# Royal Wedding: Who Were the Kids on the Balcony? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2011, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148 "2011-04-29T12:34:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/21 "2011-05-01T16:53:55Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Speaking of the uniform he wore to the wedding, was that the same dress uniform that would worn by any officer of his rank, or was it a special one for a royal? That was the dress uniform of an officer in the Irish Guards. (Guards regiments tend to flummery in the formal dress, and William is an honorary Colonel) William will have an odd collection of ribbonware, but I notice he had his RAF wings pinned prominently. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/22 "2011-05-01T18:11:32Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > That was the dress uniform of an officer in the Irish Guards. (Guards regiments tend to flummery in the formal dress, and William is an honorary Colonel) William will have an odd collection of ribbonware, but I notice he had his RAF wings pinned prominently. As long as we’re discussing the uniforms, then, what kind was his brother Harry wearing? ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/23 "2011-05-01T18:30:02Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > As long as we’re discussing the uniforms, then, what kind was his brother Harry wearing? Blues and Royals dress uniform. That’s the regiment he was in Afghanistan with. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/24 "2011-05-02T11:45:25Z")
> [@Bridget\_Burke](#): > > You’ve been to too many “modern” US weddings. Or seen too many episodes of _Bridezillas_. In which case it would be all too easy to think that current practice involves matched pairs of bridesmaids & groomsmen. With the bridesmaids in hideous dresses & the groomsmen’s cummerbunds in hideous colors to match. > > The groomsmen don’t care who they escort down the aisle. Their job is to pick up the rented suits & help people to their seats. At Westminster Abbey, officials helped heads of state to their places & most other guests fended for themselves. > > Here, the groom’s job is to pick up his suit. William was apparently quite involved in the arrangements & he already had the uniform. The only wedding I have ever been in is my own, and I have never seen a single episode of _Bridezillas_. I belong to a sorority. The groomsmen are there to drink and/or to pick up women. They feel that escorting a 11-year-old for the evening is not going to make for a good story. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/25 "2011-05-02T11:53:37Z")
I liked it in the carriage to the palace, when Harry was showing the boys how to wave to the crowds. The kids had no idea really, as by the time they got to the palace the kids were still waving at basically no one but the guards by the time they arrived ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/26 "2011-05-02T11:56:09Z")
> [@GilaB](#): > > I’ve seen photos from royal weddings in the early- to mid-twentieth century, and the bridesmaids generally appeared to be roughly the same age as the bride. For example, [here’s](http://www.goldsboroughhall.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/img033.jpg) a photo of the wedding of Princess Mary to Viscount Lascelles, in 1922. The bridesmaids all look adult to me. For some reason the bride looks to me like she simply threw her hands down being fed up w/ something. “I want these Monday-Friday bridesmaids out of my Monday-Friday picture!” Also, check out the future Elizabeth, the Queen Mother in the back row. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/27 "2011-05-02T12:13:07Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > The only wedding I have ever been in is my own, and I have never seen a single episode of _Bridezillas_. > > I belong to a sorority. The groomsmen are there to drink and/or to pick up women. They feel that escorting a 11-year-old for the evening is not going to make for a good story. Complete agreement here. In every American wedding I’ve been to over the past forty years, the Maid of Honor was the bride’s best friend, the Bridesmaids were the other women who thought they were the bride’s best friend until they learned who the Maid of Honor was going to be, and the Groomsmen (or Ushers) were the groom’s friends who didn’t happen to have a softball game that day. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/28 "2011-05-02T12:27:05Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > The only wedding I have ever been in is my own, and I have never seen a single episode of _Bridezillas_. > > I belong to a sorority. The groomsmen are there to drink and/or to pick up women. They feel that escorting a 11-year-old for the evening is not going to make for a good story. Yeah, but we don’t have groomsmen. Male friends might be ushers, but they wouldn’t walk down the aisle with any one particular person. It’s surprising how different the traditions are. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/29 "2011-05-02T12:33:51Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > Yeah, but we don’t have groomsmen. Male friends might be ushers, but they wouldn’t walk down the aisle with any one particular person. > > It’s surprising how different the traditions are. Oh, before the ceremony, and after drinking beer in the parlking lot, the groomsmen will keep the bride’s and groom’s family seperated in the venue. So that follows through. They walk down the aisle with an appropriate bridesmaid at the start of the ceremony to take their place up front. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/30 "2011-05-02T13:03:07Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Oh, before the ceremony, and after drinking beer in the parlking lot, the groomsmen will keep the bride’s and groom’s family seperated in the venue. So that follows through. > > They walk down the aisle with an appropriate bridesmaid at the start of the ceremony to take their place up front. Our ushers do guide people towards the right seats, and sometimes they sit at the front, but with no particular procession down the aisle. Sometimes they sit or stand right at the back to make sure everything at that end of the room’s OK - let latecomers in, assist people who decide to take their crying babies outside… I don’t know what else, but that’s sometimes where they stand. They’re not always male, either. So there’d be no protests about child bridesmaids from groomsmen that we don’t have. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/31 "2011-05-02T13:07:50Z")
There is a difference between Ushers for the wedding and ushers for the place of service. Ushers are the Groomsmen, although there may well be employees of the venue who are ushers, when we talk of Ushers at a wedding we are referring to the secondary male members of the wedding party. This is probable one of those seperated-by-a-common-language things. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/32 "2011-05-02T15:17:56Z")
This is Wikipedia on “bridesmaid.” It matches what I believe are the American conventions, although it’s more and more common for bridesmaids to be married, whereas, in the past they would have been unmarried. How would a British person alter this definition in order to make it fit their customs? > [@Wikipedia](#): > > The bridesmaids are members of the bride’s wedding party in a wedding. A bridesmaid is typically a young woman, and often a close friend or sister. She attends to the bride on the day of a wedding or marriage ceremony. Traditionally, bridesmaids were chosen from unwed young women of marriageable age. > > The principal bridesmaid, if one is so designated, may be called the chief bridesmaid or maid of honor if she is unmarried, or the matron of honor if she is married. A junior bridesmaid is a girl who is clearly too young to be marriageable, but who is included as an honorary bridesmaid. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/33 "2011-05-02T17:08:30Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I prefer Tiggy Leggy Boorky. Sounds like the Swedish Chef describing a lamb dish. I went with Tiggy Leg-bork, which sounds like Pippi Longstocking’s friend or something. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/34 "2011-05-02T17:55:07Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > There is a difference between Ushers for the wedding and ushers for the place of service. Ushers are the Groomsmen, although there may well be employees of the venue who are ushers, when we talk of Ushers at a wedding we are referring to the secondary male members of the wedding party. > > This is probable one of those seperated-by-a-common-language things. Yeah, I reckon so - the ceremonies have so many similarities that the differences trip you up. Here, there are only ushers, not groomsmen - they’re can be the bride’s friends and family as well as the grooms’ and they’re definitely not employees. Not all weddings have them, but obviously US weddings will vary in that too. > [@acsenray](#): > > This is Wikipedia on “bridesmaid.” It matches what I believe are the American conventions, although it’s more and more common for bridesmaids to be married, whereas, in the past they would have been unmarried. How would a British person alter this definition in order to make it fit their customs? Bridesmaids in the UK are typically girls under 16 hailing from either the bride or the groom’s family. However, it is becoming more common to invite adult friends and relations to be bridesmaids instead of or in addition to the children. Then, of course, there are flower girls, who strew the path with flowers. Well, that’s what they’re supposed to do, but really they’re just very young or less closely-related little girls put in dresses almost as good as the bridesmaids’. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/35 "2011-05-02T20:31:48Z")
To get back to the OP, this is how I know I’ve watched too much Dr. Who; my mind started to wander to those kids on that balcony being the beginning of an episode, maybe about immortals. Nah, they’ve done immortals to death (so to speak). Maybe…shape shifting kids. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/36 "2011-05-02T20:41:01Z")
I’m getting the point from this thread that the uncles (Wessex and York, to get a little Shakespearean) were too old to function as groomsmen–but where were they? I wasn’t watching and paying attention throughout, but I thought they would have been pointed out on the balcony. And where was Auntie Anne? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/37 "2011-05-02T20:52:48Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I’m getting the point from this thread that the uncles (Wessex and York, to get a little Shakespearean) were too old to function as groomsmen–but where were they? I wasn’t watching and paying attention throughout, but I thought they would have been pointed out on the balcony. And where was Auntie Anne? Remember that fugly, huge, Cthulhu-looking thing on top of a head of long red hair? Those were the Princesses York and to their left were the uncles and aunt Anne, the Princess Royal. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/38 "2011-05-03T11:26:25Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Remember that fugly, huge, Cthulhu-looking thing on top of a head of long red hair? Those were the Princesses York and to their left were the uncles and aunt Anne, the Princess Royal. Fergie’s daughters? That explains a lot. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/39 "2011-05-03T14:25:10Z")
> [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](#): > > I’m getting the point from this thread that the uncles (Wessex and York, to get a little Shakespearean) were too old to function as groomsmen–but where were they? I wasn’t watching and paying attention throughout, but I thought they would have been pointed out on the balcony. And where was Auntie Anne? No. We don’t have groomsmen. They could have been ushers, but it would have been a bit weird to have royals standing at the ends of aisles directing people and there’s no need for them to help set out the folding chairs and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148/40 "2011-05-03T14:43:22Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > No. We don’t have groomsmen. They could have been ushers, but it would have been a bit weird to have royals standing at the ends of aisles directing people and there’s no need for them to help set out the folding chairs and the like. Not to contradict you, but in American weddings we have both – and they’re usually the same people. I recall a wedding of an older relative back when I was a kid, where he wanted to include as many of his friends as possible in the wedding party (and his bride as many of hers), so they did have separate rolls. Usually the practice is that what would be termed ‘groomsmen’ serve as ushers and then as bridesmaids’ escorts. But the roles _can_ be separated – it’s just they usually are not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/royal-wedding-who-were-the-kids-on-the-balcony/580148.md?page=3)