London By Londoners Blog 2011 Royal Weddings in HistoryRoyal Weddings in History
As London and the UK builds up to William and Kates' Royal Wedding on Friday 29 April 2011, the World's press have been descending on the capital. There are many noisy detractors to the Royal Wedding in the UK. Especially opposed to the tax-payer footing the security bill, during belt-tightening-times and never have so many previously had a platform to express it, quite like they do at present. Every news item on the Internet is accompanied by hundreds of comments - thumbs up and thumbs down and I admit to chortling through them every so often. Whatever your view, it's going ahead anyway and if I had to straw-poll opinion - I'd say it's strictly middle ground: most wish them well in married life and another long weekend is no hardship. Here are a few interesting royal weddings from English and British history, some ended tragically but they were big news in their day.
Charles and Diana - 1981.
When Charles married Diana 30 years ago, it was a different era and [sadly] I remember it well. The build-up was slower and more pro-wedding; my local butchers had Charles and Di mugs for sale in the window. In fact just having a butcher consigns it to the past (sawdust on the 
floor, trays of meat with mini green, plastic 'hedges' surrounding the cuts). If you weren't in London it was a day which featured a packed TV schedule. The weather was grey and dull, but by the time they left on honeymoon the sun had come out to play and all-day drinking had reached the loud chanting stage.
Although he'd known her for many years, Prince Charles only took serious interest in Diana the year before the wedding. An invite to Balmoral to meet the folks followed and after creating a positive first impression, marriage was on the cards. Charles proposed on 3 February 1981 at an intimate Buckingham Palace dinner for two. Diana accepted, and the engagement was announced. Diana selected a ring from the Queen's collection (originally a gift from the president of Sri Lanka.) A blue sapphire surrounded by 14 diamonds, the same ring which Kate Middleton accepted from Prince William.
The Royal Wedding was held at St. Paul's Cathedral rather than Westminster Abbey, because St Paul's offered more seating and allowed a longer procession through the streets of London. That's the official version, but I remember it differently. Charles specifically wanted to celebrate St. Paul's and had long held an interest in Wren and the building (supported by his comment about the surrounding Paternoster Square - "...You have to give this much to the Luftwaffe. When it knocked down our buildings, it didn't replace them with anything more offensive than rubble...") The service was traditional and conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the Dean of St. Paul's. 750 million people watched the ceremony worldwide, making it the most popular programme ever broadcast, and the figure rose to a billion when the radio audience was added. Two million spectators lined the route of Diana's procession from Clarence House.
Diana arrived at the cathedral in the Glass Coach with her father and I have a vivid memory of the overhead shot as she walked down the nave, with an enormous train behind her. You got the feeling the Beeb was proud of the shot and probably spent weeks setting it up. Another curiosity from the day was the balcony space which was rented out on Ludgate hill leading up to St. Paul's. A neat demi-lune which overlooked the procession up Fleet Street and the entrance to the cathedral. It had been hired out for an enormous, undisclosed sum. Many's the time I walked past it over the intervening years and wondered if the owners were still living off the proceeds of that day.
During the vows Diana fluffed her words, getting Charles's multiple middle names in the wrong order. She also dropped the 'promise to obey' vow from the service, which practically no one uses now, however it was cutting edge stuff at the time.
Of course, we know how this one ended and here's hoping the coverage avoids too many comparisons
Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencers' wedding in 1981 - focussing on her arrival at St. Paul's and the dress designed by the Emmanuels.
Edward and Mrs Simpson - 1937
Before my time thankfully, but the recent release of "The King's Speech" and its Oscar prosperity has brought elements of the story back into the public eye. Wallis Simpson was an American socialite who had divorced once and whose second 
marriage was in a tailspin when she met the heir to the throne - Edward, Prince of Wales. He became besotted with her irreverent attitude to his status, to the point where he was accused of 'slavish dependence'. Needless to say, his father King George V hated her.
In January 1936, George V died and Edward became King Edward VIII. Wallis began divorce proceedings against her second husband and became a constant companion to the King. It was obvious to the court and government that Edward intended to marry Wallis Simpson. When news of this filtered through to the British public (via foreign press releases, the British press tried to keep a lid on it); a scandal erupted and Wallis was forced to lie low in the South of France. The Protestant Church of England places the Monarch as Supreme Governor (from Henry VIII's design during the English Reformation). The King had a certain moral benchmark to maintain and marrying a twice divorced woman, with both spouses still living, was unacceptable to the establishment. She was also seen as a 'gold-digger' and had dubious political leanings.
The Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin suggested a morganatic marriage (where Edward would be King, but Wallis would not be Queen), however several Commonwealth Prime Ministers rejected the proposal. As a result, if Edward went ahead and married Wallis without the approval of Government the Prime Minister would be forced to resign, creating an unprecedented constitutional crisis. Wallis was 'persuaded' by a palace representative to give up her interest in him, however the King would not reciprocate and this was how the option of abdication came about.
In December 1936 King Edward VIII abdicated and George VI (the current Queen's father) became King in his place. Six months later the Duke of Windsor (his new title) married Wallis and she became the Duchess of Windsor. They settled in France and became society figures in Europe and the United States before and after the Second World War. Their conduct during the war cemented the public's disdain for the pair, with the most sensationally insensitive social gatherings. Including a personal meeting with Hitler, close friendship with Oswald Mosely and Wallis's reputed affair with Von Ribbentrop. The German Ambassador to the UK and later Foreign Minister during the war; he was executed at Nuremberg after the war. A sordid episode for the Royal Family, this was very nearly the wedding which brought down a government.
Victoria and Albert - 1840
Queen Victoria did not get on with her mother (the Duchess of Kent) but was forced to live under her strict Kensington System. Despite ruling the country she did not have the run of her own house and complained to Lord Melbourne that the arrangement was unacceptable. He suggested that it 
could be avoided by marrying, which prompted Queen Victoria's often quoted reply: that marriage was a "schocking [sic] alternative." However. Relations with her mother deteriorated further and she agreed to meet Albert on several occasions. After his second visit she appeared to fall headlong in love with him. Five days into his third visit, she proposed and he quickly accepted.
They were married in February 1840 and the young Queen was in raptures of delight - the following is quoted from her diary: " I NEVER, NEVER spent such an evening!!! MY DEAREST DEAREST DEAR Albert ... his excessive love & affection gave me feelings of heavenly love & happiness I never could have hoped to have felt before! He clasped me in his arms, & we kissed each other again & again! His beauty, his sweetness & gentleness – really how can I ever be thankful enough to have such a Husband! ... to be called by names of tenderness, I have never yet heard used to me before – was bliss beyond belief! Oh! This was the happiest day of my life!"
The Queen wore a white satin dress (and is often credited with starting the white dress trend) with orange blossoms and a Honiton lace veil, accompanied by 12 bridesmaids. Prince Albert was dressed in the military uniform of a British field-marshall, with collar and star of The Order of the Garter. They opted for a plain and simple service:
"Albert, wilt thou have this woman to be thy wedded wife?" and "Victoria, wilt thou have Albert to be thy wedded husband?" and "Who giveth this woman to be married to this man?"
With predictions of thunderstorms for Prince William and Kate Middleton's marriage (though 24 hours to go - sunny intervals is the latest), they can take solace in the fact that it beat it down during Queen Victoria's big day. After the wedding breakfast at Buckingham Palace, the bridal party set off for their honeymoon at Windsor Castle with a full military escort.
James I and Anne - 1589
Anne was born in Skanderborg castle, in the Kingdom of Denmark. After a humble upbringing, suitors from all over Europe were interested in marrying Anne and her older sister, including James VI of Scotland (later James the I of England) who 
favoured Denmark as a kingdom. Scottish ambassadors initially focussed on Anne's elder sister, but her father betrothed her to another. He then offered his other daughter Anne and promised that "if the King did like her, he should have her." Who said romance was dead.
Anne was thrilled by the match. On 28 July 1589, the English spy Thomas Fowler reported that Anne was "so far in love with the King's Majesty as it were death to her to have it broken off and hath made good proof divers ways of her affection which his Majestie is apt in no way to requite." Fowler's insinuation that James preferred men to women (oops), would have been hidden from the fourteen-year-old Princess, who devotedly embroidered shirts for her fiancé while three hundred tailors worked on her wedding dress.
In August 1589, Queen Anne was married by proxy to James at Kronborg Castle, the ceremony ending with James's representative, George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal, sitting next to Anne on the bridal bed (awkward). Within two weeks Anne set sail for Scotland, but her fleet was forced back to the coast of Norway through bad weather and other threats.
News of his wife's misadventure reached James in Scotland. Alarmed, he called for national fasting and public prayers. He kept a watch on the Firth of Forth for Anne’s arrival, wrote several songs, one comparing the situation to the plight of Hero and Leander, and sent a search party out for Anne, carrying a letter he had written to her in French. "Only to one who knows me as well as his own reflection in a glass could I express, my dearest love, the fears which I have experienced because of the contrary winds and violent storms since you embarked..." James sailed from Leith with a three-hundred-strong retinue to fetch his queen personally. He presented himself to Anne and gave her a kiss in the Scottish fashion. Though no definition is given as to what this 'Scottish fashion' might entail. It was also reported to be the only romantic gesture of the dour king's life.
Anne and King James were formally married in Oslo "with all the splendour possible at that time and place." A month of celebrations followed. Anne was crowned the following year at Holyrood. By all accounts, James was at first entranced by his bride (he built the ultra-modern Queen's House in Greenwich for her), but his infatuation evaporated and the couple drifted apart.
Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon - 1509
Catherine of Aragon was Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain's, youngest child. After birth her parents immediately began looking for a political match. When she was three, she was betrothed to Arthur, the son of Henry VII. Arthur was a mere two at the time.
Catherine made the journey to England when she was approaching sixteen. It took three months, and her ships weathered several storms, but she safely made landfall at Plymouth. Catherine and Arthur were married in 1501 at St. Paul's Cathedral, London. Catherine was escorted by the 
groom's younger brother, Henry (later Henry VIII). The bride and groom dressed in robes made of gold cloth, and celebrations lasted more than two weeks. Historical journals say the accompanying celebrations included daily jousts, banquets, masked balls and near continuous dancing.
After the wedding pomp and ceremony, the young couple moved to Ludlow Castle on the Welsh border, but less than six months later, Arthur was dead, probably from the 'sweating sickness'.
Catherine's impression on people, was remarkable - even her enemy, Thomas Cromwell, said: "If not for her sex, she could have defied all the heroes of History." She had many influential admirers (including Shakespeare) and won acclaim by starting a programme for the relief of the poor and was also a patron of Renaissance humanism.
Catherine was a widow, but young enough to marry again. Henry VII's other son, Henry was in much ruder health and was also much interested in keeping Catherine's dowry. Fourteen months after her husband's death she was betrothed to the future Henry VIII, who was too young to marry at the time.
For the next few years, Henry VII became less interested in an alliance with Spain and Catherine's future looked uncertain. However, when Henry VII died in 1509 the new king wasted no time in marrying Catherine. She was crowned Queen of England in a joint coronation ceremony with her husband Henry VIII on June 24, 1509. The new King and Queen showed every sign of being a happy royal couple. Henry wore Catherine's colours at tournaments and proclaimed himself “Sir Faithful Heart.” At other times he and his attendants dressed up as Robin Hood and his merry men and burst in on Queen Catherine and her ladies, who duly pretended to be surprised before they all took to dancing.
Ten years of miscarriage and the death of his first male heir, left Henry with one daughter (later Queen Mary I). The scales fell away from his eyes and he began to look around for another source for a male heir. He remained a devoted husband, but kept [at least] two mistresses: Mary Boleyn and Elizabeth Blount. However, once he fell under the spell of Mary Boleyn's sister, Anne, Catherine's days were numbered. Unable to gain approval for divorce from the Pope, Henry broke from Rome and established an English church with himself as the head. He excused himself from Catherine's marriage, but treated her with a level of respect which he seldom showed to his later brides.
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Good luck William and Kate - Friday 29 April 2011.
The Queen's mother and father getting married in 1923. The Queen Mother unexpectedly laid her bouquet at the tomb of the unknown warrior and it's since become a tradition for royal brides.
