Relive The Wedding Day of Prince William and Kate Middleton

The tradition of holding royal marriages in Westminster Abbey dates back nine hundred years to Henry I’s marriage to Princess Matilda of Scotland in 1100. On April 29, 2011, His Royal Highness Prince William married Catherine Middleton in Westminster Abbey for the tenth time.

We revisit the wedding ceremony, seen by an estimated billion people worldwide, and reflect on a joyful day in Abbey’s history.

Before relive The Wedding Day

It took seven months from the couple’s engagement announcement until the wedding day. Here are some important dates to remember in the lead-up to the big day:

October 2010: While on vacation in Kenya, Prince William proposes to Catherine.

November 16 2010: The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton is officially announced at Clarence House.

November 23 2010: The ceremony’s date and the site have been announced as Friday, April 29, 2011, at Westminster Abbey.

December 12 2010: Buckingham Palace releases the official engagement photographs

On the Day

8 am – 11 am

The Abbey’s doors open, and guests begin to arrive, ranging from official guests such as members of foreign royal families, government and Commonwealth representatives, and friends of the couple, including David Beckham and Sir Elton John, to friends of the couple and figures from the worlds of sport and entertainment. Around 2,000 carefully invited people are expected to throng the Abbey.

As the guests come for the service, the bells of the Abbey will ring out joyfully over London. Prince William and his best man, Prince Harry, arrive at the Abbey at 10.15 am and are ushered inside St Edmund’s Chapel to wait for the ceremony. They’d spent the night before at Clarence House, about a mile distant.

Foreign Royal Families arrive around 10.20 am, followed by Catherine’s mother, Carol Middleton, and her brother, James.

The Royal Family arrives around 10.30 am, with Their Royal Highnesses, The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall arriving at 10.42 am.

As Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh arrive at 10.45 am, the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry blow a fanfare.

Soon later, the bridal party arrives, having travelled to the Abbey from the neighbouring Goring Hotel, which is close to Buckingham Palace.

Catherine emerges from her car, offering the first look at her stunning lace and white bridal gown, created by Alexander McQueen’s Sarah Burton. Myrtle, lily-of-the-valley, sweet william, and hyacinth make up her bouquet. She and her father, Michael, enter the Abbey by the West Door and halt at St George’s Chapel, which houses the Coronation Chair.

She begins her 97-metre walk down the Abbey’s Nave to the High Altar, carefully avoiding the Unknown Warrior Tomb, the only grave in the Abbey that is never stepped on. The aisle has been changed into a tree-lined avenue, complete with six field maples and two hornbeams, in honour of the couple’s love of the English countryside.

The Westminster Abbey Choir and the Choir of Her Majesty’s Chapel Royal, St James’s Palace, perform ‘I was Glad’ by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, with the London Chamber Orchestra and the Fanfare Team from the Royal Air Force Central Band, conducted by James O’Donnell, Organist and Master of the Choristers.

The bride and groom’s families are placed just below the stairs leading up to the Altar, with the Royal Family to the south and the Middleton family to the north.

Catherine finally arrives at the Lantern after a four-minute procession and takes her last steps to the High Altar to welcome Prince William.

11 am – 12.15 pm – the ceremony

The wedding takes place in the Sacrarium, on the lovely Cosmati Pavement, a unique mosaic made in 1260.

The marriage is solemnised by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams. The service is conducted by the then Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr John Hall, and the marriage is solemnised by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Rowan Williams.

The assembly sings Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer, a powerful and well-loved Welsh hymn frequently sung at State events.

The Vows (solemnisation of the marriage)

Catherine is taken from her father’s grip by the Archbishop. After the Archbishop, Prince William takes Catherine’s right hand and says:

Prince William: I, William Arthur Philip Louis, take thee, Catherine Elizabeth, to be my wedded wife from this day forward, for better or for worse: for richer or for poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and cherish, until death, we do part, according to God’s holy law; and to that, I give thee my troth.

Catherine: I, Catherine Elizabeth, take thee, William Arthur Philip Louis, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer; in sickness and in health; to love and cherish, until death do us part, according to God’s holy law; and to that, I give thee my troth.

They lose their hands. The Archbishop blesses the ring:

Archbishop: Bless this ring, O Lord, and grant that he who gives it and she who will wear it may remain faithful to each other, abide in thy peace and favour, and live together in love until the end of their lives. Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The ring is placed on Catherine’s fourth finger on her left hand by Prince William.

Prince William: I wed thee with this ring; I honour thee with my body; and I share all my worldly riches with thee: in the name of the father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Let us pray, Archbishop. Send thy blessing upon these thy servants, this man and this woman, whom we bless in thy name, that, living faithfully together, they may surely perform and keep the vow and covenant made between them, of which this ring given and received is a token and pledge; and that they may ever remain in perfect love and peace together, and live according to thy laws; through Jehovah. Amen.

The Archbishop clasps their right hands and says:

Archbishop: Let no one put asunder those whom God has united together.

The Archbishop of Canterbury speaks to the congregation:

In the name of the father, and of the Son, and the Holy Ghost, I pronounce that William and Catherine have consented together in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same before God and this company, and have to that given and pledged their troth either to other, and have declared the same by giving and receiving of a ring, and by joining of hands; I pronounce that they are man and wife together. Amen.

Following the vows,

Catherine and Prince William are seated.

The congregation sings the hymn Love Divine, All Loves Excelling, which is frequently voted one of Britain’s favourite hymns and is a popular choice at English weddings. It was performed at HRH Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles’ wedding blessing on April 9, 2005.

James Middleton, Catherine’s younger brother, reads the lesson, Romans 12: 1, 2, 9-18. ‘Let love be sincere; despise evil, hold firm to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in exhibiting honour,’ it says.

The Abbey commissioned celebrated composer and conductor John Rutter to write a new anthem for the service. This is the day, a beautiful setting of psalm verses with elegant melodic lines and warm harmonies.

The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Dr Richard Chartres, then Bishop of London and Dean of Her Majesty’s Chapels Royal, deliver the Address. ‘Be who God designed you to be, and you will set the world on fire,’ he says, quoting St Catherine of Siena, whose feast day is today.

As Prince William and Catherine approach the High Altar, the Choirs perform a newly adapted setting of Ubi Caritas et Amor by young Welsh composer Paul Mealor, catapulting him to international fame.

There are prayers said.

The assembly then sings Jerusalem, Hubert Parry’s lovely setting orchestrated by Edward Elgar, which is widely regarded as the country’s most popular patriotic hymn.

The Dean gives his blessing by saying:

‘Let us pray together.’ We beseech thee, O almighty Lord, and everlasting God, to direct, sanctify, and govern both our hearts and bodies in the ways of thy laws, and in the works of thy commandments, that we may be preserved in body and soul through thy most mighty protection, both here and forever; through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.’

The congregation sings the National Anthem, which is accompanied by the Fanfare Team from the Royal Air Force’s Central Bank.

The bride, groom, and witnesses, including Prince Harry and Philippa Middleton, travel to the Shrine of St. Edward the Confessor to sign the marriage registers. This is the only part of the ceremony not broadcast live to tens of millions of viewers, allowing the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to spend some time with their families before leaving the Abbey.

The London Chamber Orchestra and the Choirs perform Parry’s setting of John Milton’s ode, Blest Pair of Sirens. At a solemn Musick performance.

After signing the Marriage Registers, the Bride and Groom leave the Shrine and proceed to the West Door with their families while the London Chamber Orchestra plays William Walton’s stirring Crown Imperial.

12.15pm – 1.25pm – after the service

To the sound of the Abbey bells and cheers from the crowds, the newlywed couple departs. The Abbey’s Company of Ringers will ring a full peal of 5,000 changes that will last three hours.

The Abbey’s bells are only rung in full peals on special occasions. One of the ten bell ringers who participated in the ceremony had previously rang the bells to commemorate Prince William’s birth 28 years before.

The Royal Standard will fly until The Queen departs, at which point the Abbey flag will be raised once more.

Returning to Buckingham Palace.

Prince Harry, Pippa Middleton, The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of Cornwall, Mr and Mrs Middleton, The Queen, and The Duke of Edinburgh accompanied Prince William and Catherine at Buckingham Palace.

In front of a big audience, the couple appears on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. The couple exchanges waves, smiles, and a few kisses!

Continuing a royal tradition

The Duchess of Cambridge returned her bouquet to the Abbey after the wedding, where it was laid to rest on the Grave of the Unknown Warrior, continuing a touching tradition started by Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923. The future Queen Elizabeth laid flowers on the Warrior’s grave as she entered the Abbey for her marriage to The Duke of York (later King George VI) in memory of her brother Fergus, who was killed at the Battle of Loos during the First World War.

At her 1947 wedding to His Royal Highness, The Duke of Edinburgh, Her Majesty the Queen continued the tradition. The Duchess of Sussex, Princess Eugenie, and Princess Beatrice have all delivered their wedding bouquets to the Warrior’s tomb since 2011, carrying on the tradition.