How the Royal Wedding is Keeping Tradition

From Town & Country

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been pegged as rule breakers by the media, and it's not hard to understand why. Their wedding featured several unprecedented details, but they day was still filled with the pomp and ceremony the public is used to seeing from the Windsors.

Here are all the ways their wedding kept with royal tradition:

The dress ticked all the boxes.

Meghan’s exquisite Givenchy gown was white, it had a train, it had long sleeves, and an elegant silhouette with a suitably expansive skirt. Additionally there was plenty of symbolism included that was befitting of a traditional royal wedding outfit: the veil was embroidered with 53 flowers representing each country of the commonwealth.

The usual royal trimmings

All the reassuring elements of a big royal occasion were present, including a fanfare symbolizing the arrival of the Queen and the arrival of the bride, key members of the family arriving in claret Rolls Royces from the royal fleet, and a rousing rendition of ‘God Save the Queen’ at the close of the ceremony.

Jewelry that’s steeped in history and tradition

Meghan’s wedding band is made from Welsh gold – a tradition for royal brides that has been in place since the wedding of the Queen Mother. Meghan also wore Queen Mary’s diamond bandeau tiara which was on loan from the Queen.

The ceremony was in a suitably royal venue.

When it comes to princes and princesses saying ‘I do,’ Westminster Abbey is by far the favorite venue. It has seen 15 royals weddings including the Queen and Prince Philip, Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones, Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, and Prince William and Kate Middleton.

There were a few other options open to Harry and Meghan (Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer went for St Paul’s Cathedral, for example, and Zara Phillips and Mike Tindall married in Canongate Kirk which is attached to the Queen’s Edinburgh home the Palace of Holyrood House), but their choice of St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle is a popular smaller-scale option previously chosen by Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles, and Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly.

There was a strong military element.

It’s customary for key members of the Royal Family to serve in the armed forces, and Harry followed in the well-trodden footsteps of his grandfather, father, uncle and brother, and spent time in the military. This means that Harry wore full regalia on his wedding day, and there will also be assorted regiments and units giving ceremonial support.

The newlyweds took a carriage ride.

There is perhaps nothing quite like an open-top carriage-ride to create iconic images of a royal couple’s couple’s big day. Harry and Meghan will take a trip through the streets of Windsor in the Ascot Landau in order to show appreciation for the support they have received.

It was be a religious ceremony.

There will be no low-key registry office event, or unorthodox blessing for the Royal Family. The monarch is head of the church for England, which means royals will marry in that faith. Kate Middleton was confirmed and Meghan Markle was baptized and confirmed ahead of their wedding days.

Senior royals attended.

There have been reports that not all members of the Royal Family will attend, at a wedding less than a third the size of William and Kate’s there was always due to be casualties in the greater extended Windsor brood.

However Harry’s immediate family will all attend-his grandparents the Queen and Prince Philip, father and stepmother Prince Charles and Camilla Duchess of Cornwall, brother and sister-in-law the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, aunts and uncles Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, and cousins including Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.

You Might Also Like

• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Sweetest Moments

• 12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion

• What Your Favorite Champagne Brand Says About You