Your average marriage certificate has two witnesses. Sometimes there are four, you might creep up to five or six but when you're a queen in waiting and your wedding is the promise of guaranteeing a royal dynasty, things are somewhat different.
The law requires two witnesses, who can hear and understand what is being said, to sign the register. If the couple try to deny the marriage later, they could be called on in court to verify what they heard take place.
Even thought that was a highly unlikely event, the register still had to be signed when Elizabeth and Philip married on November 20th 1947. And plenty of people were willing to put pen to paper. Here are the royals and others who signed the register on the day the Queen got married.
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The witnessesGeorge R - George VI, King of England, the father of the bride who so loved his daughter he was clearly completely heartbroken all the way through the ceremonyElizabeth R - Elizabeth, Queen of England and later the Queen Mother, the mother of the bride who had carried her royal dynasty from the disaster of the Abdication just eleven years earlier, through a World War and on to levels of glory it hadn't known in years
Mary R - Mary, Dowager Queen of England and the mighty matriarch of the House of Windsor who had shaped the dynasty and weathered more royal storms than most of the other guests put togetherAlice, Princess Andrew of Greece - Alice, mother of the groom, widow of Prince Andrew of Greece and by then a nun. Poor Alice had gone through plenty before seeing her only son wed but she kept smiling throughout.
Margaret - the bride's sister, Princess Margaret, then aged 17 and second in line to the throne as well as a very beautiful bridesmaid
Henry - the Duke of GloucesterAlice - the Duchess of GloucesterMarina - Princess Marina, Dowqager Duchess of Kent
Patricia Ramsey - born Princess Patricia of Connaught, she had given up her royal title when she wed at Westminster Abbey, the first royal bride there for centuriesAlexander Ramsay - either her son or husband
Alice Mary Athlone - Princess Alice, daughter of Prince Leopold and granddaughter of Queen VictoriaVictoria Milford HavenNada Milford HavenEdwina Mountbatten of BurmaMountbatten of Burma
Haakon RMichael RIngridFrederik R
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