Prince William and Kate Middleton are married.The couple—who will now be known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge—exchanged their vows in front of the Archbishop of Canterbury and hundreds of family members, visiting dignitaries and invited guests shortly after 11 a.m. this morning, April 29 (London time).
As expected, Kate did not promise to "obey" her husband when she said her vows, but contrary to some rumors, the pair exchanged traditional sentiments, rather than penning their own verses.
According to a lipreading expert, William cracked a joke with Kate's father Michael Middleton when they arrived at the altar, saying: "We're supposed to have just a small family affair."
After the ceremony, the congregation sang "Love Divine All Love's Excelling," before the bride's brother James Middleton gave a reading from Romans 12, 1, 2 and 9-18.
The choir then led the congregation in singing "This Is The Day," which was specially composed for the occasion by John Rutter and comprising different psalms from the Bible.
The Right Reverend and Right Honourable Dr. Richard Chartres, Lord Bishop of London and Dean of Her Majesty's Chapels Royal, then addressed the couple in a 10 minute speech, before the choir sang another hymn, "Ubi Carita Et Amor."
Prayers were then said, followed by a rendition of "Jerusalem" before the ceremony ended with the National Anthem and the couple signed the three registers.
FIRST PUBLIC KISS. Prince William and Kate drew cheers from the scores of spectators outside Buckingham Palace as they appeared on the balcony and kissed for the first time as a married couple.
Kate and William were joined by their bridal party and their respective families including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, and Kate's parents Carole and Michael Middleton to watch a fly by of Royal Air Force (RAF) jets.
With the UK enjoying a public holiday to celebrate the nuptials of Britain's future king, onlookers were in high spirits.
Speaking to BANG Showbiz Royal Correspondent Colette Fahy at Westminster Abbey after the service, Lord Mayor Boris Johnson shared his joy, saying: "Wasn't that good? Wasn't that just absolutely brilliant?"
Onlooker Mary Adams from Oxfordshire who camped out overnight to get a good view of today's proceedings said: "Kate looked so beautiful. I hope they'll be very happy together."
KATE'S WEDDING DRESS. Kate's wedding dress was designed by Sarah Burton.
The Alexander McQueen designer created the ivory gown with lace applique floral detailing and a 2.7 metre train, as well as the bridesmaid dress worn by the bride's sister Pippa Middleton, and Kate's ivory duchesse satin and lace shoes.
The skirt was handmade by the royal school of needlework at Hampton Court.
The lace design was hand-engineered using Carickmacross lace-making techniques developed in Ireland in the 1820s.
The individual flowers—thistles, roses, daffodils and shamrocks— were hand-cut from Chantilly lace and engineered onto ivory silk tulle.
Kate wore a diamond Cartier tiara—loaned by Queen Elizabeth— and long veil with her hair pinned up at the front, flowing into soft curls at the back.
Her earrings, diamond-set stylised oak leaves designed by Robinson Pelham, were a gift from parents Michael and Carole.
The bride kept her flowing gown virtually hidden as she made her way to Westminster Abbey, with only parts of her flowing train visible as she and her father Michael Middleton got into their car to travel to her wedding.
William's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth wore an Angela Kelly primrose dress with hand-sewn beading and matching hait, accessorised with Queen Mary's true lovers knot brooch.
Kate's mother Carole Middleton was a hit in the fashion stakes, wearing a Catherine Walker-designed sky blue wool crepe coat dress with satin piping and Jane Corbett hat.
Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall teamed her Anne Valentine champagne blue silk dress and hand-embroidered coat with an eye-catching Philip Treacy hat and bronze Jimmy Choo shoes.
In total, the milliner designed hats for 35 members of the royal families, including Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Queen Anna-Marie of Greece and Princess Mathilde of Belgium.
