5 Royal Wedding Blunders the Palace Hoped People Rather Forget

Royal weddings may look perfect on camera, but the big day does not always go according to plan. Behind the grand entrances, flawless gowns, and picture-perfect vows, there have been plenty of awkward moments that could have easily become major talking points. Some were quickly forgotten, while others quietly swept under the rug. Here are five royal wedding blunders the Palace probably hoped people would rather forget.

Even the fairytale wedding of then-Prince Charles and Princess Diana had a few awkward moments. During their vows, Diana accidentally switched the order of Charles’ names, calling him “Philip Charles Arthur George” instead of “Charles Philip Arthur George.” On the other hand, Charles stumbled over his own line, saying “thy goods” instead of “my worldly goods.” And to top it off, the newlyweds forgot to kiss during the ceremony, later making up for it with their famous balcony kiss at Buckingham Palace.

Diana had a small wardrobe disaster before she even made it to the altar. According to The Independent, her makeup artist, Barbara Daly, revealed that while getting ready, Diana accidentally spilled her favorite Quelques Fleurs perfume down the front of her wedding dress, leaving a visible stain. It was later revealed in Rosalind Coward’s book, Diana: The Portrait, that the Princess was told to pinch or tuck the stained fabric so she could cover it with her hand as she walked down the aisle.

Weddings are famously a tiring affair with months of prep work and planning. The royal family, despite their many aides at their service, also seemingly went through the same. During Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s 2018 ceremony, as cameras filmed the congregation inside St. George’s Chapel, King Charles was caught with his eyes closed and his head lowered, prompting netizens on X (formerly Twitter) to joke that the future king was sneaking in a quick nap. After a hectic, high-stress week that saw him step in to walk Markle down the aisle following her father’s withdrawal, perhaps the King was simply letting his eyes rest for a moment.

Meghan Markle’s wedding plans were thrown into uncertainty just days before she was due to marry Harry. Just days before her wedding, her father, Thomas Markle, was caught up in an embarrassing paparazzi scandal. He had worked with a photo agency to stage a series of pictures that were made to look candid, including shots of him being measured for his wedding suit, exercising and reading about the upcoming royal wedding. The revelation caused a media frenzy and left Thomas under intense scrutiny. He soon pulled out of the ceremony, officially citing that he had suffered a heart attack and was undergoing surgery. With her father no longer attending, Markle personally asked Charles to step in and walk her down the aisle.

The royal wedding programme had one rather awkward detail that showed an oversight. Even after it was confirmed that Thomas Markle would not attend Markle and Harry’s wedding, the official Order of Service still described him as the person who would walk his daughter to the altar. The programme read, “The Bride, having been greeted by the Dean of Windsor, moves in procession through the Nave where she is joined by her father, Mr. Thomas Markle, to the High Altar.” The Standard reported that the Palace did not have enough time to remove his name from the 22-page document.