Princess Diana and King Charles’ Wedding Broke 2 Remarkable Royal Traditions
The royal wedding of Princess Diana and then-Prince Charles in 1981 was a spectacle for the ages. The couple’s lavish nuptials were watched by over 700 million people worldwide and appeared to be a Cinderella story come alive. However, the marriage was significant for breaking two remarkable royal traditions.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ wedding ended over 300 years of royal tradition
In a break with tradition, Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ wedding hosted their nuptials at St. Paul’s Cathedral. This venue choice was significant as the royal family traditionally held their wedding ceremonies at Westminster Abbey.
Before Diana and Charles’ nuptials, the last time a royal wedding took place at St. Paul’s was on Nov. 14, 1501. That ceremony was between Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Catherine of Aragon, who were each 15 years old at the time, per The History Press. The marriage lasted six months, as Arthur died after a long illness.
The other appeal of St. Paul’s Cathedral over Westminster Abbey was that it was a larger venue. Diana and Charles needed more space as they invited world dignitaries, family, friends, and celebrities to the ceremony. With 3,500 seats over Westminster’s 2,200, it was a more practical choice.
Second, Princess Diana was the first British citizen to marry the heir to the throne in over 300 years. Prior to Diana, the last woman to hold this title was Anne Hyde, the daughter of an adviser to King Charles II.
Hyde met Charles’ younger brother, James II, in the Netherlands, and the pair secretly wed in 1660. They subsequently held an official marriage ceremony in September 1660 in London.
The venue seated thousands, but Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ reception had just 120 guests
According to Smithsonian Magazine, Princess Diana and Prince Charles’ reception, officially called a Wedding Breakfast, was a more intimate affair than their lavish wedding ceremony. While the official event was bursting at the seams with over 3,500 guests, the reception was on a smaller scale.
Just 120 of the cathedral’s 3,500 guests were invited to the couple’s gathering at Buckingham Palace. The couple also served 27 wedding cakes for dessert. Their official wedding cake was baked by David Avery, head baker at the Royal Naval cooking school in Kent, who made it over a period of 14 weeks. The fruit cake was decorated with Charles’s coat of arms, the Spencer family crest, and flowers, including roses, lilies of the valley, and orchids.
How much input did Charles and Diana have in their wedding?
Prince Charles and Princess Diana followed royal protocol when planning their wedding. From an outsider’s perspective, it appeared they didn’t add any personal touches to either their ceremony or reception.
The event was deemed a state occasion because Prince Charles was heir to the British throne. The ceremony was a traditional Church of England wedding service, presided over by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, and the Dean of St Paul’s, Alan Webster.
This protocol would change in later years when Diana and Charles’ son, Prince Harry, married Meghan Markle. The couple had a ceremony that reflected both their heritages.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles wed on July 29, 1981. They officially divorced on Aug. 28, 1996.
