By Mark Mason

In the build-up1 to their grand wedding， Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are probably too busy to read up on trivia about previous royal weddings. Which is a pity， as they might get some tips on things to include （such as rich tea biscuits2） and things to avoid—like spending your wedding night drunk on the floor by the fireplace…

2011： Prince William and Kate Middleton

Having chosen the same date for their wedding as Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun （April 29）， Wills and Kate tied the knot at Westminster Abbey. She omitted the promise to “obey” her husband （just as his mother Diana had done at her wedding in 1981）. The military uniforms worn by William and his brother included specially-tailored sweat guards to keep them dry under the TV lights. David Beckham entered the abbey wearing his OBE3 on the wrong lapel （that is， the right）—someone must have had a word， because he left the abbey with it on the left lapel. Guests departed to enjoy a wedding cake containing 1，700 rich tea biscuits， a favourite snack of the groom.

2005： Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles

Guests included Stephen Fry， Joanna Lumley and the brides ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles—but not the grooms mother.4 As Supreme Governor of the Church of England， the Queen is forbidden to attend the wedding of a divorcée5.

1994： Sarah Armstrong-Jones and Daniel Chatto6

Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones might have thought they were keeping it low-key with their 1999“no hats” edict，7 but five years earlier Princess Margarets daughter got married so quickly that the chauffeurs were caught unawares. Guests at St Stephens Walbrook church in the City of London—including the Queen， Prince Philip and Princess Diana—had to make small talk until the cars appeared.

1981： Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer

Still the biggie—the last “fairytale” royal wedding， before the Queens children started getting divorced and public deference disappeared over the horizon for good. Although Diana herself never signed up to the fairytale in the first place： the wedding was only her 14th meeting with Charles， and at the rehearsal two days before she had broken down in tears. （The BBC crew kept that a secret， making sure the footage never emerged.） On the morning of her marriage Diana sang “Just One Cornetto”8 as she sat in her dressing gown having her make-up done. Then she accidentally spilt perfume over her dress—she had to hold the folds in her hand to cover up the stain. During the service she got Charless names in the wrong order， putting his middle name Philip first. Prince Andrew9 later teased her that shed married his father instead.

1973： Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips

The Queens second-oldest had a wedding cake that was exactly five feet six inches tall—because so is she.

1947： Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh

The Queen （as she then wasnt） had her wedding dress designed by Norman Hartnell—and paid for it with ration coupons10. Hundreds of people sent her their own coupons to help out： but this would have been illegal， so she returned them all. The bride did her own make-up. As she got dressed for the service her tiara snapped—the court jeweller was given a police escort to his workshop so he could repair it in time.

1923： Prince Albert and Lady Elizabeth BowesLyon

On her way into Westminster Abbey， the future Queen Mother unexpectedly laid her wedding bouquet on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior. This was in memory of her brother Fergus， who had been killed during World War I. Subsequent royal brides at the Abbey—including the Queen and Kate Middleton—have kept up the tradition.

1840： Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

Previous royal brides had tended to favour blue or black wedding dresses， but Victoria （by then the reigning monarch） chose white so crowds along the processional route could see her clearly. Her decision is credited with spreading the modern tradition of brides wearing white.（She also banned her wedding guests from wearing the colour， and had the pattern for her dress destroyed so that no one could copy it.） Among the couples wedding presents was the largest cheddar cheese11 ever made. It contained the milk of 750 cows from Somerset， weighed 88 stone and had a circumference of over nine feet.12

1795： Prince of Wales and Caroline of Brunswick

The future George IV and his cousin Princess Caroline werent a match made in heaven， but a match made by his father George III. Seeing her for the first time， the prince said： “I am not well， pray get me a glass of brandy.” His bride-to-be was equally unimpressed， telling a friend that George was very fat and “nothing like as handsome as his portrait”. After their wedding George got stupendously13 drunk and spent the night lying on the bedroom floor by the fireplace.

1736： Prince Frederick and Princess Augusta

The Prussian princess was just as reluctant about her marriage as Caroline had been about hers. On the way to the wedding she clung to her mother， begging“please dont leave me”. Though she did it in German—she didnt speak a word of English. Unsurprisingly this made the ceremony a bit of a challenge for her： a less than sympathetic Frederick shouted her lines into her ear so she could repeat them phonetically14. As soon as the proceedings were over Augusta was physically sick.

1501： Prince Arthur and Catherine of Aragon

Catherine would go down in history as the first of Henry VIIIs wives， but she had first married his elder brother Arthur.15 Her vows included a promise to be“bonny and buxom in bed and at board”.16

1468： Charles the Bold and Margaret of York

Charles， Duke of Burgundy， married the sister of Edward IV and Richard III in Bruges. The celebrations， which included jousting17 and feasts， went on for 12 days. This was longer than had been planned， and at one point workers from nearby cities had to be rushed to Bruges to help serve the food.

1328： Edward III and Philippa of Hainault

Proof that even the royal family can have problems with wedding venues. York Minster was still being built when Edward and his bride got married there. The nave18 didnt yet have a roof， and as it was January the couple had to say their vows in a snow storm.

哈里王子和梅根·馬克爾籌備大婚時，估計是忙得沒空去鉆研皇室前輩婚禮的細(xì)節(jié)了。這倒是有點可惜，他們本來可以瞧瞧有什么必不可少的（比如佐茶餅干），又有什么是千萬要避免的——比如新婚之夜就躺在壁爐邊上，爛醉如泥……

2011年：威廉王子與凱特·米德爾大婚

威廉王子和凱特在威斯敏斯特教堂結(jié)下連理，時間是4月29日，跟阿道夫·希特勒和愛娃·布勞恩成婚的日子一樣。凱特沿襲了威廉王子的母親戴安娜在1981年大婚時的做法，在誓詞中刪去了原有的“順從丈夫”一說。威廉王子和弟弟哈里王子穿的軍裝有特制的防汗功能，以保證衣服在媒體的燈光下依然干燥筆挺。貝克漢姆入場時，官佐勛章戴反了，戴在了右邊的領(lǐng)子上。可能有人提醒了他，出教堂的時候，勛章已經(jīng)換到左邊了。出了教堂之后，賓客開始享用由1，700塊佐茶餅干做成的蛋糕，因為佐茶餅干是威廉王子最喜歡的零食。

2005年：查爾斯王子與卡米拉大婚

到場賓客有史蒂芬·弗萊、喬安娜·林莉和新娘的前夫鮑爾斯，而新郎的母親——女王伊麗莎白二世卻沒有出席。因為女王是英國圣公會的最高元首，按規(guī)定不能出席再婚女人的婚禮。

1994年：薩拉·阿姆斯特朗-瓊斯與丹尼爾·查托大婚

愛德華王子和索菲·里斯-瓊斯可能覺得他們在1999年婚禮中規(guī)定“不戴帽子”已經(jīng)夠低調(diào)了，但是五年前瑪格麗特公主的女兒結(jié)婚時更為倉促，甚至連車夫都有點措手不及。賓客齊聚在倫敦的圣史蒂芬沃爾布魯克教堂時，婚車還沒有來，女王、菲利普親王、戴安娜王妃不得不發(fā)表講話以避免尷尬。

1981年：查爾斯王子與戴安娜大婚

隨著女王的子女們一個個離婚，公眾對皇室成員的擁戴也一去不返，當(dāng)初這場婚禮無疑是一樁大事，也成了最后一個童話般的皇家婚禮，盡管戴安娜本無意成為童話的主角：婚禮之前，兩人見面不過13次；婚禮兩天前的排練中，她還落下了淚水。（BBC工作人員一直保守著這個秘密，沒有把視頻公開。）婚禮的那天早晨，戴安娜穿著婚紗化妝時，唱起了《不過是一個甜筒》。后來，她不小心把香水灑在了裙子上，不得不一直抓著裙褶來遮掩污漬?；槎Y當(dāng)中，她念錯了丈夫名字的順序，把應(yīng)該放在中間的“菲利普”放在了最開頭。安德魯王子后來還揶揄她說，她應(yīng)該嫁給自己的公公。

1973年：安妮公主與馬克·菲利普斯大婚

安妮公主是女王的第二個女兒，她的結(jié)婚蛋糕剛好五英尺六英寸高（約168厘米）——這也正是她的身高。

1947年：伊麗莎白公主和愛丁堡公爵菲利普親王大婚

女王（當(dāng)時還不是）的婚紗是諾曼·哈特內(nèi)爾設(shè)計的，付錢則是靠的配給券。當(dāng)時，上百民眾給這對準(zhǔn)新人寄來配給券，以幫他們渡過二戰(zhàn)后的經(jīng)濟難關(guān)。但因為此舉違法，所以女王把它們都還了回去。新娘的妝是自己化的。穿婚紗的時候，她的頭冠壞了，警察趕緊護送皇家珠寶制作人到工作室，以便他能及時修復(fù)。

1923年：艾伯特王子和伊麗莎白·鮑斯-萊昂大婚

這位未來女王的母親在前往威斯敏斯特大教堂的路上，出人意料地把捧花放在了無名戰(zhàn)士的墓前。此舉是為了紀(jì)念她在一戰(zhàn)中喪生的哥哥費格斯。此后在威斯敏斯特大教堂舉辦婚禮的新娘們繼承了這一傳統(tǒng)，包括女王和凱特王妃。

1840年：維多利亞女王和阿爾伯特親王大婚

此前的皇家婚禮喜歡用藍色或黑色的婚紗，但維多利亞女王（當(dāng)時正在執(zhí)政期間）選擇了白色，這樣婚車兩旁的民眾就能清晰地辨認(rèn)出她了。她的這一決定開啟了后來的白色婚紗傳統(tǒng)。（她還禁止婚禮嘉賓穿白色禮服，并在婚禮后毀掉了衣服上的圖案，防止有人復(fù)制。）婚禮宴席上的切達奶酪是有史以來最大的。它由薩默塞特郡的750頭奶牛的牛奶制成，重達88英石（約560千克），周長9英尺有余（約3米）。

1795年：威爾士親王和伯倫瑞克的卡洛琳大婚

未來的喬治四世和表妹卡洛琳公主的婚姻，并非兩情相悅，而是奉父親喬治三世之命?？吹娇辶盏牡谝谎郏柺坑H王就說：“我不舒服，給我來杯白蘭地。”她未來的妻子也對他無感，跟朋友說他長得胖，還“一點也不如他畫像上的帥”?；槎Y之后，威爾士親王喝得爛醉如泥，在臥室壁爐邊的地板上躺了一晚。

1736年：弗雷德里克王子與奧古斯塔公主大婚

和卡洛琳一樣，這位普魯士的公主對這段婚姻也極不情愿。在前往英國的路上，她一直抓著母親不放，哀求道：“求求你，別扔下我。”當(dāng)然她是用德語說的，當(dāng)時她還一句英語也不會說。這也使婚禮成為一個很大的挑戰(zhàn)：一點也不溫柔的弗雷德里克王子把她的臺詞沖著她的耳朵咆哮給她，她再學(xué)樣念出來?；槎Y一結(jié)束，奧古斯塔公主就病了。

1501年：亞瑟王子和阿拉貢的凱瑟琳大婚

在史書上，凱瑟琳公主的身份是亨利八世的第一個妻子，但她先嫁給的是亨利八世的哥哥亞瑟。在婚禮誓詞中，她承諾會“上得廳堂，下得廚房”。

1468年：大膽的查理和約克的瑪格麗特大婚

勃艮第公爵查理的婚禮在比利時布魯日舉行，新娘是愛德華四世和理查德三世的妹妹?；槎Y包括比武和宴會在內(nèi)，共持續(xù)了12天。原計劃沒有這么久，以至于附近城市的工人一度需要趕到布魯日幫忙上菜。

1328年：愛德華三世與埃諾的菲利帕大婚

這場婚禮說明，即便是皇家婚禮，地點的選擇也是個問題。這對新人結(jié)婚時，約克大教堂正在建造，教堂正廳的屋頂還沒有蓋好。當(dāng)時正值一月，兩位新人只得在暴風(fēng)雪中說出了他們的結(jié)婚誓詞。

1. build-up： 事前準(zhǔn)備期。

2. rich tea biscuit： 佐茶餅干。英國人在喝下午茶時搭配的點心，因為味道比較淡，所以特別適合蘸著茶或者咖啡吃。

3. OBE： Officer of the Order of the British Empire，大英帝國官佐勛章，授予對藝術(shù)或科學(xué)有卓越貢獻的人。應(yīng)該佩戴在左胸。

4. Stephen Fry： 史蒂芬·弗萊（1957— ），演員、編劇、導(dǎo)演、制片人，錄制過哈利·波特系列有聲讀物，因迷人的英倫腔調(diào)而深受歡迎；Joanna Lumley：喬安娜·林莉（1946— ），演員、導(dǎo)演、制片人，出演過《復(fù)仇者》和《僵尸新娘》。

5. divorcée： 離過婚的女人?？桌谂c查爾斯王子結(jié)婚前，有過一段婚姻，且前夫依然在世。而英國圣公會反對教徒在前配偶在世時再婚。

6. Sarah Armstrong-Jones： 薩拉·阿姆斯特朗-瓊斯（1964— ），是瑪格麗特公主的獨女，女王伊麗莎白二世的外甥女；Daniel Chatto： 丹尼爾·查托（1957— ），英國演員。

7. Prince Edward： 愛德華王子，是女王伊麗莎白二世的三子；edict： 告示。一般在皇家婚禮中，新郎和賓客都要戴帽子以示莊重。為了提倡更加輕松隨意的風(fēng)格，兩位新人要求賓客不戴帽子。

8. Cornetto： 英國一個甜筒冰淇淋的品牌?；槎Y間隙播放品牌廣告時，戴安娜跟著哼唱了起來。

9. Prince Andrew： 安德魯王子，女王的次子，查爾斯王子的弟弟。

10. ration coupon： 配給券。二戰(zhàn)期間，由于物資匱乏，英國開始對一些基本的生活用品實行配給制度。1940年后，開始對布料實行配給，因此女王要做婚紗，也需要配給券。

11. chedder cheese： 切達奶酪，質(zhì)地較硬、米黃色的一種奶酪，因發(fā)源于英國一個叫切達的鄉(xiāng)村而得名，是英國最受歡迎的奶酪品種。

12. stone： 英石，重量單位，約等于6.35千克；circumference： 周長。

13. stupendously： 驚人地。

14. phonetically： 語音表示地。

15. 凱瑟琳公主在嫁給亨利七世的長子亞瑟王子之后幾個月內(nèi)，亞瑟王子就病逝了，于是亨利七世的二兒子，也就是后來的亨利八世，娶了凱瑟琳公主。

16. bonny and buxom in bed and at board： 在16世紀(jì)，bonny的意思是“好的”，而非現(xiàn)在的“美麗健康的”；buxom的意思是“順從的”，而非現(xiàn)在的“健美豐滿的”；in bed是指在晚上，at board指上菜的時候，也即白天。全句的意思是，不管在白天還是晚上，都要表現(xiàn)得謙恭順從。因為到今天，句意已經(jīng)發(fā)生了很大的變化，所以婚禮誓詞中不再有這個說法了。

17. jousting： （舊時）馬上長矛比武（或打斗）。

18. nave： 教堂的中殿，正廳。