Late response, but I believe maroon is the traditional colour.
Say, what’s up with that redcoat “Irish Guard” uniform William wore? He’s an honorary colonel in the Guard and it looks all royal and shit, but William is a real officer in the RAF – shouldn’t he have worn that uniform?
Wow, he really could.
The uncanny one is Nicholas II and George V (here). I think it’s Nicholas on the left and George on the right, but I could be wrong.
I’m really glad it went off without a hitch. What a security nightmare that must have been.
I heard someone surmise she was wearing “Gaga.” 
Question for Royal-Watchers…why is Prince Michael of Kent married to Princess Michael of Kent? Especially since she was born Marie Christine Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz. Is that like the old style of “Mrs. John Smith”? I didn’t know royal titles worked like that.
To quote a link I’ve already posted, “There is a woman in blue (apparently one of Fergie’s children) who is wearing an exploded bantam on her head.”
ETA: Oh, my…you might have meant the other one. THAT, I have no idea.
Tradition. It’s only within the last couple of years that Queen allowed “Ms” to appear in palace documents. Other monarchies have different rules and allow princesses-by-marriage to use their own given name. In the UK only princesses-by-birth (including foreign princesses who marry into the family) are general allowed to do that. The Queen can of course make an exception though (or simply create a royal bride a princess in her own right by letters patent). She let one of her aunts be known as “HRH Princess Alice, Duchess of Gloucester” instead of “HRH the Dowager Duchess of Gloucester” after her son married.
European royals have been marrying each other so long that it’s like there’s this one big extended Royal Family of Europe, and every monarchy’s nobility is almost as inbred. At least Kate (only a 14th-or-so cousin of William) can inject some new blood into the blue blood.
It’s been less true in the recent generation:
-Crown Prince Felipe of Spain is married to a divorced TV reporter
-Crown Prince Haakon of Norway is married to a former waitress he met at a rock festival
-Crown Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands is married to the daughter of an Argentinian politician
-Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark is married to a former Microsoft employee
And I’m sure Prince Harry can be relied upon to find someone thoroughly “unsuitable.”
I heard some rumblings that she shouldn’t have been in white (upstaging the bride), but I can’t imagine that she picked or insisted on that colour.
Princess Michael took her husband’s name (Michael) because she was not herself royal prior to the marriage. Technically, Katherine is now Princess William, but everyone will call her the Duchess of Cambridge (or Kate). Most likely she’ll also be called Princess Katherine. I don’t know if that is “allowed”, but it seems to be happening, as it did for Diana.
This is the explanation given to Katie Couric this morning by someone British who knows about protocol.
Aren’t you glad you asked? 
That one (the Irish Guard) is his highest rank, though, so it was chosen.
I saw the video clips earlier. Bride was very lovely. I’m glad everything went smoothly. They did a good job planning it.
With luck, maybe William and Kate will get a few quality years to quietly raise a family before he takes the crown. Charles will probably reign at least 10 years after Queen Elizabeth.
Best Wishes to the happy couple.
blue was eugenie, the strange pretzel/bow/antler hat was beatrice.
bridesmaid in white is not that odd in uk. i’m sure it is no doubt due to victoria… again.
yep, bride takes hubby’s name when marrying into the title. most don’t have last names so they go to first names. fergie would have been princess andrew, but his mum gave him the duke of york title so she became THE duchess of york (until the divorce.)
dowager = widow, much more foo-foo than widow. also some of the estates that have titles have dowager houses, so the widow has somewhere to live as the main house goes with the title.
Yes, I meant that… thing… that Beatrice had on her head. I see it now has its own Facebook page.
Do you mean Tara Palmer-Tompkinson?It’s weird, but I think it kinda works. Beatrice and Eugenie though … Christ almighty, someone needs to tell them it’s a wedding, not a pantomime.
Well, the Brits do give good pageant! 
Umm the wedding cake… a fruitcake? :eek: Or is it a different kind of fruitcake than those doorstop/lethal weapon things I call fruitcake?
As to the bridal bouquet: http://royalwedding.aol.com/2011/04/25/why-kate-middleton-wont-toss-her-bridal-bouquet/
The Russians do something similar. Brides often make a special trip to the nearest WWII (“Great Patriotic War”) memorial and leave their bouquets there. A friend of mine and his bride dropped by Gettysburg on their honeymoon trip, and she left her bouquet on the monument to their state’s troops.
I admit, I thought of Harry and Pippa as well; having done so there’s no way they’ll get together (in a public way, a hook-up at a wedding receptions is an international tradition, no?)
How Catherine couldn’t look William in his eyes during their vows and was swallowing hard - she was just trying not to cry; I’ve been there and it didn’t work as well for me as it did for her! Still, she had that bulging vein in her forehead like I got.
The York princesses were dressed nicely for standing up; sitting down those outfits didn’t flatter, especially Eugenie.
I thought it ironice the commentators all acted like the last Royal wedding was Charles and Diana, when there’s been one in each decade since the 60’s; Anne, then Charles and Di, then Edward in 1999, and Anne’s son and the Canadian gal a few years back. No one mentioned the Queen becoming a great-grandmother this year. Odd.
Nice to see Lady Louise; we don’t see pictures of her very much, I expect her parents are trying to shelter her exotropiafrom public scrutiny.
Zara Phillips had the best outfit and hat; she was the most gorgeous woman there not in the wedding party and she’ll look stunning when she gets married this year!
I liked seeing how Harry and his brother never cease acting like brothers; Harry needling his brother, trying to get him to turn and look at Catherine a few seconds early. Also, good to see that when handed a sheet of hymnal music he’s never seen before Elton John sight-reads abut as well as any of us, mumbling along.