The most iconic royal weddings from the past decade
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As we approach 2020, Insider has rounded up the most iconic royal weddings of the decade.
While Prince William made Kate Middleton Britain's future Queen consort after their nuptials in 2011, Meghan Markle also made history with her royal wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
"Complete with a gospel choir and an African American bishop, the ceremony was a departure from tradition and captured the imagination of the world," royal biographer Katie Nicholl commented after Harry and Markle's big day.
The first-ever same-sex British royal wedding also took place in 2018, as the Queen's cousin Lord Ivar Mountbatten married his partner James Coyle at a ceremony in front of 60 friends and family.
April 29, 2011: After meeting at university 10 years prior, Prince William wed Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey, making her the Duchess of Cambridge and Britain's future Queen consort.
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Prince William and Kate Middleton met at St Andrews University in 2001. After an off-and-on-again relationship through the years, the couple finally got engaged in November 2010 before marrying the following year.
As William is second in line to the throne after Prince Charles, marrying Middleton made her Britain's future Queen consort.
July 30, 2011: The Queen's granddaughter Zara Phillips married rugby player Mike Tindall, who did not receive a royal title upon marriage.
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The couple tied the knot at Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, the same year as Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding.
However, unlike her cousin William, Phillips was born without a royal title, and subsequently, Mike Tindall did not receive a title upon marriage.
Despite not being official working members of the royal family, Phillips and Tindall still regularly attend royal gatherings, including the Queen's birthday parade and Christmas.
May 19, 2018: Meghan Markle made history when she married Prince Harry at St George's Chapel, breaking previously followed royal protocol in the process.
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"Complete with a gospel choir and an African American bishop, the ceremony was a departure from tradition and captured the imagination of the world," royal biographer Katie Nicholl wrote in her book, "Harry and Meghan: Life, Loss, and Love."
"It was deemed a royal union fit for the twenty-first century and a turning point for the monarchy. Meghan was the first mixed-race divorcee to marry into the royal family, something that, decades ago, would have been unthinkable."
Markle wore a Givenchy wedding gown with a tiara borrowed from the Queen. A few months after the wedding, Markle told how her "something blue" was fabric from her first date with Harry, which she had stitched to the inside of her veil.
September 22, 2018: Lord Ivar Mountbatten, cousin of Queen Elizabeth, married his partner James Coyle in the first-ever same-sex royal wedding.
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The ceremony, which included only 60 guests, took place at Bridwell Park in Devon just a few months after Harry and Markle's nuptials.
Mountbatten came out as gay in 2016; same-sex marriage was made legal in the UK two years prior. He divorced his wife, Penny, in 2011 after 17 years of marriage. However, the pair appear to still be close, and The Daily Mail reported that Penny even walked him down the aisle.
However, no members of the royal family appeared to be present for the ceremony.
October 12, 2018: Princess Eugenie of York married Jack Brooksbank at St George's Chapel. The royal's wedding dress was almost as iconic as the event itself.
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The dress, designed by Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, featured a low back as per request from Eugenie, who wanted to show the scar she had as a result of surgery to correct scoliosis at the age of 12.
Her Royal Highness also opted for a diamond and emerald tiara, which was previously owned by her great-grandmother, the Queen Mother, and borrowed from Queen Elizabeth.
May 18, 2019: Lady Gabriella married Thomas Kingston at St George's Chapel, and it was the last royal wedding of the decade.
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Lady Gabriella "Ella" is not a close relative to the Queen (her father, Prince Michael of Kent, is Her Majesty's first cousin), nor is she a full-time working member of the royal family.
Nonetheless, the ceremony was still attended by many high-profile or senior members of the family, including the Queen and Prince Philip, Prince Harry, and Princess Beatrice.
The nuptials marked the final royal wedding of the decade.
2020: Princess Beatrice will marry property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi next year, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
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Although further details — such as the location of next year's royal wedding — are yet to be announced, the palace did release the couple's official engagement photos, which were taken by Beatrice's sister, Princess Eugenie.
Read more:
Princess Beatrice's sister Eugenie took her stunning engagement photos
The best photos from the British royal family's first-ever same-sex wedding
The most iconic photos from 29 royal weddings throughout modern British history
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