In Pictures: A look back at the weddings of the Queen’s grandchildren
Princess Eugenie will be the fifth of the Queen’s eight grandchildren to wed.
With a range of official Royal Collection souvenirs produced in celebration and ITV televising the entire ceremony, Eugenie’s day will be anything but low key.
She may only be ninth-in-line, but this so called “blood princess” – a princess of birth rather than marriage – is being treated to a carriage ride through Windsor.
Two hundred more guests than attended the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s wedding will gather in the stunning gothic chapel of St George’s, Windsor Castle, where proud father the Duke of York will walk his youngest daughter down the aisle.
Here’s a look back at how the Queen’s other grandchildren, Eugenie’s royal cousins, tied the knot:
Peter Philips and Autumn Kelly
The Queen’s eldest grandchild and the first to marry was Peter Phillips.
The son of the Princess Royal wed Canadian Autumn Kelly in 2008 in St George’s Chapel – where Eugenie and tequila brand manager Jack Brooksbank will say their vows on Friday.
Three hundred guests attended the service, which was kept private, but the couple posed for photographs on the West Steps afterwards.
Yet the wedding attracted controversy and was branded tacky when it emerged Peter and Autumn had secured a £500,000 magazine deal with Hello! magazine for exclusive access and pictures.
The bride wore a gown by Sassi Holford and a tiara borrowed from her new mother-in-law, the Princess Royal.
During the ceremony, Eugenie read Shakespeare’s sonnet 116, conveying that love “looks on tempests and is never shaken”.
Peter and Autumn left in the open top horse-drawn Balmoral Sociable carriage for a reception and dance at Frogmore House.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge – Westminster Abbey, London
William’s wedding to his former university flatmate Kate Middleton was the big royal event of 2011.
A show-stopping celebration, 2,000 guests filled Westminster Abbey to see the future king marry commoner Kate, making her an HRH, a duchess and a future Queen.
The grand affair featured two dresses, two receptions, a carriage procession through central London, flypasts and two kisses on the Buckingham Palace balcony.
Nearly 25 million people in the UK tuned in to watch the live televised ceremony, with the worldwide television audience estimated to be two billion.
The bride wore an intricate lace gown designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen for the service, while the groom was dressed in the red tunic of the Irish Guards.
Much attention was given to Kate’s sister, Pippa, for her figure-hugging bridesmaid dress, with a Facebook page set up in honour of her derriere.
After the service, the newlyweds travelled in an open-topped carriage for the 15-minute journey from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace, with more than a million people lining the procession route.
Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall – Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh
Three months later, William’s cousin Zara Phillips – daughter of the Princess Royal – wed former rugby player Mike Tindall in an entirely different affair.
With Zara only 13th in line to the throne, compared to William’s second in line position, the proceedings were always going to stand in marked contrast to the attention given to the Cambridges’ wedding.
The equestrian champion’s nuptials in July 2011 were billed as a low-key affair.
Zara is the only one of the Queen’s granddaughters to marry. Eugenie will be the second.
But the wedding still drew crowds of more than 6,000 people keen to see senior members of the monarchy and leading figures from the world of sport.
The ceremony was private, and took place at Canongate Kirk on the famous Royal Mile in Edinburgh’s historic Old Town.
The newlyweds did appear for the cameras, sharing a kiss, before waving at well-wishers and heading off in a car to their reception.
Olympic medal-winning Zara, who was not entitled to be a princess nor an HRH being born down the female line, wore an ivory silk gown by designer Stewart Parvin and Princess Andrew’s Meander tiara.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex – St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle
It was back to the biggest of royal spectacles – with an added dose of Hollywood glamour – when Harry married American former actress Meghan Markle in May 2018.
Guests included George and Amal Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Idris Elba, Serena Williams, Carey Mulligan, James Blunt and James Corden, and a number of Meghan’s Suits former co-stars.
The bride wore a simple but elegant gown by Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy and her five metre-long veil featured flowers from all Commonwealth countries and was held in place by Queen Mary’s diamond bandeau tiara.
An emotional Harry told Meghan as they met at the altar: “You look amazing.”
Dubbed a royal wedding like no other, the nuptials combined British traditions with diversity and modernity.
Sounds of a gospel choir filled the stunning venue, with US preacher Bishop Michael Curry delivering a lengthy, impassioned, rousing address on the power of love.
There was drama too. Just a few days before the wedding Meghan’s father announced he would not be walking his daughter down the aisle due to health reasons and after being caught staging paparazzi photos for money.
But Charles stepped in to perform the symbolic role.
Harry was given the title of the Duke of Sussex on his wedding day and his wife became the Duchess of Sussex, and they kissed on the West Steps of the chapel.
Thousands lined the streets of Windsor to watch the newlyweds as they went on a carriage procession in the Ascot Landau through the town and the Long Walk in Windsor Great Park.
The evening celebrations were staged in nearby Frogmore House where close family and friends partied the night away.
Other weddings – Princess Alexandra:
One birth princess who was relatively low down the line of succession, like Eugenie, when she wed was Princess Alexandra of Kent in 1963.
She was 12th in line, but the marriage of the Queen’s cousin – a granddaughter of George V – attracted a great deal of attention.
People camped out on The Mall to make sure they had a good spot to see the carriage procession through central London
It was televised in full by the BBC with the coverage narrated by Richard Dimbleby, and the newspapers produced special souvenir editions filled with photographs.
Alexandra wed the Hon. Angus Ogilvy dressed in a creamy white lace John Cavanagh gown with a 20ft train.
Some 2,000 guests gathered in Westminster Abbey, with the Archbishop of Canterbury performing the marriage ceremony.
Alexandra was dubbed a “fairytale princess” and the “fair maid of Kent” and the couple enjoyed a carriage procession back to St James’s Palace.
Angus Ogilvy turned down the offer of an earldom on marriage from the Queen.
