Royal Wedding Style: the Queen's Colours

There are plenty of style questions waiting to be answered at the Royal Weddings of Windsor this year and while what the brides might wear is clearly top of all the fashion need to knows, what the Queen will choose is right up there, too. We know there will be a hat, we know there will be a sensible handbag, what we don't know is the colour. But we've got form to go on from previous royal weddings. Tomorrow, I'm looking at the outfits the Queen wore to her own children's weddings but today it's a glance at the style statements from her grandchildren's marriages being as that's the camp Harry and Eugenie fall into. There may even be a clue or two here as to what to expect from the Queen at the Royal Weddings of 2018....

Royal Wedding Venue: Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey, London has been the location for some of the most famous royal marriages in history

(photo credit: vgm8583 via Flickr)

Westminster Abbey is probably the most famous royal wedding location around thanks to the marriage there in 2011 of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. But while Wills and Kate were walking in historic footsteps as they traipsed down the aisle as royal husband and wife, the links between regal marriage and the abbey are sporadic to say the least. There was a gap of five centuries between royal weddings at this famous church and it's reputation as a marriage venue for kings, queens, princes and princesses owes a lot to the House of Windsor. It all starts with a very confident bride indeed....

Royal Wedding Tiaras: Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg

Maria Teresa of Luxembourg on her wedding day

Every royal bride needs a tiara and even when they don't have one to call their own they can usually rely on a soon to be regal relative to find something they can borrow for their big day. That's exactly what happened to Maria Teresa de Mestre when she married the then Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg in 1981 and walked into the Cathedral of Notre Dame wearing a tiara lent to her by the woman about to become her mother-in-law. It wasn't just a dash of sparkle, it was a family tradition in the making for the Congo Diamond Tiara worn by the royal bride that day had been used by her husband's mother for her own marriage almost thirty years earlier.

Royal Wedding Reception: St. George's Hall

This is where the party gets started. St. George's Hall at Windsor Castle is the venue chosen for the wedding reception for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19th 2018. It lies at the very heart of Windsor Castle and while it looks the very picture of medieval magnificence, all is not exactly as it seems. It's time to meet one of the stars of the first Royal Wedding of 2018.....

Royal Wedding Flowers lily of the valley

Let's talk flowers, it's August after all. Lily-of-the-valley has been used in two of the most famous royal wedding bouquets of the last sixty years. The tiny flower with its big scent was a feature in Kate Middleton's posy when she walked into Westminster Abbey to become Duchess of Cambridge while six decades earlier, Grace Kelly had used this flower alone in her bouquet. If you want to get the lace and loveliness vibe of these two famous royal brides, then lily of the valley is the way to go.