It was the most spectacular wedding the world had ever seen.
Forty years ago, Prince Charles and Princess Diana tied the knot in front of a worldwide audience of 750 million people.
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Behind the scenes experts tell how they created Prince Charles and Diana’s “Wedding of the Century”Photo credit: Getty
The blushing bride was only 20 years old when she walked down the aisle of St. Paul’s Cathedral on July 29, 1981, followed by her record-breaking 7-meter procession.
We all know the misery and pain that should follow. But on that magical day it seemed like a fairy tale had come true.
Now a TV documentary, The Wedding Of The Century, narrated by Angela Rippon and released tomorrow, will include newly restored footage of the event.
There are also interviews with some of the key players involved in Charles and Di’s big day whose stories we tell here, and Sun photographer Arthur Edwards shares his own memories.
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Diana and Charles’ famous balcony kissPhoto credit: Getty
The flowers
ROYAL florist David Longman was commissioned to decorate the cathedral and arrange the bouquets.
He was conscious of creating something that matched Diana’s personality and her wedding dress.
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Florist David Longman was hired to decorate the cathedral and arrange the bouquets
David, whose father made the wedding flowers for the Queen and Prince Philip, said, “It’s a combination of what you know about the dress, the bride’s disposition, her hair, her height, and her opinion about it.
“She’s the one you need to please.” But dress designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel didn’t reveal much. David from London, now 89, said: “You have been very discreet.
“They gave me a patch of fabric and an outline sketch so I knew it was going to be a very bulky dress.
“Diana was excited, intrigued, she wanted guidance. She was a perfectly normal person. It wasn’t particularly demanding. Always charming. “
In the documentation, David gives an insight into his design book for the royal wedding. Diana chose a bouquet with lilies of the valley, stephanotis and orchids.
David, who had a team of 20 working on the arrangements, said, “The prince made a request and it was a Mount Batten rose in memory of his uncle, whom he was very fond of.
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David Longman on BritBox’s The Wedding of the Century
“There was only one breeder and it was the only color – it’s a gold rose – in the middle of the bouquet.”
David created two identical bouquets, one of which was placed on the tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey, a tradition that began by the Queen Mother when she married Prince Albert, later King George VI, in 1923.
However, there was a moment that stopped the heart.
David said, “I was in a terrible shock when I saw Diana get out of the carriage and there was no bouquet. I thought, ‘Gosh, what happened this time?’
“They took her out, put her dress on properly, then a servant went back into the carriage to fetch the bouquet.
“I have to admit that I had a very bad moment for 30 seconds.”
The music
ST PAUL’S Cathedral choirmaster Barry Rose got quite a shock while listening to the radio one day.
He said, “I was sitting at home with my wife, having lunch and listening to the 1pm news. The headline said the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer were getting married at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
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St. Paul’s Cathedral Choirmaster Barry Rose pictured at the memorable ceremony
“I thought, ‘That can’t be right. It’s Westminster Abbey, they always go to Westminster Abbey. “
In fact, Prince Charles chose St. Pauls because of its open layout, which allowed all guests to attend the ceremony, while the view of the abbey is limited by the organ’s half-way height.
St. Paul’s clergy were involved in the plans – but no one had told Barry about it.
When he arrived in St. Paul’s that afternoon, it was teeming with photographers, reporters and camera crews who wanted every detail about the place.
Barry, now 87, lives in London, recalls: “They even followed us to the bathroom.”
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The choirmaster said he got quite a shock listening to the radio one day
Conductor Sir David Willcocks directed the music for the ceremony, including Elgar’s Pomp And Circumstance March No4, I Vow To Thee My Country, and a new composition by William Mathias, Professor of Music at the University of North Wales, Let The People Praise Thee, Oh God. Barry, who led a choir of 40 boys and 24 men, recalled, “The kids barely slept, but the adrenaline rises with them.
“One of the boys recently told me that they had been given medical bags.” In fact, it was Barry himself who suffered the only almost embarrassing moment.
If you look closely at the pictures of the day, you might find that a lamp in the choir is missing a shadow.
He said, “I was once very excited, as you do when conducting, and the lampshade next to me immediately flew away and the pastor next to me caught it.”
The cake
DAVE AVERY was the Navy’s chief baker and created Charles and Di’s spectacular five-tier cake from a family recipe.
He recalls: “I ate, slept and drank the royal wedding cake for 14 weeks. I spent every night thinking about what to do the next day.
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Dave Avery was the Navy’s chief baker and created Charles and Di’s spectacular five-tier cake from a family recipePhoto credit: Getty
“I only met Diana once in the palace. She was beautiful, absolutely gorgeous, and very polite. She just said she didn’t want a memorial, she wanted a wedding cake.
“Prince Charles has made a request to have the coat of arms of the red dragon on the front.
“I was also asked if I could use Navy Rum because Diana had never tried it. It took us days to sort out all of the dried fruit.
“Three of us checked every single cherry, sultana, and raisin for stems and stems.”
Dave of Surfleet, Lincs, now 78 years old and great-grandfather, continued, “The bottom layer bake took 12 hours.
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He recalls: “I ate, slept and drank the royal wedding cake for 14 weeks. I spent every night thinking about what to do the next day.
“I used a square to make sure all the angles were perfect because if they had been an inch outside at the bottom then it would have been noticeable when you got to the top.
“We had to take 60 miles from the Royal Navy Cooking School in Chatham, Kent, to Buckingham Palace in the trunk of two cars.
“That was a worry. I had baked two cakes so if something went wrong we had a replacement, but everything went great.
“We exhibited the second cake in the cooking school and cut it into 2,840 pieces that we distributed to all trainees – one piece for them and one for their mothers.
“It was an honor for me, my family and the Royal Navy that we did something that was just right.”
His place in history
It took Diana three and a half minutes to walk down the hall – after that, her life changed forever.
Historian Professor Kate Williams said: “Even the Archbishop of Canterbury spoke of the fairy tale.
“Everything was the vision ‘Happy ever after’. It was such a responsibility to rest on the shoulders of Charles, and especially Diana, that she had to act out our fairytale fantasies for the rest of her life.
“Diana chose not to ‘obey’ Charles in her marriage vows, and that was a real break with tradition.
“She showed that even though she was only 20 years old, she would not be the malleable puppet but her own wife, a modern, independent bride.
“Diana’s beauty, her freshness, her innocence, her kind heart and her emotional warmth, all of this came into its own at the wedding.
“The woman who became the most famous woman of the 20th century, it all starts with the wedding itself.”
The pictures
Of course, Arthur Edwards, the legendary Royal Photographer of The Sun, was there too.
He recalls, “At 6:00 am on the day of the wedding, I was walking down the beach, past The Sun’s office on Fleet Street, and stepping over all the people camping overnight for the best view.
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Sun Snapper Arthur Edwards snapped Charles and Diana at the wedding rehearsalCredit: The sun
“The day before, I was lucky enough to spot Charles’ car in front of the abbey and I took some nice pictures of the couple leaving after their wedding rehearsal.
“It was wonderful to see all the guests arrive. Comedian Spike Milligan entertained the crowd.
“Camilla was there with her first husband Andrew Parker Bowles – she was a huge supporter of Diana at the time.
“I thought the picture of the day was the dress – that’s all everyone wanted to see. When Diana got off her carriage, the crowd went crazy, screaming and cheering.
“The dress came and came. It never seemed to end with this move. We used the headline “The train is now in St. Pauls” with my picture, which I found funny.
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The legendary Sun man recalls, “When Diana got out of her carriage, the crowd went crazy, screamed and cheered.”Photo credit: Getty Images – Getty
“The dress was wrinkled and you could see people trying to straighten it out. I later found out that two seamstresses were willing to make adjustments if necessary before walking down the aisle. “
Arthur continued: “Diana is known to loosen up her lines when she took her vows and mixed up Prince Charles’ middle names.
“And although I didn’t know then, it turned out that I was in the wrong position.
“No royal bride and groom had ever kissed in public before, and when Charles and Diana did it on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, it was another Sun photographer, Arthur Steele, who captured it.
“That was the cover picture, of course, and rightly so. It was a great shot. Since then, I’ve been outside the palace, not outside the ceremony, at every royal wedding. “
- The Wedding of the Century premieres on BritBox tomorrow.
Princess Diana arrives in her incredible wedding dress for the wedding to Prince Charles at St. Paul’s Cathedral on July 29, 1981
