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Credit: Getty Images
Royal weddings are full of tradition and meaning, including special touches like Welsh gold wedding rings, significant flowers and historic churches. But when King Charles and Queen Camilla got married in 2005, they broke an unwritten but longstanding practice—and 13 years later, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle went on to make the same choice with their own Windsor wedding.
The Queen Mother and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were both married on Thursdays, while Princess Diana and Prince Charles got married on Wednesday, July 29, 1981. Three decades on, Prince William married Kate Middleton on a Friday morning, but when King Charles walked down the aisle for the second time, both his civil service and church ceremony took place on a Saturday—and so did Harry and Meghan’s 2018 wedding.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will celebrate their seventh wedding anniversary on May 19 after tying the knot at St. George’s Chapel on a Saturday afternoon, just like Harry’s father did.
Queen Elizabeth joined her son and new daughter-in-law, Camilla, at their 2005 wedding. | Credit: Getty Images
Credit: Getty Images
While The King—then known as the Prince of Wales—originally planned to marry Camilla Parker Bowles on a Friday, Pope John Paul II’s funeral ended up being scheduled for the same day. The couple made the decision to push the ceremony back to Saturday, April 9 out of respect for the late pope.
There’s no set rule that royal marriages should take place on a weekday, but for weddings of heirs like Prince Charles and Prince William they were both made bank holidays, giving the country an extra day off work to celebrate and enjoy the moment.
Sadly, it looks like there won’t be another British royal wedding for years to come. But if you find yourself camped outside a church in London waiting for Prince George to ride by in a carriage one day, it’ll probably be on a weekday—and a major celebration for the future King and country.