A history of royal weddings and dresses – from Grace Kelly to Sarah Chatto and Queen Letizia

An artist’s representation of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on their wedding day in 1840

The couple had a grand wedding, which included a wedding cake measuring nine feet tall by 16 inches wide

A watercolour which shows the wedding ceremony of Princess Victoria, Princess Royal, and Frederick III, German Emperor which took place on 25 January 1858

Princess Alice was the third child of Victoria and Albert, and she married Prince Louis of Hesse on 1 July 1862. It has been said that the wedding took part in private as it was less than six months after the death of Albert, her father

Alexandra, Princess of Denmark with her husband Edward VII, Prince of Wales in 1863

Alexandra (left) is pictured with her new husband Edward VII, Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria (bottom right).  Distraught Queen Victoria was still in mourning for Prince Albert and appeared utterly miserable garbed in swathes of matte black

Queen Victoria’s third daughter Princess Helena married Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein on 5 July 1866 and remained in the UK as Queen Victoria liked to have her daughters nearby

Alexander III married Maria Feodorovna (also known as Princess Dagmar of Denmark) on the 9 November 1866 in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia 

 Princess Louise and John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne married on the 21 March 1871 at St George’s Chapel

 The newlyweds were reportedly happy at first but Queen Victoria’s demands on Louise grew as she was secretary, and the couple had several childless years

An artist drawing shows the wedding between Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh and The Grand Duchess Marie Alexandrovna of Russia on the 23 January 1874, they had five children together: Alfred, Marie, Victoria Melita, Alexandra, and Beatrice

A drawing of the bridal procession arriving for the wedding between Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, March 13, 1879 

A drawing of the couple saying their vows before a priest, gathered by their family and friends 

The wedding of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany and Princess Helen of Waldeck and Pyrmont, which took place on 27 April 1882 in St George’s Chapel 

The front page of an old newspaper showing Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg walking down the aisle on their wedding day which was on the 12 July 1885

The Duke and Duchess of Fife at their royal wedding at Buckingham Palace in London in 1889

King George V on his wedding day with his bride Princess Mary of Teck in December of 1893

Tsar Nicholas II of Russia married Alexandra Feodorovna on the 26 November 1895. The pair went on to have five children, but they were all murdered in 1918 by the Bolsheviks, a far-left, revolutionary Marxist faction founded by Vladimir Lenin

Prince Alice of Battenberg and Prince Andrew of Greece had a civil wedding ceremony on the 6 October 1903 at at Darmstadt

The following day, the couple had a further two religious ceremonies, one Lutheran and one Greek Orthodox. They then went on to have five children – including Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh 

A photograph taken on the wedding day of The Duke of York (King George VI) and The Queen Mother

Spring wedding: King George V of Great Britain (right) and Queen Mary on the wedding day of their son The Duke of York, later King George VI, to Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. With them are the Earl and Countess of Stramore (left)

She met Prince Albert (future King George VI) for the first time in 1920 at a dance by Lord and Lady Farquhar in London

Royal Wedding between Prince Gustav Adolf of Sweden and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in St. Moritz, Coburg in 1932

Photograph of the wedding of Prince George, Duke of Kent and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark on their wedding day on the 29 November 1934 at Westminster Abbey. They married three months after their engagement  

Infanta Beatriz, daughter of the former King of Spain, is shown with her husband, Prince Alessandro Torlonia leaving a church in Rome, after their marriage ceremony

Princess Ingrid, granddaughter of Sweden’s King, is waving an answer to the cheering crowds, as she is driven to the famous Storkyrka Church in the royal carriage. There she was united with Prince Frederick of Denmark

The wedding of Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, and Lady Alice Montagu Douglas Scott on 6 November, 1935 in the chapel at Buckingham Palace

 Edward, Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson married on 3 June 1937 at a private ceremony at the Chateau de Cande

In a letter to his new mother-in-law after their wedding, the Duke of Edinburgh wrote: ‘Lilibet is the only ‘thing’ in this world which is absolutely real to me’

A drawing of Queen Elizabeth’s stunning wedding dress, dated 13th November 1947 – seven days before the big day

Smitten: The loved-up newlyweds were called ‘the Fairy Princess and Prince Charming’

Luxembourg’s royal couple, Crown Prince Jean and the Grand-Duchess Josephine-Charlotte passing under a steel archway during their wedding ceremony on April 9, 1953

Grace Kelly looked so beautiful in her dress that it caused crowds to gasp as she walked past 

The wedding of Prince Rainier III of Monaco, Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand de Grimaldi, to American actress Grace Kelly in 1956 – known thereafter as Princess Grace 

Princess Grace and Prince Rainier III had two ceremonies, one in the palace Throne Room and one in the Saint Nicolas Cathedral (pictured)

Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon and Antony Armstrong-Jones on their wedding day at Buckingham Palace after the ceremony in May, 1960

Princess Margaret and her new husband Antony Armstrong Jones pose for a picture with their bridesmaids at Buckingham Palace 

The civil wedding ceremony of Belgian Royal Baudouin of Belgium and Queen Fabiola of Belgium in the Throne Room of the Royal Palace of Brussels, 15 December 1960

Winter wedding: King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola leaving the Cathedral Of Brussels on their wedding day in 1960

Newlyweds Princess Astrid of Norway and Johan Ferner leaving Asker Church in Oslo after their wedding on 12th January 1961

Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and his bride Katharine Worsley after the ceremony at York Minster in 1961 – The Duke wore the ceremonial uniform of his regiment the Royal Scots Greys 

Wedding of Prince Juan Carlos, who would later go on to be King and Princess Sofia of Greece and Denmark at the Royal Palace in Athens, Greece on 14th May 1962

Princess Alexandra and the Hon. Angus Ogilvy married on the 24 April 1963. Her wedding dress rain was estimated to be 20 feet long, covered in beautiful bespoke Valenciennes lace

The wedding ceremony was attended by all the members of the Royal Family and was broadcast worldwide on television and watched by millions

King Constantine II of Greece pictured together with Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark on their wedding day in Athens, Greece on 18 September 1964

King Constantine II of Greece pictured together with Princess Anne-Marie. The King was formally deposed in June 1973 and the monarchy was abolished by national referendum in 1974

Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands with Claus von Amsberg after their wedding at the Town Hall in Amsterdam, Holland, 10 March 1966

Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands walks down the steps arm-in-arm with her new husband Claus van Amsberg as bridesmaids hold her wedding dress train 

Denmark’s royal family as well as royal figures of other countries gather at the castle of Fredensborg to celebrate the wedding of Princess Margrethe II and Prince Henrik 

Summer wedding: Norway’s Prince Harald and Sonja Haraldsen posing at the Royal Palace after their wedding ceremony in August, 1968

The wedding of Prince Birendra of Nepal and Aishwarya Rajya Lakshmi Devi Rana took place on the 27 February 1970. The wedding was attended more than 300 guests from abroad. Birendra is pictured behind Aishwarya

Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips leaving the west door of Westminster Abbey in London after their wedding ceremony in

Princess Anne and Mark Phillips (3rd from left) wave from the balcony of Buckingham Palace following their wedding with Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex (L), Prince Charles (4th from right), Queen Elizabeth II (3rd from right), Prince Andrew, Duke of York (2nd right) and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden marries Silvia Sommerlath at Stockholm Cathedral on June 19, 1976

King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden marries Silvia Sommerlath at Stockholm Cathedral on June 19, 1976

Princess Caroline of Monaco with her new husband Philippe Junot after their wedding in Monaco on June 29, 1978

It was Princess Caroline’s first marriage which ended in divorce. She then went on to marry a further two times 

British Royal Prince Michael of Kent and Baroness Marie-Christine von Reibnitz, following their civil ceremony at the Town Hall in Vienna, Austria on 30 June, 1978

The wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer was dubbed ‘the wedding of the century’

They did not just marry in front of their 3,500 guests, but also 750 million people across the globe 

Charles proposed in the nursery at Windsor Castle on 3 February 1981, only six months after he started dating Diana

Diana broke tradition when she did not say the promise to obey her husband. Kate and Meghan would also go on to follow this, in their royal weddings in years to come (Kate and William’s wedding, left)

The then Prince and Princess of Wales leave St Paul’s Cathedral after their wedding, 29th July 1981

Diana’s wedding dress had a jaw-dropping 25 feet long train with folds of silk taffeta

Diana arrived slightly late for her own wedding and her walk down the aisle took 3 and a half minutes

Due to her rapid weight loss, the soon-to-be Princess of Wales needed five different bodices

Dress designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel secretly measured St Paul’s cathedral with a tape measure to ensure that the stunning dress would fit down the aisle

Sarah, Duchess of York, wearing an ivory-silk Lindka Cierach wedding dress, and Prince Andrew, Duke of York, wearing the ceremonial uniform of a Royal Navy lieutenant, arm-in-arm following their wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey ion 23 July 1986

Prince Kyril of Bulgaria and Rosario Nadal get married at Palma de Mallorca Cathedral on September 15, 1989 in Palma de Malloraca, Spain. Pictured: Rosario Nadal with her father

The couple got married at Crathie Kirk, near Balmoral in Scotland with a small ceremony of only 30 guests

All loved up: Lady Helen Windsor (now Taylor) and Timothy Taylor were pictured with beaming smiles on their wedding day

Tick tock: Lady Helen Windsor arrived four minutes late to the church on her wedding day

Serena Alleyne Armstrong-Jones and David Armstrong-Jones, second Earl of Snowdon got married on 8 October 1993 at St Margaret’s Chuch in Westminster, but they decided to divorce in 2020

Regal: The wedding of Maria Garcia de la Rasilla y de Gortazar and Prince Konstantin of Bulgaria happened in the summer on 8 July, 1994 in Madrid, Spain

Bride Sarah Armstrong-Jones (daughter of Britain’s Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon) with her groom Daniel Chatto after their wedding

They had their wedding at St Stephen Walbrook in London on 14 July 1994 and many members of the British Royal family attended. Sarag wore a timeless dress designed by Jasper Conran

Prince Pavlos of Greece married Marie-Chantal Miller on the 1 July 1995 at St Sophia’s Cathedral, in London

The magical wedding was attended by Queen Elizabeth II and reportedly costed around £1.2million

Infanta Cristina Of Spain And Inaki Urdangarin got married in cathedral of Barcelona in October 1997. However, they have recently announced that they will be splitting up

Prince Maurits of Holland and Marilene Van Ver Broek got married on 29 May 1998

Prince Edward And Sophie Rhys-Jones said ‘I do’ on the 19 June 1999 at Windsor Castle

Princess Alexia Of Greece And Carlos Morales Quintana got married at the St. Sophia Cathedral in London on 9 July 1999

Prince Philippe, Duke of Brabant, and Mathilde d’Udekem d’Acoz tied the knot in a winter wedding on 4 December 1999. The ceremony was held at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels

Princess Laurentien of Holland married Prince Constantijn in The Hague on 17 May 2001. The marriage was blessed on 19 May 2001 in the Grote of St Jacobskerk in The Hague

Prince Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway and Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby leave the Oslo Cathedral on August 25, 2001 after their wedding

Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander and Maxima Zorreguieta got married on February 2, 2002

The royal couple have three daughters together – Princess Catharina-Amalia, Princess Alexia and Princess Ariane

Maxima Zorreguieta, now Queen, flashes a smile at her new husband, Willem-Alexander, (now King)

Dutch Crown Prince Willem-Alexander escorts his bride Maxima Zorreguieta through a flower-decorated doorway at the Beurs Van Berlage

Princess Märtha Louise of Norway and Ari Behn wave at the crowd after they got married in May 24, 2002 in Trondheim, Norway. They formally divorced in 2017. 

Prince Laurent of Belgium and his bride Claire Coombs leave the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula after their marriage ceremony on April 12, 2003 in Brussels, Belgium

Emmanuel Philibert of Savoy and Clotilde Courau got married at Santa Maria degli Angeli church in Rome on 25 September 2003

Prince Johan Friso of the Netherlands and Mabel Wisse Smit wed on April 24, 2004 in Delft

Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and Mary Donaldson walk down aisle followed by bridesmaids and bridesmen on their wedding on the 14 May 2004

Mary Donaldson arriving at Copenhagen Cathedral for her wedding to Crown Prince Frederik 

Spanish Crown Prince Felipe of Spain and his wife Letizia Ortiz pose inside the Royal Palace in Madrid 22 May 2004

Wedding of Jordan’s Crown Prince Hamzah Bin Al-Hussein and Princess Noor Hamzah at Zahran Palace in Amman on 27 May 2004

Charles, Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker-Bowles got married on April 9, 2005. Here they are gathered with members of the British Royal family and Camilla’s family

Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips is pictured with his new bride Autumn Kelly as they leave St George’s Chapel in Windsor on May 17, 2008

Lord Freddie Windsor poses with his bride Sophie Winkleman in the Base Court, minutes after their wedding in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace on September 12, 2009. Sophie’s wedding dress design featured a sweetheart neckline

Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband Daniel Westling attend their wedding banquet at the Royal Palace on June 19, 2010 in Stockholm 

Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Tatiana Blatnik wed on the 25 August 2010 in Spetses, Greece

The Prince and former event planner Tatiana Blatnik had a beautiful sunset wedding

Princess Annemarie Gualtherie van Weezel and Prince Carlos de Bourbon de Parme leave church after their Royal Wedding at Abbaye de la Cambre on November 20, 2010 in Brussels, Belgium

Dream day: Prince William and Kate smile and wave to onlookers on their wedding day on 29 April 2011

Kate is walked down the aisle by her father Michael at Westminster Abbey for her wedding to then Prince William, who is stood by his brother, Harry

Breathtaking: Kate flashes a smile in her beautiful lace wedding dress as she holds her bouquet 

William and Kate share a kiss on the famous balcony at Buckingham Palace after their wedding ceremony

Prince William holds Kates hand as she exits Westminster Abbey after their royal wedding followed by her sister, Pippa Middleton 

Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne and Mike Tindall got married at Canongate Kirk the Royal Mile in Edinburgh on 30 July 2011

Prince Albert II of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock leave their wedding at the Prince’s Palace, in Monaco

Fairytale: Prince Albert II of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock said ‘I do’ on July 1, 2011

King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema got married on the 13 October 2011 at at the Punakha Dzong in Punakha, Bhutan. Queen Jetsun was only 21 when she got married and was therefore one of the youngest queens in the world 

Crown Prince Tupouto’a ‘Ulukalala and Sinaitakala Fakafanua had their wedding on the 12 July 2012 at the Centennial Church in Nukuʻalofa, Tonga

Their wedding ceremony marked the end of Tonga’s 100 day mourning period of the death of George Tupou V, who had died that March aged 63

Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg and Countess Stephanie de Lannoy had two wedding ceremonies on the 19 and 20 of October in 2012. They had a civil ceremony on the 19th, followed by a Roman Catholic ceremony on the 20th 

Stephanie’s dress was designed by Ellie Saab, featuring a four and a half metre train. The beading on the dress was so bespoke that it took 15 seamstresses around 32,000 hours to complete

Princess Madeleine of Sweden and Christopher O’Neill at their wedding on June 8, 2013

Prince Felix Of Luxembourg and Claire Margareta Lademacher depart from their wedding ceremony at the Basilique Sainte Marie-Madeleine in France  on September 21, 2013

Prince Carl Philip of Sweden and Sofia Kristina Hellqvist smile as they depart from their royal wedding on June 13, 2015 in Stockholm 

Pierre Casiraghi, son of Caroline the Princess of Monaco, and Beatrice Borromeo are seen after their wedding on 1 August 2015 in Italy  

Beatrice Borromeo smiles as she walks arm-in-arm with her new husband 

The couple walk along the ledge in the picturesque sunset on their special day 

Prince Mihailo Karadjordjevic and Ljubica Ljubisavljevic exit the Church of Saint George in Oplenac after their wedding on October 23, 2016. They walk along a red carpet full of confetti 

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, leaves St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on 19 May 2018 with his new bride, American actress Meghan Markle 

Harry and Meghan walk hand-in-hand after their ceremony to attend an evening reception at Frogmore House

Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank leave St George’s Chapel on October 12, 2018 after they tied the knot

Princess Eugenie, daughter of Prince Andrew and Fergie, smiles with her new husband 

Lady Gabriella Windsor, daughter of Prince Michael, and her new husband Thomas Kingston leave St George’s Chapel after their wedding on May 18, 2019 

Princess Beatrice, daughter of Prince Andrew and Fergie holds Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi’s hand on their wedding day on December 21, 2020

Princess Beatrice and her new husband are pictured outside with the Queen and Prince Philip 

Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi smile as they leave The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor

Beatrice’s vintage wedding dress was worn by the Queen in the 1960s and it was loaned to Beatrice by her grandmother for her low-key wedding

The most recent royal wedding was Princess Maria Laura of Belgium and husband William Isvy, as they tied the knot on 10 September 2022, in Brussels

Princess Iman of Jordan looked stunning as she posed with new new husband, Jameel Alexander Thermiotis, on their wedding day on 12 March 2023

Princess Iman wowed as she opted for a regal lace-trimmed, embellished ivory wedding dress 

The royal pair smiled as Jameel put a ring on Princess Iman’s finger, as they celebrate their love