Meghan and Harry's Program Said That Thomas Markle Would Walk Meghan Down The Aisle
Millions woke up at all hours of the night and morning to witness the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Like with almost every royal marriage, it was an incredibly beautiful event that seemed to go on without a hitch. As one of the most joyous occasions a family can do to celebrate, walking down the aisle to your soulmate is an event you'll remember for the rest of your life. Unfortunately, sometimes things don't go according to plan and hiccups happen. (Hey, that's life).
The key is to not have it ruin your big day, and maybe you can have a laugh or two about it afterwards. Don't feel bad if it happens to you, because even the royal family can become flustered during their wedding ceremony and mess something up. Luckily for you, at least it's not plastered all over the internet and television screens all over the world. Even with all the best wedding planners at your disposal, there's still a chance that something can go majorly wrong during a royal wedding. Here are some of the biggest mistakes, flubs, and embarrassing mishaps that royals throughout the decades have faced on what was supposed to be the biggest day of their lives.
As almost in true royal wedding fashion, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding didn't go on exactly hiccup free. Meghan Markle's dad has been in the press lately. After the relationship between her and her father was described as "estranged," it was reported they became close again and he would be walking her down the aisle on her big day. However, a week before the wedding photos emerged of him that seemed to be a little....too perfect.
Prince William Was Completely Sleep Deprived On His Wedding Day
Photos of him reading a photo book about Great Britain, him getting his suit fitted, and him going to the gym were plastered all over the internet. After they were investigated it was proven that he had planned with a photo agency to have these photos taken for money. After this was exposed, he claimed he could not attend the wedding because he "did not want to embarrass Meghan, and that he had suffered from a heart attack days before." Apparently, someone forgot to tell this to the person writing the programs, as they still read that Meghan would be "joined by her Father, Mr. Thomas Markle, to the High Altar." In fact, Harry's father, Prince Charles was the one who walked her down the aisle.
Prince William revealed in a 2012 documentary that "The crowds were singing and cheering all night long, so the excitement of that, the nervousness of me and everyone singing-I slept for about half an hour. The hardest thing was trying to walk down the stairs with my spurs on, sideways.
Queen Elizabeth's Tiara Broke on the Morning of Her Wedding
I had visions of myself and my brother colliding and crashing down the stairs." For a Prince who only got 30 minutes of sleep we think he looked admirably alert!
This is basically every bride's biggest nightmare. Every bride, no matter regular or royal, wants every part of their wedding to be perfect. Of course, it's one of the most photographed day of a bride's life, especially if you're a royal.
Prince Charles Messed Up His Vows
Whether the bride has a crown of diamonds, or a crown of flowers, it's essential that the headpiece stay in good condition for the duration of the wedding. SO imagine how Princess Elizabeth (how the Queen was former referred to as) felt when hours before she was about to wed Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, her diamond tiara snapped right in half as the hairdresser was securing it to her veil. This tiara known as the Fringe Tiara, was the "something borrowed" from her mother, but it had originally belonged to Queen Mary (her grandmother), who had it made from the royal jeweler in 1919. Luckily, Garrad (the jeweler who commissioned it) was on standby in case something like this occurred. So, the tiara was taken to the jeweler (in police escort fashion of course) and was welded back together in time for the princess to wear it to the wedding.
Let's be honest, there were a lot of mistakes during the 1981 vows of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. First things first, Prince Charles mistakenly promised to give Diana "thy goods" instead of his "worldly goods", which is what he was supposed to say in the first place.
Diana Wanted To Call Off The Wedding Completely
By saying "thy goods", he basically pledged to share "all his goods", which, when you think about it could get inappropriate and awkward really fast. Of course, nobody ever really forget about this royal flub.
So we've deducted that Princess Diana's life (including her wedding) was anything other than drama-free. Her wedding to Prince Charles was just full of mishaps left and right, which probably should have been a sign to everyone involved. At the time of the wedding, it was reported that Charles was still seeing his mistress, Camilla Parker Bowles.
Diana Forgot Prince Charles' Name
When Diana found out, she threatened to call the whole wedding off. Although she eventually went through with it she allegedly called it, "the worst day in my life." It was also stated that while on their HONEYMOON, Charles wore cufflinks with C's engraved on them given to him by Camilla, and that a picture of her fell from one of his books as he was mid-conversation with Diana. YIKES YIKES YIKES.
Look, we need to cut her some slack. With the amount of names the royals have, it just gets ridiculous. Although Charles may have said the wrong words, Lady Diana actually called him the wrong name during their vow exchange.
Princess Nathalie Forgot Her Bouquet
Not only did she NOT want the wedding to even happen in the first place, but she also mixed up Charles' first and middle name, calling him "Philip Charles" instead of "Charles Philip". She was under a lot of stress, OKAY?! Regardless, the mess-up was pretty cringe-worthy.
Bridal bouquet's are certainly NOT cheap. Normal ones can cost anywhere from about $65 to $255, and if you're a royal? Probably way more than that. However, it looks like Princess Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg of Denmark (try saying that five times fast) let her nerves get the best of her as she left her very expensive bouquet behind on the way to the wedding ceremony.
When King Henry VIII Said His Wife "Looked Nothing Like The Catalogue"
Even the best laid wedding plans can lead to an embarrassing situation! So, just as she was about to enter the church to face all the assembled guests including Royalty, with her father, Prince Richard, she realized she had forgotten it. (Hence the awkward folding of the hands in the above photo). The maid was immediately sent to retrieve the bouquet and after a few minutes waiting on baited breath, the bouquet was handed to the bride and the wedding proceeded as planned.
So, in 1540 King Henry VIII was prepared to take on another bride seeing as his previous marriages didn't "work out". Apparently, during that time kings can send their favorite portrait artists to paint their potential brides. Hans Holbein (his portrait artist) went to the German court of the Duke of Cleves and painted the portraits of the duke's two unmarried sisters.
Diana Had an Awful Headache All Day
King Henry VIII decided to choose the portrait of 24-year old Anne of Cleves. When he met her, he almost backed out of the marriage because she didn't look anything like her picture he had chosen as far as appearance, demeanor (and apparently body odor) went. They got married but the union was annulled not that long afterwards.
It seems that by the time Diana, Princess of Wales' wedding rolled around she was left with an absolute splitting headache because she was not used to wearing a tiara. Her brother admits that after the wedding, "in the evening we all went to a sort of semi-private party and she was there and she seemed incredibly relaxed and happy and I just remember she had a cracking headache too, because she wasn't used to wearing a tiara all morning." The tiara was a Spencer family piece and had an elaborate design of stylized flowers decorated with diamonds in silver settings.
Marie Antoinette's Wedding Dress Was Too Small for Her
She went on to wear it and others many times during her lifetime.
Brides these days now have 3 to 5 different dress fittings before the ceremony, and they have Mari Antoinette to thank for that. It's been said that the royal dressmaker miscalculated Marie Antoinette's measurements, which resulted in a beautiful wedding dress that was......too small. Although a good amount of time was spent cinching and trying to hold the dress closed, it still just wouldn't close all the way. Because of this, it left a strange gap between the rows of diamonds down the back.
Princess Diana's Dress Was Completely Wrinkled
By the time the mistake had been discovered, it was just too late to fix it. So, instead, the bride walked down the aisle on . her big day with some strategically placed swaths of fabric covering the gaps in the back.
Diana's wedding proceedings ran to a very tight schedule. The Emanuels (the designers of the dress, Elizabeth and David Emanuel), were given clipboards with to-do lists and palace aids ran around issuing orders about when things were supposed to happen. One the bride and bridesmaids were dressed, they helped escort the bridal party down the grand staircase and into the carriage, and folded the EXTREMELY long train, concertina-style. Basically, like how you would fold a bed sheet. This was to ensure that it wouldn't get crushed. It was a maneuver they had spent (legit) hours practicing. Elizabeth and David Emanuel then went immediately to St. Pauls with a police escort so they could arrive before the bride.
A Horse Freaked Out During William and Kate's Wedding
They waited to one side of the cathedral entrance, and they say when they watched Diana climb the steps, their hearts sank. The dress was noticeably crumpled. Elizabeth said, "I remember whispering to David: "Oh my God, it's creased. I thought to myself, 'We've got to straighten out that dress. In the tiny carriage, it had crumpled far more than we'd anticipated. We'd done a rehearsal, but not with her father, Earl Spencer, in the car, too-and he was quite a large man. It was a hot day, there was so much volume in the net and she was nervous, so she kept grabbing hold of it in her hands. Fortunately, we knew the fabric would pull out-that's why we were there."
When you're a royal, most of the time it's not only humans that could cause a hiccup in your wedding. There's also horses involved in the wedding of royals, and animals can sometimes be tough to control. After tying the know, Prince William and Kate Middleton were sitting in a horse-drawn carriage for their procession.
Charles and Camilla Had To "Repent" For Their Sins
Unfortunately, one of the horses in the parade got incredibly spooked by something and flipped the guardsman from the saddle and ran away. Luckily enough, nobody was injured and the rest of the wedding proceeded as normal.
Okay, so we all know that Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles were together basically the entire time Charles and Diana were married. We also know that as soon as Diana died, Charles didn't waste any tie to marry Camilla.
King George IV Was So Drunk at His Wedding, He Had To Be Propped Up
So, what ended up happening at their wedding is pretty embarrassing. When the two FINALLY got married in 2005, they were obligated to own up to their shameful past and had to acknowledge the "manifold sins and wickedness" of their relationship in front of all heir guests.
This wedding was doomed from the beginning! King George IV and his wife were cousins and had never met before their engagement. George only agreed to marry her because he was in debt. Blame it on nerves or whatever you want to call it, but during his wedding in 1795, he got so drunk he had to be physically propped up by his groomsmen.
Princess Caroline's Whole Wedding Was A Mess
Mind you, this was only AFTER he arrived late, stumbling up the altar steps, and he refused to say his vows until he received a verbal lashing from his father. Apparently, he also broke down crying when nobody spoke up to object to the wedding. Sounds disastrous.
As if it wasn't bad enough she knew George IV was only marrying her for her money, she also had to deal with an incredibly drunk groom. It was noted that during the ceremony, her soon-to-be husband regarded her as unattractive an unhygienic.
King Harthacnut Actually Died at His Friend's Wedding
He also had secretly married a woman named Maria Fitzherbert, but since this marriage violated the Royal Marriages Act of 1772, it was not legally valid. During her wedding to George IV, her velvet, ermine, lace, and silver tissue dress was so incredibly heavy that she apparently couldn't even stand up, nevertheless walk down the aisle.
Getting drunk at your friends wedding was scandalous at the time. These days people look forward to the open bar at weddings, however back in the day it was seen as a little disrespectful. In 1042 (yes, this stuff is recorded even back then), King Harthacnut was attending his friend Tovi the Proud's wedding, and while there it seems he consumed to much alcohol.
Diana's Bridesmaid Tripped and Started Crying
The large amount of alcohol in his system triggered a stroke and he died right in the middle of the festivities. We're sure the bride and groom remembered this day forever.
This moment was more sweet than disastrous! As the legend goes, one of the bridesmaids in Diana's wedding, (a 5 year old girl, also Winston Churchill's granddaughter) tripped on her own dress and started crying.
A Pouting Bridesmaid Photo Bombed William and Kate's Kiss
It was reported that Diana asked her if she had "bumped her bottom" in the most British way possible and comforted the girl on HER OWN WEDDING. TEAM DIANA FOREVER.
This probably goes down in history as one of the funniest photobombs ever. No royal wedding is complete without the perfect kiss! However, unfortunately for Duchess Kate and Prince William, their moment was sabotaged by an incredibly upset bridesmaid.
Diana Spilled Perfume Down The Whole Front Of Her Dress
It was said that 3-year-old Grace van Cutsem was not too happy with the incredibly rambunctious crowd at the time. So, while Kate and William were trying to have a perfect moment on the balcony, she covered her hands with her ears and wore a very upset scowl.
A Bride knows not to eat anything messy in their wedding dress in case something were to spill down the front of it. While Diana followed that rule perfectly, it seems she had a different spillage occur. As the story goes, it seems as Diana was set to walk down the aisle, she spilled perfume all down the front of her dress after the lid of the bottle came loose.
King Louis XVI Didn't Even Attend His Own Wedding
Of course, the perfume left a large stain down the front of her dress, and with no time to fix it, they had to come up with a solution. The only way to hide it from the public was for Diana to hold her dress up to make it look like she was trying to avoid stepping on it.
It can't really get much worse than missing your own wedding. Louis-Auguste, grandson of Louis XV, was betrothed without his consent in an arranged marriage to Marie Antoinette in 1770. The ceremony was held in the bride's native hometown of Vienna with her older brother Ferdinand, standing in as the groom by proxy.
Kate's Wedding Ring Got Stuck When William Tried To Put It On
(She basically had to marry her brother on her wedding day). It was reported that the teenager "sulked and brooded" during the mass celebration in honor of the union between the two of them.
After this happened to the royals, we hope every bride and groom ever are now double-checking their wedding rings after this mishap. Prior to the ceremoney, Kate had Princess Diana's engagement ring resized smaller so it would fit her finger. However, at the same time she also had her wedding band resized to be a bit smaller.
A Clergyman At The Queen Mother's Ceremony Fainted and Fell To The Floor
However, it turns out it was a little too tight, and William had to use almost all his strength to get it on her finger. Owwwwwww.
Even back in the 20s there was a plethora of wedding day drama to go around. As the story goes, a mishap occurred when Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon married Prince Albert (or more commonly known as King George VI later).
The Wind Blew Up Lady Charlotte's Veil
While the wedding was in it's midst, one of the clergymen at Westminster Abbey hit the floor due to a fainting spell, which caused a scene. I mean we've heard of brides fainting at their own weddings but come ON man!
Lady Charlotte Anne Wellesley married Colombian-American financier Alejandro Santo Domingo in Illoro, Spain, and looked absolutely beautiful doing so. She wore a white off the shoulder dress to her Spanish nupitals, and while she's not actually a princess, she's close enough. Wellesley is a descendant of Queen Victoria and the daughter of the 9th Duke of Wellington. Her dress showed that it's perfectly acceptable to have a modern take on royal weddings.
Her hair was parted elegantly and swirled into a low-bun chignon. Her cathedral veil was also adorned with a Swiss dot pattern and she wore it over her head as she entered the Church of incarnation. This photo shows that the wind just doesn't care whether you're nobility or not!