HRH The Duke of York and Miss Sarah Ferguson
July 23, 1986

Time for our last Westminster Abbey royal wedding flashback, hatters, and you know what that means -- the next Abbey wedding is less than a week away!  It's been twenty-five years since a member of the British royal family was married at the Abbey, and the last one was a major family affair.

Prince Andrew, then a naval officer, married Sarah Ferguson, then the untitled daughter of a family with serious aristocratic ties, in 1986.  The pair met through her father's association with the Windsors' polo operations, and the Princess of Wales was instrumental in getting them together.  Like Kate, Sarah was a few months older than her royal groom, but both were 26 on their wedding day.

We all know how this story ended: what seemed like (and probably was) a true love match ended in divorce after ten years of marriage, two daughters, and an affair splashed across the front pages of the British papers.  The pair's split ended up being remarkably amicable, however -- they even still live in the same house, Royal Lodge near Windsor Castle.  Neither has remarried.  (Both also tend to be involved in varying levels of embarassing scandal at any given moment, unfortunately.)

Wedding Hatters

HM The Queen
HM The Queen Mother
HRH The Princess of Wales
HRH The Duchess of York
HRH The Princess Anne
Miss Zara Phillips
HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
The Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester
HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester
The Lady Davina Windsor
The Lady Rose Windsor
HRH The Duchess of Kent
The Lady Helen Windsor

(I believe there were some foreign royals in attendance at this wedding; however, I've not been able to find any photos of them.  If you do manage to track any down, let me know!  We're also missing Princess Alexandra, her daughter Marina, and the always-delightful Princess Michael -- you can pick them out below.)

HRH The Princess Anne and Lieutenant Mark Phillips
November 14, 1973

You can tell we're getting close to the next big Westminster Abbey wedding, hatters -- we're moving on into the '70s in our Abbey flashback series!  Today we're looking at the Princess Royal's first wedding, way back when she was still just plain Princess Anne.  She wed fellow equestrian Mark Phillips at the Abbey in 1973 (on Prince Charles's 25th birthday -- what an interesting birthday gift to her big brother!).

Anne was the first of the Queen's children to marry -- she was only 23 on her first wedding day.  From the beginning Anne and Mark eschewed royal tradition; it's believed that he turned down the Queen's offer of an earldom as a wedding gift.  That meant that their two children, Peter and Zara, would not inherit a title -- their births marked the first time ever that the grandchildren of a monarch were born commoners.

Of course, we all know how this wedding turned out.  After nearly 20 tumultuous years together, Anne and Mark divorced in 1992.  Both later remarried: Anne to Vice-Admiral Timothy Laurence and Mark to yet another equestrienne, Sandy Pflueger.  The two are still photographed together regularly, mostly at equestrian events on the Gatcombe Park estate they once shared (Mark and his second wife actually now live nearby on an adjoining farm).  They also shared in another milestone late last year: the birth of their first grandchild, Savannah Phillips.

Wedding Hatters

HM The Queen
HM The Queen Mother
HRH The Princess Anne
HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester
HRH The Duchess of Kent
HRH Princess Richard of Gloucester
HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone
HRH Princess Alexandra, The Hon. Mrs. Ogilvy
The Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones
The Lady Helen Windsor
HM Queen Anne-Marie of Greece
HSH The Princess of Monaco
HRH The Crown Princess of Norway
HRH Princess Beatrix of The Netherlands
HRH The Princess of Spain

And a group photo:

A quick note: I'm more than a bit behind on blogging of late, everybody -- work obligations plus a recent death in the family have taken up a significant amount of my time.  But I am still working on these Westminster Abbey flashbacks, as well as regular hat posts, so stay tuned for more soon! -- Ella

HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent and The Hon. Angus Ogilvy
April 24, 1963

Many royal watchers have pegged Princess Alexandra's 1963 wedding to Angus Ogilvy, the son of the Earl of Airlie, as one of the best templates for William and Kate's upcoming Westminster Abbey nuptials.  Like William, Alexandra was also the grandchild of a monarch -- that'd be George V -- and had a wedding that was ceremonial but not a state occasion.

And yet, because of her impressive royal pedigree, Alexandra's wedding also featured a major slate of foreign royal guests.  Her mother, Princess Marina, was born a princess of Greece and Denmark, with ties to almost all of the major royal houses of Europe.  (Also, the "bride arriving in a car and leaving in a carriage" business?  Alexandra did that, too.)

Angus and Alex were married until his death in 2004; they had two children, James and Marina, and several grandchildren.  Today, Alexandra still carries out a slate of royal engagements in support of her cousin, the Queen.

Wedding Hatters

HRH Princess Alexandra of Kent
HRH Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent
HRH The Duchess of Kent
HM The Queen
HM The Queen Mother
HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon
HRH The Princess Anne
HRH The Duchess of Gloucester
HRH Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone
HM The Queen of Denmark
HRH Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark
HM The Queen of Greece
HM The Queen of Sweden
HM Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain

Only three months to go until the big royal wedding, hatters!  Are you getting excited yet?  (I know you are!)

If you still need a little hattery to help get you in the mood for a Westminster Abbey royal wedding, though, you've come to the right place on the right day: today I'm posting the first installment of Hattery Flashbacks from the Abbey!  For the next three months, I'll be posting hattery from the most recent royal weddings held at the Abbey -- here's the schedule:

January 29: Elizabeth & Philip / Margaret & Tony
February 28: Alexandra & Angus / Anne & Mark
March 29: Andrew & Sarah

The first two flashbacks are posted below!  So, put on your best wedding chapeaux, hatters -- it's time for some flashback fun!

PHOTO CREDITS: BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images

HRH The Princess Margaret and Mr. Antony Armstrong-Jones
May 6, 1960

Thirteen years after her big sister was married in Westminster Abbey, Princess Margaret arrived at the church for her own wedding to photographer Antony Armstrong-Jones.

Margaret, the younger daughter of George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, had previously been involved with her late father's equerry, Peter Townsend; however, she broke off her engagement to Townsend after Parliament and the Church of England made it clear that it would be impossible for her to retain her royal status if she married a divorced man.  After Townsend married another woman, Margaret accepted Antony Armstrong-Jones's proposal.  Their wedding was the first royal ceremony to be shown on television.  (You can see clips from the broadcast on YouTube.)

Armstrong-Jones was not given a title on his wedding day -- instead, he was created Earl of Snowdon the following year, so that Margaret's first child, Viscount Linley, would not be born without a title.  The Snowdons had one more child, Lady Sarah, before divorcing in 1978 -- the first royal divorce in Britain in more than three-quarters of a century.  Snowdon would remarry once more; Margaret never wed again.

Wedding Hatters

HM The Queen
HM The Queen Mother
HM The Queen of Denmark
HRH The Princess Margaret
HRH The Princess Anne

HRH The Princess Elizabeth and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
November 20, 1947

Let's kick off our flashback series of Westminster Abbey weddings with one of the biggest -- the wedding of Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Elizabeth was born Princess Elizabeth of York, the elder daughter of Prince Albert (later King George VI) and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon.  Philip was born HRH Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, the son of Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark and Princess Alice of Battenberg (a great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria).  The young royals had their first significant meeting in 1939, when 13-year-old Elizabeth was visiting the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, and 18-year-old naval cadet Philip was her guide.

Like many couples of their era, they sustained their young romance through letters during World War II, and in 1946, they became privately engaged.  The engagement was announced to the public shortly after Elizabeth turned 21, and in November 1947, they married at Westminster Abbey.  Philip renounced his foreign titles and converted to Anglicanism before the big day, and as a wedding gift, his new father-in-law created him Duke of Edinburgh, the title he still uses today.

Phil 'n Lil are still going strong, more than sixty years later -- they've stayed together through Elizabeth's fifty-plus years on the throne, and they've welcomed four children, eight grandchildren, and one brand-new great-grandchild.  What's the secret to their lasting marriage?  According to their biographer, Gyles Brandreth, it's just this: "Prince Philip is the only man in the world who treats the Queen simply as another human being.  He's the only man who can."

Wedding Hatters

HM The Queen
HM Queen Mary
HRH The Princess Elizabeth
HRH The Princess Margaret
HRH Princess Andrew of Greece and Denmark
The Dowager Marchioness of Milford Haven

There are also many, many royal hatters from this wedding for whom we don't have good close-up photos, so as an added treat, here's a big group photo of the royals who attended.  Lots of foreign monarchs, British royals (including some very young members of the family!), and a load of Battenbergs/Mountbattens.  Care to try to name them all?  (Click to enlarge!)

HRH Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece and Miss Marie-Chantal Miller
July 1, 1995

The first wedding of a senior member of the former Greek royal family following the abolition of the monarchy was the nuptials of Crown Prince Pavlos and British-born heiress Marie-Chantal Miller.  The Greek royals have lived in London for the majority of their time in exile, so it's no surprise that their eldest son's wedding should also take place in the British captial, at St. Sophia's Cathedral, a Greek orthodox church in the Bayswater neighborhood of London.

Pavlos is related to nearly all of the reigning European royal families; his aunt, Queen Margrethe of Denmark, threw one of the pre-wedding parties, and Queen Elizabeth II (who is married to one of his cousins, Prince Philip) also gave a tea in their honor.  The reception was held at Hampton Court Palace, one of the former homes of King Henry VIII.

Since their wedding, Pavlos and Marie-Chantal have had five children.  Pavlos has worked as an investement consultant, primarily in New York City, while Marie-Chantal has started a line of children's clothing, sold in several countries (including Greece).  Tensions with the Greek government have eased in the fifteen years since the wedding; today, the family has been permitted to return to the country, and they even own property there.

Wedding Hatters

HM The King of the Hellenes and HRH Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark
September 18, 1964

Let the countdown to next month's royal wedding begin!  The last wedding of a member of a reigning Greek royal family was that of (then) King Constantine II of the Hellenes and Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark.  The couple, who are related several times over, wed in the Metropolis in Athens on September 18, 1964.  Constantine had become king a few months before, following the death of his father, King Paul.  Anne-Marie, who had turned eighteen only two weeks before, became the youngest queen in Europe.

Only three years later, however, a military coup forced Constantine and Anne-Marie from the country.  They fled to Rome, and eventually moved to live in exile in London.  The Greek monarchy was formally ended by a referendum in 1973, in which the people of Greece voted to create a republic.

This wedding, mostly because it took place nearly forty years ago, was a little tough to track down, picture-wise.  There were far more royal guests at the wedding wearing hats than listed below; the ones below are those I was able to find decent pictures of.  I've also included some of the clearer pictures of tiaras at a pre-wedding ball.

Pre-Wedding Ball
September 16, 1964

HRH Princess Anne-Marie of Denmark
HM The Queen of the Belgians
HM The Queen of Denmark
HM The Queen of The Netherlands
HM The Queen Regent of Thailand
HM Queen Friedrike of Greece
HM Queen Marie José of Italy
HRH Princess Claude d’Orléans, Duchess of Aosta

Wedding Hatters
September 18, 1964

HM The Queen of Greece
HM The Queen of Denmark
HM Queen Friedrike of Greece
HRH Infanta Sofía of Spain

There are many more royal hatters from the wedding for whom I haven't been able to find pictures.  For example, have a look at the family photo of the wedding:

Some of the royal hatters here for whom I don't have clear photos: Princess (now Queen) Margrethe of Denmark; Princess Benedikte; Princess Victoria Louise, Duchess of Brunswick; and some of the bridesmaids, including Princess Anne of the UK, Princess Christina of Sweden, Princess Irene of Greece and Denmark, and Princess Margarita of Romania.  Additionally, many foreign queens and princesses also attended the nuptials.  Anyone who has any closer photos of any of those guests, please feel free to pass them along (or link them in the comments!)

HRH The Prince of Wales and Mrs. Camilla Parker Bowles
April 9, 2005

We've reached the finish line, kids: it's our last hattery flashback post for the month!  Which also means that Crown Princess Victoria's wedding is only three days away -- hooray!!!

Our most recent crown princely wedding in Europe was also easily the most controversial: in 2005, Prince Charles married his longtime partner, Camilla Parker Bowles, with whom he had admitted committing adultery during his marriage to Diana, Princess of Wales.  Both parties were divorced (though Charles, in the wake of Diana's death, was considered a widower), and so a religious wedding in the Church of England was impossible. 

However, it had become clear by 2005 that Camilla's place in Charles's life was non-negotiable, and so the Queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury decided that marriage was the best option.  The solution?  A civil wedding ceremony at the Guildhall in Windsor, followed by a Church of England blessing at St. George's Chapel on the grounds of Windsor Castle.  There was one more unforeseen obstacle to overcome, however: the wedding had to be postponed by one day when Pope John Paul II died, and Charles had to represent the Queen at his funeral.

But on the day of the wedding itself, things went off largely without a hitch.  Camilla went from being Mrs. Parker Bowles to being HRH The Duchess of Cornwall (she doesn't use the Princess of Wales title because of lingering associations with Diana).  All of Charles and Camilla's children were present for the celebration, as were all of the senior royals -- and Camilla's ex-husband, too!  The two celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary this year.

(For those hoping this wedding hattery flashback might be about Charles and Diana's wedding, never fear: I'm planning to do a flashback post about that event in the future!)

Wedding Hatters

Great Britain
Elizabeth · Camilla · Beatrice · Eugenie · Sophie · Anne · Zara
Serena · Sarah · Birgitte · Katharine · Alexandra · Marie-Christine

Foreign Royals
Anne-Marie · Mette-Marit · Laurentien

HRH The Prince of Asturias and Miss Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano
May 22, 2004

Only a week after Crown Prince Frederik married Mary Donaldson in Denmark, Prince Felipe of Spain tied the knot with journalist Letizia Ortiz in Madrid.  Theirs was the first wedding of a member of the Spanish royal family to take place in Madrid since the wedding of King Alfonso XIII and Princess Ena of Battenberg in 1906.  That wedding was marred by an assassination attempt on the royal couple and the tragic deaths of several bystanders -- this one, thankfully, went more smoothly, although it was a cloudy, rainy day in the Spanish capital.

There were a few controversies, however, about Felipe's choice of bride.  Letizia, a journalist who covered the September 11th attacks in New York and the Iraq War, will be the first commoner to be queen of Spain.  She also had previously been briefly married and divorced.  However, because her first wedding was a civil rather than religious one, the Catholic Church did not recognize it, and she was free to marry Felipe.

Felipe and Letizia have become quite a working team since their wedding, frequently appearing together on royal engagements.  They have also had two daughters, Infanta Leonor (born in 2005) and Infanta Sofia (born in 2007).  Leonor is expected to become queen of Spain in her own right one day -- that is, if her parents don't provide her with a baby brother!

Wedding Hatters