The Royal Wedding Of Prince Charles and Lady Diana 1981 (photos)

It was 29 years ago today, on July 29, 1981, that the world was captivated by the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer. A global media event, it was televised live and watched by hundreds of millions of people.
It was a fairytale wedding, one that would later give way to tabloid headlines about infidelity, including Diana’s admission in 1995 of her infidelity in an amazingly vulnerable and powerful interview on the BBC (see video), and taped conversations of Charles in love talk with Camilla Parker Bowles, whom he would later marry. Charles and Diana would separate in 1992 and divorce in 1996. Just one year and three days after the divorce was finalized, Diana would die in an automobile crash in Paris with Dodi Fayed, son of Harrod’s owner Mohamed al-Fayed. The outpouring of grief over death was immediate and wrenching, and it is estimated that some 2.5 billion people around the world watched her funeral.

This photo captures the couple on their return to Buckingham Palace after their wedding, Diana’s smile and innocence captured so well by the photographer.

The wedding, pegged the greatest and grandest royal affair since Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s 1981 nuptials, is the fairy-tale ending to a love story thrust into the spotlight last November when the couple first announced their engagement.

“I, William Arthur Philip Louis, take thee, Catherine Elizabeth, to my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse,” William vowed. “For richer, for poorer. In sickness and in health. To love and to cherish, till death us do part.”
With brother and best man Prince Harry, sporting the uniform of Captain of the Household Cavalry, by his side, William, 28, wearing the scarlet uniform of the Colonel of the Irish Guards, slipped a traditional Welsh gold wedding band on Middleton’s finger, saying, “With this ring, I thee wed.”
The couple also wrote their own prayer for the occasion. “God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage,” they said. “In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy. Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer”

Prince William & Kate Middleton’s Brand New Portrait

Just hours before their big day, a beautiful, new black and white portrait of Prince William and Kate Middleton has been released.

Taken by famed photographer Mario Testino, the image shows the couple casually dressed in similar matching white shirts and grinning from ear-to-ear as they get ready to walk down the aisle.

The picture is featured in William and Kate’s wedding program, which was released on Thursday and includes the following message from the soon-to-be married duo.

“We are both so delighted that you are able to join us in celebrating what we hope will be one of the happiest days of our lives,” it reads. “The affection shown to us by so many people during our engagement has been incredibly moving, and has touched us deeply. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone most sincerely for their kindness.”

It’s signed “William and Catherine.”