Prince William married Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey on Friday morning in an hour-long ceremony that ran on schedule to the last minute.
The wedding was sealed with the couple exchanging two kisses in the Buckingham Palace balcony before 600,000 royal enthusiasts.
The highlight of the ceremonial procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace was the sudden appearance of sunshine and no rain, despite the forecast by the London Met.
The ceremony in Westminster Abbey went smoothly and ended with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, declaring them husband and wife after a short ceremony. “I pronounce that they be man and wife together, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen,” he said, solemnising the wedding of the couple, who will now be known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. William was made a duke by his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, on Friday morning.
Escorted by her father Michael Middleton, Kate was the last to enter the Abbey amid loud cheers by the crowds lining the streets outside. Wearing an ivory and white Alexander McQueen label wedding dress by Sarah Burton, Kate was smiling throughout the ceremony, with her single dimple on show. She wore her hair loose with a small bouffant bun under the veil and sported understated make-up, opting for a natural look.
Kate was greeted with a huge smile by William as she reached the altar with her father and he told her she looked beautiful, according to the general consensus amongst the lip-readers employed by numerous television stations.
William also cracked a joke with his father-in-law Michael, who looked almost overcome by emotion while walking Kate to the altar at one point.
Lip-reader Tina Lannin, of O’Malley Communications, revealed that he told his father-in-law Michael: “We’re supposed to have just a small family affair.”
The prince, who opted to not wear a wedding band, had a slight difficulty sliding the gold wedding band on Kate’s finger, leading to peals of laughter from the crowds assembled in Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square, watching the proceedings on giant screens.
William and Kate wrote their own prayer for the wedding ceremony, Clarence House revealed. “God, our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage. In the busyness of each day, keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy. Strengthened by our union, help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.”
William and Kate seemed totally at ease and it was the best man, Prince Harry, who, despite his easygoing reputation, seemed tense and serious throughout the ceremony.
Kate’s brother James Middleton had a small, but important part in the wedding ceremony, as he gave a Bible reading during the ceremony. Her sister Pippa was her chief bridesmaid and a witness to the signing of the wedding register.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who gifted the royal couple with a collection of photographs of Anglesey, their home for the next two years, was excited by the wedding. “We are a reserved lot, we British, but when we go for it, we go for it,” he said. London mayor Boris Johnson, who is a familiar sight cycling around London, has gifted them a tandem bicycle.
The newlyweds emerged to cheers, whistles and greetings shouted by the huge crowds gathered outside the Abbey. After the ceremonial procession on carriages back to Buckingham Palace, the wedding party took time to pose for photographs in privacy and appeared with their immediate families, apart from the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, to acknowledge an estimated 600,000 spectators crowded in front of the palace.
The newlyweds liplocked twice to roars of approval from the crowd and the ceremony finally came to an end with an RAF flypast. In a surprise, the couple drove from Buckingham Palace to Clarence House in Prince Charles’ classic blue Aston Martin, decorated in ribbons and balloons, with “Just Wed” on the numberplate.
The Metropolitan Police has estimated that one million people were lined on the route between the Abbey and Buckingham Palace.
Around 650 of the 1,900 wedding guests attended a canapé and champagne reception in Buckingham Palace after the wedding ceremony. The British theme of the wedding extended to the food too and the menu included classics like Cornish crab salad, Scottish smoked salmon, quail eggs and bubble and squeak.
The wedding cake, designed by Fiona Cairns, and a chocolate biscuit cake was also served. The royal couple were to attend an evening dinner hosted by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace before leaving for their honeymoon.