Queen Elizabeth on Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding day
Credit: Getty
The Gist
According to royal biographer Tina Brown, Queen Elizabeth was more “satisfied” with Prince William and Kate Middleton’s 2011 royal wedding than she was with Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer’s 1981 nuptials.
One reason was because of the age difference of the brides—Kate was 29 years old when she married, while Diana was barely 20 years old.
The monarch “was even more emotional than expected” and “was uncharacteristically overjoyed” on William and Kate’s wedding day, People reported.
At Prince William and Kate Middleton’s royal wedding nearly 15 years ago on April 29, 2011, Queen Elizabeth wore a vibrant yellow ensemble—indicative of her mood on that special day.
Queen Elizabeth on April 29, 2011
Credit: Getty
In fact, as Brides reported, the Queen was apparently more “satisfied” with the Prince and Princess of Wales’s wedding than she was with the July 29, 1981 nuptials of her eldest son, Prince Charles, to Lady Diana Spencer, who became known as Princess Diana after her royal wedding day.
Kate Middleton and Prince William on their wedding day
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The Queen was reportedly happier about Kate’s age than she was about Diana’s—Kate was 29 years old on her wedding day, as opposed to Diana, who had just turned 20 years old that same month—as well as the ceremony itself. William and Kate had also been dating for nearly a decade, while Charles and Diana barely knew one another when they walked down the aisle.
Princess Diana and Prince Charles on their wedding day
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Royal biographer and former Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Tina Brown said that Queen Elizabeth took a “special satisfaction” from William and Kate’s wedding—and Brides added that this feeling was “in stark contrast” to how she felt at Charles and Diana’s wedding 30 years prior.
Kate, Brown wrote in her 2022 book The Palace Papers, “was unlike the child bride Diana, road-tested in resilience as well as royal life.”
Kate Middleton and Prince William kissing on their wedding day
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Princess Diana and Prince Charles on July 29, 1981
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Per E! News, unlike Kate, Diana was given “little guidance” on what royal life entailed and what was expected of her after her engagement to Charles was announced in February 1981, five months ahead of the big day. According to Brides, it seemed “as though the late monarch did learn from that mistake” and course-corrected when it was Kate’s turn.
Prince William and Kate Middleton on April 29, 2011
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Princess Diana and Prince Charles on July 29, 1981
Credit: Getty
After William and Kate exchanged vows on that spring day at Westminster Abbey, Brown wrote that Queen Elizabeth turned to her husband Prince Philip and sweetly remarked, “That was really excellent, wasn’t it?”
On the couple’s wedding day, People reported that the Queen “was even more emotional than expected,” with courtiers telling the outlet that the monarch “was uncharacteristically overjoyed” because she was “content in the knowledge that the line of succession—so fraught in the years following the checkered marriages of three of her own children—was secure.”
Queen Elizabeth on April 29, 2011
Credit: Getty
Of Kate, a close royal source told the publication that “Hearing from the Queen that you’re doing a really good job, along with getting support from your husband—you grow in confidence.”
Read the original article on InStyle