Per royal tradition, Meghan Markle's ceremony showcased an adorable royal wedding party including six little bridesmaids and four page boys, which included both Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Decades before Meghan and Harry's wedding, Princess Diana's marriage ceremony, where she wed Prince Charles, also included young bridesmaids, who were the daughters of important royal friends. Kate Middleton's bridal party was slightly less traditional than Diana's or Meghan's, because the Duchess of Cambridge included her sister, Pippa Middleton, as maid of honor.
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Beauty
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The three royal wedding beauty looks slightly varied. Diana wore her short hair down, and Kate Middleton sported a half-up half-down style. Meghan Markle wore her hair up in a low (slightly messy) bun. Meghan's makeup approach was also a bit more natural than either Diana or Kate's.
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Bouquet
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All three brides opted for white floral arrangements on their wedding days. Per royal tradition, all bouquets included a sprig of myrtle, which symbolizes hope and love. Meghan's also reportedly included forget-me-knots handpicked by Prince Harry. The size and shape of the bouquets vary slightly between the brides, with Diana's dropping towards the floor, Meghan's more compact and Kate's somewhere in the middle.
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Cake
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The cake is where the brides differed quite a bit. The official wedding cake for Diana's 1981 ceremony was a 5-foot-tall fruit cake with cream cheese frosting. William and Kate similarly opted for an 8-tiered fruitcake with white icing and sugar flower decorations. Meghan and Harry chose to have their non-traditional lemon elderflower wedding cake displayed in freestanding tiers.
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Procession
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All three post-wedding processions included the bride and groom transported in an open-air Ascot Landau horse-drawn carriage. After exchanging their vows at London's St. Paul's Cathedral, Diana and Charles were whisked along a royal route, waving to onlookers. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge also made their first appearance as a married couple on the streets of London following their 2011 ceremony. Meghan and Harry's procession included a carriage, but followed a different route, as their ceremony took place in Windsor as opposed to London.
On their debut as royal brides-to-be, Diana, Kate and Meghan appeared stunning and stylish. Lady Diana wore a timeless cobalt blue ensemble beside Prince Charles, and Kate wore a navy silk long-sleeved dress in her first post-engagement outing with Prince William. The now Duchess of Sussex wore a belted white coat dress for the couple's first photo call at Kensington Palace.
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First Kiss
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Meghan and Harry had a series of adorable kissing moments at their royal wedding. Whereas Diana and Kate made their official PDA debut as members of the royal family on the balcony at Buckingham Palace, Meghan and Harry gave the public a lip-locking moment on the steps of St George's Chapel.
All brides wore traditional veils as they made their way down the aisle. The Duchess of Sussex's choice of an extra-long veil was especially significant as it actually honored her late mother-in-law. Princess Diana's epically long veil was designed by Elizabeth Emanuel for her wedding to Prince Charles in 1981.
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Walk Down the Aisle
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From an arial view it's clear to see how the trek down the aisle was varied for each of the three brides. Princess Diana was escorted down the aisle by her father, Earl Spencer, at her 1981 wedding to Prince Charles at the red-carpet-lined St. Paul's Cathedral. The Duchess of Cambridge was also escorted by her father at her 2011 ceremony at the similarly-lined aisle of Westminster Abbey. Meghan Markle broke with royal tradition, walking down the aisle on her own for part of the way before meeting with her father-in-law, Prince Charles, to complete the procession.
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The Family Portrait
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Royal portraiture is a British wedding tradition that has stood the test of time. In 1981, Charles and Diana posed for their standing wedding portraits with a large group of royal family members filling in the frame around them. Kate and William's 2011 photo call, taken in the Throne Room at Buckingham Palace, was a bit more buttoned-up, with the members of the wedding party standing rigid and upright in a straight line. For Meghan and Harry's familial photo debut, the newlyweds channeled a more laid-back vibe, a la Diana and Charles, with their family arranged in more of a circular formation with the precious bridesmaids and page boys situated casually on the floor.
Jennifer Algoo is the Visuals Director at Harper's BAZAAR. She is a graduate of the School of Visual Arts and has previously worked at Patrick McMullan Co. as well as completing internships at Martha Stewart Weddings, Vogue and CosmoGirl! Magazine. Jennifer covers royal, celeb and art content as well as overseeing all visual assets on BAZAAR.com. When she's not obsessing over the royals you can find her attempting to solve cold cases as an armchair detective, traveling and experimenting with new recipes.