Usually the bride is the center of attention at a wedding.
But sometimes she has to share the spotlight. When Prince Harry and Meghan Markle wed on Saturday, some of the most prominent attention-grabbers in the ceremony were the bridesmaids and page boys, particularly Prince Harry’s niece and nephew Princess Charlotte and Prince George.
The two young royals are in good historical company, as these photos show. The children of the U.K. royal family have been a hit at society weddings for decades.
In fact, one image shows George’s father William, the Duke of Cambridge, as a page boy in the ceremony for his uncle Prince Andrew’s marriage to Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson at Westminster Abbey in 1986. As TIME reported in the Aug. 4, 1986 issue: ”
…the show stealer was Prince William, 4. During the 45-minute ceremony, he played on the cord of his hat like a fakir’s apprentice, wrapping the string around his nose and chewing it like a licorice stick. Undaunted by baleful stares from his mother and grandmother, he pulled out his miniature ceremonial dagger and began poking holes in the dress of Diana’s niece Laura Fellowes, 6.
…That spirit of grand informality could not be kept down. After the 240-lb., five-decker cake had been cut at the palace, the couple went out again into the streets, riding through the brilliant afternoon in an open landau. As the irrepressible Prince William ran toward the carriage, an unusually fleet- footed Queen hurried to retrieve him.
Bridal attendants Jennifer Bevan, Princess Elizabeth and Princess Ingrid of Sweden at Lady May Cambridge and Captain Henry Abel Smith's wedding on Oct. 24, 1931.
AP PhotoPrincess Elizabeth, age 9, after the wedding of the Duke of Gloucester and Lady Alice Scott on Nov. 6, 1935. AP PhotoQueen consort Elizabeth holding Princess Margaret's hand as Princess Elizabeth follows, attending the Elphinstone wedding, 1936. Central Press/Hulton Archive—Getty ImagesPrince Charles (2L) and Elizabeth II at Princess Margaret's wedding. 1960.Loomis Dean—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty ImagesPrincess Margaret's children, Viscount David Linley and his sister, Sarah Armstrong-Jones, among the pageboys and bridesmaids at a society wedding. 1975.Hulton Archive—Getty ImagesPeter Phillips dressed as a pageboy for his Aunt Sarah Phillips' wedding. Tim Graham—Getty ImagesPrince William with his cousin Laura Fellowes at the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of York, July 23, 1986Ron Bell—PA Wire/Press Association via AP PhotoFour-year-old page Prince William of Wales exchanges glances with bridesmaid Laura Fellowes, 6, during the marriage of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey in London, July 23, 1986. AP Photo—London Daily MirrorPrince William, pageboy at the society wedding of Miss Camilla Dunne to The Honourable Rupert Soames at Hereford Cathedral. 1988.Tim Graham—Getty ImagesPrince Harry as a pageboy at his Uncle's wedding with his cousins Eleanor and Alexander Fellowes. 1989.Tim Graham—Getty ImagesPrince Harry as an Edwardian style pageboy at the wedding of his Uncle, Viscount Althorp. 1989.Tim Graham—Getty ImagesPrincess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie as bridesmaids at Alison Wardley wedding. 1993.Tim Graham—Getty ImagesPrincess Catherine and Prince William—with attendants—on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in London, Britain, April 29, 2011, after their marriage ceremony. Peter Kneffel/picture-alliance/dpa—AP PhotoPrincess Charlotte of Cambridge, bridesmaid, and Prince George of Cambridge attend the wedding Of Pippa Middleton and James Matthews at St Mark's Church on May 20, 2017 in Englefield Green, England. Pool/Samir Hussein—WireImage/Getty ImagesPrincess Charlotte on the steps of St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle after the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Windsor, Britain, May 19, 2018. Jane Barlow—Pool/ReutersPrince George and Princess Charlotte stole the show at the 2018 royal wedding. (Photo by DJane Barlow - WPA Pool/Getty Images)WPA Pool/Getty Images
