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Marriage of Queen Victoria on the 10th February 1840, by Sir George Hayter (1792-1871). On 10 February 1840, Queen Victoria married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in the Chapel Royal, St James. Though white has long been accepted as the traditional colour of wedding dresses, it was actually Victoria’s dress white satin trimmed with Honiton lace that established this custom. White has since been by far the most popular choice for bridal gowns.
The archaeology of royal weddings
As Prince William’s and Kate Middleton’s nuptials this month stir up feverish national excitement, what light can archaeology shed on the pomp and pageantry of the most magnificent of Royal occasions? Brendon Wilkins goes in search of the evidence.
The sound of smashing porcelain paralysed us with fear. Looking down at the kitchen floor, ‘29 July 1981’, read one of the shattered pieces lying next to the heart shaped portraits of the Prince of Wales and his broken bride, tragically cracked in two. My best friend had dropped the most precious thing we had ever been given. His mum was going to kill us.
I sometimes reflect on my hapless friend’s royal wedding cup with the detached eye of an archaeologist. It, doubtlessly, ended up in a Yorkshire landfill, where it now rests in the July 1981 layer. Modern royal weddings spawn all manner of disposable souvenirs and paraphernalia, but what survives from earlier periods of history? Mo
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