the Queen apparently leaped out of a helicopter alongside actor Daniel Craig in a sketch that summoned up the mood of fun and excitement that the Games brought to Britain. At the heart of it all were William and Harry, the official ambassadors for Team GB. This was one appointment for which the sports-loving brothers were united in their enthusiasm, eagerly agreeing to attend over thirty Olympic events. Pictures show a beaming Harry alongside William and Kate, cheering British athletes on from the stands, yelling and shouting their encouragement and generally having a wild old time. Pundits noted how at ease Harry and his new sister-in-law were, a tight trio of grins, laughter, and charm.
During the games, Harry repeatedly paid tribute to the athletes, singling out the female beach volleyball players with special interest. Meanwhile, in interviews during the games with the BBC’s Sue Barker, William revealed worrying about being caught on the “Kiss Cam” with Kate and also revealed his wife is a “sight to behold with a hockey stick.”
For royal watchers, the highlight of the Games came when Team GB’s sprint team won gold in cycling in record time. In the ecstatic applause, William and Kate embraced each other in full view of the world. The spontaneous moment of pure elation summed up the optimism and youthful energy now at the center of the Royal Family. With Britain’s spirits buoyed by the future King and his new wife’s all-devoted love for each other, the hugely successful Diamond Jubilee, and now the Olympics, the outlook for the future was optimistic. Things could only get better—couldn’t they?