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 The sixth-in-line to the British throne and the American actress
who starred in TV legal drama "Suits" will tie the knot at St
George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on May 19.
Some two billion people were estimated to have watched the 2011
wedding of elder brother Prince William to his wife Kate,
demonstrating an enduring fascination with the British royals.
Here are details of major British royal weddings since the
queen's father's nuptials in 1923.
ELIZABETH BOWES-LYON AND GEORGE VI
Queen Elizabeth's father George was Duke of York and not
expected to be king when he married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the
fourth daughter of Lord Glamis who was later Earl of Strathmore
and Kinghorne, on April 26, 1923.
Grainy footage shows cheering crowds saluting the couple as they
returned to Buckingham Palace after their wedding at London's
Westminster Abbey. George, who was known to his family as
Albert, became king in 1936 when his elder brother Edward VIII
abdicated to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
WALLIS SIMPSON AND KING EDWARD VIII
Edward VIII sent shockwaves through the establishment when he
announced, on Dec. 11, 1936, that he was renouncing the throne
to marry twice-divorced socialite Wallis Simpson.
Having abdicated, the Duke of Windsor, as Edward became, married
Simpson on June 3 at the secluded Chateau de Cande in the Loire
Valley in France.
Simpson died in Paris at age 89 in 1986, 14 years after the
death of Edward, who was ostracized by the royal family after
his abdication and marriage.
PRINCE PHILIP AND QUEEN ELIZABETH
The queen and dashing naval officer Prince Philip, the fifth
child and only son of Prince Andrew of Greece, became engaged on
July 9, 1947. They were married four months later on Nov. 20 at
Westminster Abbey in front of 2,000 guests with her younger
sister Margaret one of the bridesmaids.
The ceremony, broadcast live by BBC Radio to 200 million people
around the world, was attended by statesmen and royalty from
around the world, while large crowds gathered in London to
celebrate the marriage of the future monarch.
ANTONY ARMSTRONG-JONES AND PRINCESS MARGARET
In 1955, the queen's sister Margaret announced she was calling
off her engagement to the divorced Group Captain Peter Townsend,
thus avoiding a potential constitutional crisis.
Five years later she wed society photographer Antony
Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey on May 6, 1960. They had
two children but he struggled to adjust from his previous
bohemian lifestyle.
The couple divorced in a glare of publicity in 1978, the first
such royal split since the days of Henry VIII four centuries
earlier. A month later the now Lord Snowdon married divorcee
Lucy Lindsay-Hogg, a television researcher.
CAPTAIN MARK PHILLIPS AND PRINCESS ANNE
The Queen's second child and only daughter Princess Anne married
Captain Mark Phillips, an Olympic gold medal-winning equestrian,
at Westminster Abbey on Nov. 14, 1973.
The couple had two children, Peter, the queen’s first
grandchild, in 1977 and Zara in 1981. The marriage was dissolved
in 1992 and on Dec. 12 the same year, Anne, who has the title
The Princess Royal, married one-time royal aide Commander
Timothy Laurence at a private ceremony at Crathie Church, near
Balmoral Castle in Scotland.
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DIANA SPENCER AND PRINCE CHARLES
Heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, 32, married 20-year-old Lady
Diana Spencer, daughter of then Viscount Althorp and later Earl
Spencer who had been an equerry to both George VI and the queen, at
London's St Paul's Cathedral in a fairytale wedding that captured
the imagination of the world.
An estimated worldwide television audience of some 700 million
people tuned in while crowds packed the streets to catch a glimpse
of the royal couple as they rode past in an open carriage.
Diana gave birth to the couple's first son, William, in June 1982
with second son, Harry, born in September 1984. The marriage
eventually collapsed amid acrimony and accusations of adultery and
Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997.
SARAH FERGUSON AND PRINCE ANDREW
The queen's second son Prince Andrew, who served as a helicopter
pilot with the British navy and saw action during the 1982 Falklands
War with Argentina, announced his engagement to publishing executive
Sarah Ferguson in March 1986.
They married just four months later on July 23, 1986, at Westminster
Abbey with Andrew and his new wife being awarded the titles Duke and
Duchess of York.
The marriage fell apart in 1992 after the publication of raunchy
photographs showing the still-married duchess in the arms of another
man, Texan John Bryan. The couple, who have two daughters, Beatrice
and Eugenie, divorced in 1996.
SOPHIE RHYS-JONES AND PRINCE EDWARD
Prince Edward, the queen's youngest son, married public relations
executive Sophie Rhys-Jones at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle
on June 1999.
The couple, who were given the titles Earl and Countess of Wessex,
did not want the wedding to be turned into a state occasion, which
meant there was no ceremonial state or military involvement.
Their first baby, named Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary
Mountbatten-Windsor was born in 2003 and their son James Viscount
Severn was born in 2007. Edward is the only one of the queen's
children who has not divorced.
CAMILLA AND CHARLES
Charles issued a surprise announcement in February 2005 that he
would be marrying his long-time lover Camilla Parker Bowles whom
many Britons blamed for destroying his marriage to the late Princess
Diana.
Charles married Camilla on April 9, 2005 in a civil ceremony at the
Guildhall, Windsor, with about 800 guests attending a later service
at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.
As titular head of the Church of England, the queen declined to
attend the civil ceremony but joined in the celebrations afterwards.
KATE MIDDLETON AND PRINCE WILLIAM
Kate Middleton met Britain's Prince William while at St Andrews
University in Scotland in 2001. They married on April 29, 2011, when
Kate became the first commoner in more than 350 years to wed a
prince in such close proximity to the British throne.
The glittering wedding ceremony was held at Westminster Abbey in
front of 1,900 guests made up of royalty, heads of state and
celebrities.
(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Stephen Addison)
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