Royal weddings are carefully choreographed affairs that take months of planning by teams in the hundreds, but even the most epically scheduled wedding can go wrong. Take into consideration, Prince Harry, and Meghan… Here are a few things the cameras didn’t cover; enjoy!
1. Prince William Was Completely Sleep Deprived on His Wedding Day
Apparently, Prince William only had a half hour of sleep before his wedding to Kate Middleton and was completely exhausted the entire day. Why? A brutal combination of nerves and screaming fans camped outside his house.
“They 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,” he said. Fortunately, William managed to get through his wedding day without falling asleep.
2. Queen Elizabeth’s Tiara Broke on the Morning of Her Wedding
Queen Elizabeth II was given the Fringe Tiara (made in 1919 for Queen Mary) to wear when she married Prince Philip in 1947—and it broke the morning of her wedding.
“The Fringe Tiara was given to Queen Elizabeth on her wedding day, and the hairdresser broke it,” royal jeweler House of Garrard tells MarieClaire.com. “On that day, they had it police escorted to the House of Garrard workshops. We fixed the tiara that morning, had it sent back to Queen Elizabeth, and then she got married in it. You don’t expect the Royals to have those sorts of mix-ups, but they do!”
The tiara clearly survived the snafu, because Elizabeth’s daughter Princess Anne wore it on her wedding day as well. (FYI, the piece can also be worn as a necklace.)
3. Prince Charles Messed Up His Vows
Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s 1981 wedding had so many issues it’s hard to keep track. First of all, Prince Charles messed up his vows, offering to give Diana “thy goods” (insert one million LOLs here) instead of his “worldly goods.” But the real blunder came from Diana, so go ahead and swipe right to the next slide.
4. Diana Forgot Prince Charles’ Name
Even more amazing than Prince Charles messing up his vows was Diana messing up her husband’s name. Instead of referring to him as “Charles Philip,” she called him “Philip Charles Arthur George.” Which, we can all agree is completely iconic. File under: That feeling when you don’t know your husband’s name, lolz.
5. Princess Nathalie Forgot Her Bouquet
Princess Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg of Denmark forgot her bouquet and had to wait almost ten minutes for it to arrive before she walked down the aisle. This is a photo of her waiting—fortunately, she doesn’t look too stressed.
6. King Harthacnut Straight Up Died at His Friend’s Wedding
First of all, apologies for the weird art—there are very limited options for poor King Harthacnut, who was King of England from 1040 to 1042. Anyway, this guy is basically responsible for ruining the wedding of Tovi the Proud thinks to drink too much and having a stroke. Awkward times.
7. Diana Had an Awful Headache All Day
Diana wore the Spencer Family Tiara for the duration of her wedding day, and apparently, it left her with a splitting headache. ”In the evening [after the wedding] we all went to a sort of semi-private party,” the Princess’ brother Charles Spencer said. “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.”
Getting married with a headache isn’t the *worst* thing in the world, but still. Not ideal.
8. A Horse Freaked Out During William and Kate’s Wedding
Apparently, a frightened horse from the Household Cavalry simply could not even when confronted with William and Kate, and freaked out as the couple traveled to Buckingham Palace. The poor horse threw its rider and ran past William and Kate, but fortunately, no one was injured, and barely anyone remembers this even happening.
