Probably a bit ironic this, considering my blog’s title but I’m sure that most of you will forgive me. It seems to be de rigueur these days to treat the upcoming nuptials of Prince William and Kate Middleton with eye rolling ennui and a jaundiced ‘I’m pleased for them but I couldn’t care less about their wedding’ but I’m afraid I don’t share that view and am actually pretty excited about the whole thing.
Okay, I’m mostly excited about seeing the dress and all the pageantry and history involved in such a huge royal event but even so.
To celebrate, I’ve compiled a few links to the Very Best Madame Guillotine posts about royal weddings, both modern and historic. Ready? Then grab your Union Jack flag and let’s go!
1. Still reminiscing about the Royal Wedding day of 1981? How about a quick look at the Woman’s Own commemorative issue of Charles and Diana’s Big Day or a post about Princess Diana’s gorgeous wedding dress? There’s even one about the Spencer tiara, which has been my top post on here for weeks for some reason. Has someone stolen it or something?
2. Can’t get enough of those 80s royal weddings? I have a post about the wedding day of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson in 1986 you might like. Poor old Fergie – you know you grew up in the eighties when mention of ‘Fergie’ makes you think of auburn haired former Duchesses rather than the singer of The Black Eyed Peas.
3. Going a bit further back, I have a post about the fabulously glamorous wedding of Prince Rainier of Monaco and Princess Grace. I could look at pictures of Princess Grace forever – she was so divinely beautiful and her dress was exquisite. I hope the royal wedding dress on Friday has lots of lace (and isn’t strapless – let’s end the tyranny of the strapless wedding dress FOREVER!).
4. Going a bit further back, I have a post about the wedding of the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, which took place during a period of rationing in the UK. It’s amazing how people pulled together to give the royal couple an amazing day – although as it took place just a few years after the end of World War II, I think we just really needed a Jolly Good Party!
5. I really recommend this guest blog post by Emma Jolly about the wedding of George V and Mary of Teck. Just look at the size of her waist!
6. Claire Marriott also wrote a lovely guest post about the wedding of Kissing Cousins, Queen Victoria and her Albert. I think it’s brilliant that there has been more interest lately in the young Victoria rather than the more formidable Widow of Windsor persona of her later years.
7. Okay, I know I have complained on here about suffering Tudor Fatigue but if you’re still a fan of sixteenth century shenanigans, how about a post about the disastrous but rather funny wedding of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves. Quite fitting really seeing as Joss Stone (who played Anne in The Tudors) is going to be a guest at this Friday’s royal wedding. There’s also my post about the first wedding of Mary, Queen of Scots to the poor Dauphin. Of course there’s also that tenuous possible link between Kate Middleton and Mary ‘The Other Boleyn Girl’ Boleyn.
8. This was originally supposed to be a Marie Antoinette Blog (that resolution didn’t last more than a day or so) so this post wouldn’t be complete without a few pieces about Marie Antoinette’s wedding would it? For your reading pleasure may I present a piece on the transformation of Marie Antoinette from gawky, rather scruffy Austrian Archduchess to the poised and elegant French Dauphine? You might also like to hear more about her Beauty Secrets once she hit France and all those shops. As for her wedding day itself, here’s an excerpt from my book The Secret Diary of a Princess about the Big Day at Versailles in May 1770.
9. Finally (phew!), if you’re just keen to check out some amazing wedding dresses, I have a post about a few of the wedding gowns in the collections of the Met Museum in New York. Some of these dresses are amazing!
Anyway, that’s all for now – I hope you’ve enjoyed my Royal Wedding Extravaganza!
