On this day in history, July 29, 1981, Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer marry in lavish ceremony
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Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer were married on this day in history, July 29, 1981.
The first-ever televised royal wedding was watched by an estimated 750 million people in 74 countries, said the BBC’s website.
An additional 600,000 people stood on the streets of London, hoping to get a glimpse of the future king, 32, on his wedding day.
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The bride, 20, wore a custom-made gown sewn by former husband-and-wife designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel.
The dress, which was made of silk and taffeta, featured a 25-foot train, mother-of-pearl sequins, and about 10,000 pearls, said Brides.com.
It barely fit in the carriage that Diana rode in with her father to St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
Prince Charles and Princess Diana return from St Paul’s Cathedral in London after their wedding on July 29, 1981. (Ron Burton Mirrorpix/Getty Images)
David Emanuel later told British Vogue that the dress “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.”
Diana’s wedding dress was top-secret, and the Emanuels even code-named her “Deborah” to avoid suspicion, said the Brides publication.
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“She was just lovely, really kind of easygoing. We never had any special instructions about how to make the wedding dress,” Elizabeth Emanuel told People magazine.
“That added a bit to the fun of it all, made it bit of an adventure.”
They also made a second secret wedding dress in case the original design was leaked, they said.
The Prince and Princess of Wales on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day, July 29, 1981. (Getty Images)
This backup dress was less ornate than the one Diana wore on her wedding day, but “we wanted to make sure that we had something there. It was for our own peace of mind, really.”
Sticking to wedding traditions, Diana also wore something old, new, borrowed and blue, said Smithsonian Magazine.
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Aside from her new dress, the Spencer Tiara that Diana wore was both old and borrowed, said the same source.
Her “something blue” was a small blue bow sewn onto the dress, they said.
The wedding location of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London was a break from royal tradition, said Smithsonian.
The last royal wedding to occur at St. Paul’s was the 1501 nuptials between Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Catherine of Aragon.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles shortly after their wedding, which took place on July 29, 1981, and was watched by millions across the world. (Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)
The location was not the only non-traditional thing from this wedding.
Their vows, as well, broke from the norm.
Diana did not vow to “obey” Charles in her vows, something the future king agreed to after “very serious” with his future bride, said Smithsonian Magazine.
Diana also flubbed the name of her groom, mixing up his names, said the same source.
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“Charles, meanwhile, said ‘thy goods’ instead of my ‘my worldly goods’” in his vows, the publication also noted.
While the wedding was meant to invoke a modern-day fairytale, the marriage did not last.
The Prince and Princess of Wales attend a welcome ceremony in Toronto at the beginning of their Canadian tour, October 1991. (Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images)
Diana and Charles, who had two sons together — William, born in June 1982, and Harry, born in September 1984 — separated in 1992.
They officially divorced in 1996.
Diana was tragically killed in a car accident in 1997.
In 2005, Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles.
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The eldest son of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was crowned King of England on May 6, 2023, at London’s Westminster Abbey.
His wife, Queen Camilla, was beside him.
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