Original subtitles

[mellow music]

[Angela] This is the story of the day

that enchanted the world.

We all want to believe in love,

and we all want to believe in the fairytale.

And that was what the wedding was.

The crowd were having a whale of a time

and they were gonna have an even better day.

It was lovely.

[Angela] With unheard stories.

Then we got a phone call.

Prince Charles wasn't happy.

One of the choristers had told me

that they would give him sick bags.

There is this nagging feeling in your mind all the time.

What happens if somebody is taken ill?

What happens if somebody wants to go to the loo?

Charles, he invited all his old flames.

There was Camilla, there was Susan George,

there was Diana's sister.

[Angela] Told by those who were there

and with beautifully restored original film of the wedding.

[Man] It's quite amazing, isn't it.

[Angela] This is history as you've never seen it before.

This is the wedding of the century.

[Announcer] The queen presents her son to the people,

the 21st Prince of Wales.

[Angela] From the very beginning,

the eyes of the world were on the future king.

At home, at school, at work and in his private life.

[Reporter] Now that he was 31 years of age,

great conjecture had already been shown

over when and who he was likely to marry.

Often it was headline news.

It was almost impossible, I think for Charles,

because he couldn't date anyone

without the press descending.

Any girl who Charles seemed interested in,

even if she was just a friend,

she would suddenly get chased by the media.

Sabrina Guinness said suddenly she turned up once

to meet him and there were press everywhere.

She had no idea how that had happened.

[Reporter] The prince had been romantically linked

to a score of eligible women.

For example, Lady Jane Wellesley,

who Charles was very fond of and was interested

in getting married to really, she was someone

who was completely chased by the press.

She couldn't really walk down the street

without them following her and photographing her.

The reality of being chased by the press,

of being doorstopped, of their family being watched,

of their friends being watched, this was too much for them.

And really, I think many of them felt that this isn't,

this wasn't a price they wanted to pay.

[Reporter] As the family pose on the steps of St. Paul's,

the burning question in every loyal heart

is when will the prince marry?

Rumours were rife, but the prince kept the nation guessing.

[Angela] Fleet Street newspapers

were privy to these rumours and photographer Kent Gavin

was one of the first to hear about Charles' latest romance.

I covered major news events and showbiz

for the "Daily Mirror."

When the rumours started going around

that there might be a young lady down in Chelsea,

Knightsbridge called Diana Spencer,

that could be the future queen of England.

Diana, she starts to date Charles

and the royal family really leap on it

because they're desperate for Charles to get married.

He's left it quite a long time

and all the women his age are really either married

or they have what is seen as too much of a past

to marry him.

[Kevin] She was 18 years of age.

Beautiful.

You wondered whether it was gonna happen or not

because of the age difference.

She was aristocratic.

Her family had a long history of royal service

so they felt she'd fit in very quickly.

She was beautiful, she was young, she was fresh,

she was innocent.

Really, they thought she is just perfect.

And I think also she was seen as perfect by the press.

The minute that they realised that Charles had a new female

friend, I mean, that was it.

The editor and the picture editor

said we'd like you to go down and have a look.

And I thought with that then that it was a bit below

my pay grade because you had the doorstep

and for photographers that means you stand on a doorstep

and just take pictures.

Well I went down there, I went down on a couple of times

and little did I know then that Diana Spencer

was gonna change my life and career forever.

The paps had come along as well.

They hadn't existed beforehand,

but they suddenly for a good royal picture,

you can make a lot of money.

They were freelances and they have none of the scruples

that other photographers that had jobs on newspapers

had to subscribe to.

So it's a bit unfair putting paparazzi

and regular Fleet Street photographers together

because they're not, they're different.

But she became the golden girl of the paparazzi

and they were after photographing her all the time.

I had many, many conversations with Diana.

She knew the difference between staff photographers

and the paparazzis.

But she had no idea of what the swan

of coverage was gonna be like.

[Reporter] Then on the 24th of February, 1981

from Buckingham Palace came the news,

that the whole world had been waiting for.

The heir to the throne presented his beautiful bride to be,

Lady Diana Francis Spencer, the third daughter

of the eighth Earl Spencer.

It was a fairy tale romance.

And that's how we projected it

and that's how we got the story.

The newspapers were there to just pick them

in generally in a good light.

[Reporter] The happy couple posed

for the press photographers in the palace gardens.

The engagement ring is a magnificent sapphire

surrounded by diamonds.

Prince Charles will be 32 years old

and Lady Diana 20 on their wedding day.

Diana was swept up into a storm

that was bigger than she ever could have imagined.

Everyone wants Charles and Diana to get married

and there's this massive force behind it.

And in the midst of it are two people

who don't know each other that well.

They'd only met each other a handful of times

when they actually got engaged.

Many of these times where they've met

Diana had been escorted by her grandmother

and Diana still called him sir

so she didn't really know him that well.

I think she may have given the royal family

the impression that she was a homebody girl,

but she really liked the west end

and she liked going out dancing.

And she was young.

Charles was another generation really.

I don't think anyone really said to themselves,

isn't she a bit young to be getting into the royal family?

Isn't this a bit of an age gap between her and her husband?

Or hasn't this been rather rushed,

the whole courtship and engagement?

People didn't stop to think.

When Diana Spencer came on the scene,

all newspapers credited the tabloids on the broadsheets,

assigned a photographer to be full-time covering

Lady Diana Spencer, and then Charles, et cetera.

And the royal correspondent and a royal photographer.

It worked in many ways.

She got to know us, we got to know here,

Charles got to know us.

[Reporter] Prince Charles takes the saluted Windsor

amid the kind of pageantry for which Britain's famous.

There'll be a whole lot more, of course,

in the prince's wedding.

The engagement of the heir to the throne

to Lady Diana Spencer ended years of speculation.

In the end the future queen has come

from within the English aristocracy.

Lady Di has handled the glare of publicity

with a natural ease.

Diana's first public engagement, Goldsmiths Hall.

And Charles got out and walked into the stairs

to us, he turned to me and he said,

"Mr. Gavin, I hope you've got your fashion editor

here today."

I said, "I don't think sir,

but would certainly be interested."

And of course that picture was unbelievable.

We had no idea what she was gonna be wearing.

It was sensational that dress for so low cut.

Grace Kelly was one of the guests there,

and I think even Grace Kelly was a bit stunned

when she saw her and she was so shy

and she had those beautiful, big blue eyes shining out.

[Angela] The photos of Diana went global

and the princess to be was fast becoming

the most photographed woman in the world.

[Kevin] The interest was immense in terms of the tabloids.

Every time Diana went anywhere we would be there full time.

She really was something quite new.

They'd never been anything like Diana before.

She had this extraordinary ability, a love affair

with the camera and he couldn't understand it as well.

In fact, he grew slightly jealous of her ability

to seduce the lens.

[Angela] Before Diana, the royal family

had been seen as respectable and dutiful,

but not really very high in the stakes of international

glamour, of international celebrity.

Diana, she had movie star quality.

Once the camera had an eye on her, it was transformative.

Shy Di, Lady Di, everyone was fascinated by her.

Diana just captured the imagination of not just myself,

but the whole public.

Prior to the wedding, there were rehearsals at St Paul's

to pick out the slots and places where stands

were gonna go down.

Everything was well planned for for photographers

and television.

We're in the church top rooftop

and I'm the first choice.

I wanted to be in there to witness the wedding.

And I went down there on two occasions.

You need to check what lens are you gonna need,

the lighting, but I was in there

and that's what mattered to me.

[Angela] As photographers jostled for position

at St. Paul's, the glare of publicity

was a little different from royal engagements

and weddings of the past.

[triumphant music]

[Reporter] In these, the first special studies

of the pair since the news of their engagement.

It's easy to see the radiant happiness

of the princess as she and her very good looking

husband to be pose for the cameras in the palace.

Pictures marking such an event as this royal engagement

would not be complete without focusing

for a moment on the diamond and platinum engagement ring.

The marriage of the heiress presumptive

is naturally a matter of great importance

for the future of the Commonwealth.

We are conscious of that, and we may feel certain she has

made a choice with her head as well as her heart.

Royal weddings are used to create patriotism,

they're used to create affection for the royal family.

[Reporter] The day of the wedding and immense crowds.

Thousands had assemble overnight,

others had arrived at dawn.

All eagerly waiting to see and to cheer

the royal processions on this day

of their own princess' marriage.

The crowds waited with tense excitement,

or the appearance of the Irish State Coach

for he's majesty the king and for the bride.

The idea of the big public white royal wedding

goes back to Victoria.

Before Queen Victoria, royal weddings were quiet

affairs late at night, a few aristocratic friends.

But Victoria and her government wanted to really proclaim

her as the middle-class queen.

And so what happened was she'd have a much bigger wedding

for which the crowds could line up and watch her drive

to the wedding venue publicly and he could see her.

[Reporter] The greyness of this November day

matching in some respects the weary aftermath of war.

These were neither seen nor felt

for this was a day of national rejoicing.

The wedding of Elizabeth and Phillip,

she was the future queen, but it was 1947,

it was the post-war.

It was a recession, there was great depression in Britain.

And there was a lot of debate about whether

or not they should have a royal wedding at all.

Winston Churchill actually said that

if Elizabeth and Phillip had a big wedding

it would be a splash of colour on the hard road

we have to travel.

That idea that the royal wedding was a big moment,

a joyous moment would give people happiness

and would bring people together.

[uplifting bride entrance music]

Women from all over the country sent in

their clothing coupons so that the queen

could buy a wedding dress.

But actually this was against the law.

You can't transfer your Cove clothing coupons.

So they couldn't accept them, sent them all back

but made the wedding dress from some silk

that they did have.

Elizabeth and Phillip's wedding was a celebration of them,

but it also was a celebration that the war was over,

that life went on, that weddings were continuing,

and this was a new queen for the future.

[Reporter] This day will long been remembered

as a vivid and important episode in the story of the nation.

[upbeat music]

The crowds outside the palace quite as fast

and as thrilled as those of jubilee and coronation days.

And how they cheered the happy pair

when they came out onto the balcony.

The link between the British people

and the royal family is something quite unique.

[people cheer]

[Angela] One of the key ingredients

of any wedding day is the wedding cake.

And in 1981, Royal Navy head baker Dave Avery

was about to get a Royal appointment that he'd never forget.

[Reporter] Within the site of Portsmouth's

most famous landmark, Nelson's Victory

and waiting to begin a new role

as anti-submarine helicopter carrier,

the majesty's ship Bulwark.

Attending the recommissioning His Royal Highness

Commander the Prince of Wales.

I met Prince Charles when he was on Bulwark

and they wanted a commissioning cake making.

And Prince Charles cut the cake.

He pointed to me and he said, have you made this?

All right, beautiful cake, all right.

So I was quite pleased with that.

Well, our Phillips married Princess Anne,

the army did the cake.

So my admiral got in touch with the palace and said,

it'd be nice if the Navy got the chance

to do the wedding cake.

I was at the cookery school then

as a senior baker instructor, teaching baking to the boys.

I got told that I was doing the wedding cake

but I couldn't say anything to anybody

until the press release.

You're quite pleased about it at the beginning,

you want to be picked to make the future king

and queen's wedding cake.

You couldn't get a higher honour could you?

But as things went on, I always thought that one day

I might get in the Tower if anything went wrong,

I'd be stuck at the Tower.

[Angela] Luckily, Dave avoided a trip to the Tower,

but he did have a very special appointment at the palace.

And I met Diana in Buckingham Palace

to show her the design.

She was so nice because I was well not petrified,

but I was apprehensive of meeting her.

But that's what she said to me.

I was apprehensive in meeting you and it's been a pleasure.

She said to me, all she wanted was a wedding cake.

She didn't want a monument.

But when Diana had seen the plan, everything was fine.

She was happy about that.

Great, no problem.

And then we got a phone call, Prince Charles wasn't happy.

And we thought oh time.

But anyhow what it was is they used to name him

the Red Dragon.

[Reporter] Naval leftenant Prince Charles

is taking to the area.

This time in a helicopter.

As Prince of Wales, he wears the Red Dragon of Wales.

And the 12 members of the training unit

will wear scarlet and gold arm flashes depicting the dragon.

So I had to put the crest of the red dragon

on the front of the cake and that was the only change

from everything that I planned.

[Reporter] The cake was made at the Royal Navy Cookery

School in Chatham.

Everything had got to be secretly, it had to be.

I had the only key to that kitchen.

If you're a big job, a big cake, you always do two,

because you never know and especially if it's travelling.

You're doing twice the amount of work

of what you could have done.

But it had to be right.

We made the cake, a rich fruit cake

'cause my mom had a rich fruitcake cake

and it was a cracking recipe.

And I used that, but I added bits and pieces.

Everything that went in that cake

was donated by different companies.

And then we was told by the palace

that they wanted rum, Navy rum in the cake.

Princess Diana had never tasted Navy rum

so we put Navy rum it.

And that went over weeks.

I'd put a little drop in, wrap it up, save it,

wrap it up, save it.

That's me in the cookery school in the passage way.

Just the left-hand side is a kitchen

where I made the wedding cake.

You could see how big the bottom tier was, massive cake.

The bottom tier two at 12 hours to bake.

You see me here with a set square.

And it's very level.

Because everything, if you get something like on a cake,

that's just a millimetre out, by the time

you go five foot up it's that much out.

So the cake can be falling over.

So everything had got to be absolutely spot on.

[Reporter] The Navy mounted A guard on their masterpiece

and a masterpiece it most certainly is.

We finished it the week before.

The one that wasn't going to the palace,

we stood it up in the cookery school

for the press release, which was gonna be the next day

where all the newspapers and press and things

came down to take pictures of the cake.

They give us lines of what to do.

You know, they didn't want nothing like castles

and things like that.

They wanted a wedding cake.

[Interviewer] And yet on the panels

there's some very intricate designs, the crests, et cetera,

[David] Going from the top, the C and D

and the doves and the grapes.

On the second set, you've got the crown,

the Naval ends and the account badge.

The third tier is Prince Charles' Naval,

and which is his ships and also his squadrons he was on.

And then on this second tier is the actual crest.

We've got seen, Charles' crest,

and then we've got Lady Diana's.

But these is where the work's gone in.

You know, one of those took eight hours to paint

and it's icing that's been painted on to the cake.

[Reporter] This morning the cake was carefully packed

in boxes and delivered to Buckingham Palace.

Everything is very foreign and delicate on that cake,

so if it goes over a bump, icing can splay,

something can fall off, whatever.

And it wasn't until we got to the palace

to stand it up, that we knew everything was fine.

It was two and a half hundred weight of cake,

marzipan and icing being stood up.

And it stood in the palace for three days

before the wedding.

This again is me with the royal wedding cake,

in black and white, in colour.

Quite proud of it really.

[Angela] And so he should be.

This was a royal wedding like no other

and everybody wanted a slice of the action.

[Reporter] Once the wedding date was announced

it was down to the serious business

of the royal wedding industry.

Over 2,000 wedding souvenirs have been submitted

to the design council for approval.

Only 60 made the grade.

These are the traditional trinkets

without which no royal event is considered complete.

So far, the royal wedding industry

is said to be worth over £500 million.

The run up to the royal wedding was unprecedented

in terms of the amount of merchandise produced.

Really, I think it's not an overestimation

to suggest that nearly every household in the United Kingdom

had some kind of memorabilia of the royal wedding.

Everyone wanted a piece of this royal wedding,

of the royal romance and they wanted a piece of Diana.

I think we all want to believe in love,

and we all want to believe in the fairytale

and we all want to believe in the fairytale princess

and that was what the wedding was.

[Angela] Most weddings of the past

had been held at Westminster Abbey,

including Princess Margaret's wedding

to Antony Armstrong-Jones.

[Reporter] And from Clarence House,

the glass coach leaves on its journey to the Abbey.

Riding in the coach was the bride accompanied

by Prince Phillip who was to give her way.

All along the route the people waved

and cheered Princess Margaret.

It was her day.

One can be certain that as she drove

through the crowded streets, she must've been touched

by the affection that surrounded her.

The royal bride arrives.

[crowd cheers]

Her own sparkling guilty is superbly set off

by the simplicity of her wedding gown of white organza.

The queen and members of the royal family

have taken their places.

The bride groom and what a moment for him

as his bride enters.

[uplifting classical music]

The service is begun by the Dean of Westminster.

[Dean Of Westminster] Dearly beloved,

we are gathered here in the sight of God

and in the face of this congregation

to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony.

[Angela] Choir master Barry Rose

was as surprised as anyone when he heard

of Charles and Diana's chosen wedding venue.

I was sitting at home with my wife having lunch

and listening to the one o'clock news on BBC radio.

And the headline said,

that the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer

will be married in St Paul's Cathedral.

I thought this can't be right.

You know, it's Westminster Abbey,

they always got to Westminster Abbey.

Nobody had told me, of course the clergy knew,

but they never told the master of the choir

or anything like that.

St Paul's is so famous.

When I go around the world, they say,

oh, you were at St Paul's Cathedral.

They don't say London.

They just say St Paul's Cathedral

as it's known the worldwide.

I think Charles chose St Paul's

because it's open from end to end.

In Westminster Abbey you have the screen

on which the organ sets halfway up.

So you're seated out in what they call the nave,

which is the wester side of that,

you don't see anything when the couple

are right at the front and out of sight.

Whereas you could see the whole thing from the back

of the nave at St Paul's.

One reason why St Paul's was chosen

were because it was going to be such a televisual wedding

was because actually St. Paul's,

I think you get slightly better long-term view.

You can get a better kind of TV shot of it overall

and I think that's one reason why St. Paul's was chosen.

I got to the cathedral that afternoon

and the press were everywhere.

I mean, everywhere.

They came to choir practise, they followed us into the loo,

you know, they wanted to film this and film that.

Every day from then on it wasn't just the British press.

It was the national, international press

from around the world.

[Reporter] As the happy pair begin their procession

Princess Margaret curtsy gracefully to her sister.

And at the bride's special request,

the processional music is Purcell's "Trumpet Tune and Airs."

["Trumpet Tune and Air" by Purcell]

Every Royal wedding has music, but it has special music.

And Charles turned to a friend of his,

Sir David Wilcox to ask his advice.

He'd met Sir David when he was at Cambridge University.

[soft music]

First of all he's the Prince of Wales

and the central piece in the service was a new anthem

written by the professor of music

at University College Wales, which was William Mathias.

There were hymns that everybody could sing

and then there were responses written by my colleague

at St. Paul's.

Charles had the say in it, I think he was the musical one

and he actually had played the cello hadn't they, I believe

and all sorts of things like that.

So he certainly had some input into it.

The music to be played and sung was published

well in advance, but nobody had heard the new piece.

We had the new anthem I should think about two months

in advance.

We had handwritten copies.

It wasn't published until the day itself

so the choir sang from handwritten copies

that the composer written out himself.

We learned that about a month before.

We were used to royal occasions, it was quite a big choir.

There was about 40 boys and about 24 men.

We were all ready for it by the day before.

I mean, we'd had a couple of rehearsals

and we'd done the balance test for the television

and the radio and all that sort of thing.

You are hyped up on these occasions.

There was all sorts of excellent levels of excitement

because of the press people from all around the world.

And the kids had hardly any sleep anyway,

but they were on a, you know, they, adrenaline kicks in

with them.

You know, they come in and they throw a switch

and they sing.

[Angela] And it wasn't just inside

St Paul's that preparations were being made.

[Reporter] The village of Leighton is set

in the beautiful part of England.

On the wedding day, the villagers will hold a street party.

It'll be one of thousands which will take place

all over England.

They've been working on it for months,

raising money and house to house collections.

and in many other activities including

the traditional village jumble sale.

Street parties are such a part of royal weddings,

such a part of royal events that streets get together,

neighbours get together who don't actually know each other,

who'd never spoken before will clubs together,

put out some trestle tables and have some cake together.

It's a moment of real community cohesion

and community spirit.

And, these go right back to the 19th century.

You do have celebrations of coronations and weddings

happening before the 19th century, but street parties

and the idea of ordinary people clubbing together

to celebrate the monarchy is particularly

a Victorian invention.

[Angela] But for many, there was little cause

for celebration in the summer of 1981.

[Reporter] Despite the gloom of recession,

unemployment riots and an indifferent English summer,

the flags go up for the July celebration.

Britain's problems seem a long way away

from this quiet Hamlet.

The country was riven, absolutely true between

the left who didn't like the way the country was being run

and you had Thatcher's people who were determined

to change it.

[Reporter] July, 1981 and English cities burned.

The current wave of rioting hasn't been equaled

in modern times.

The public is shocked, so are the politicians

and the police.

In the summer of 1981, there were riots

in the United Kingdom in Toxteth, particularly in Brixton

and really this was a time when people were very angry,

angry at the new regime, deprivation,

the fact there was a gap between rich and poor.

And so really, I think you have this big desire,

investment from the establishment

that they want the wedding to be as big as possible

to really overwrite the fact that that's the image

that many people would have of the summer of 1981

is riots, burnt out cars, people angry;

but instead you get the fairytale wedding.

[Reporter] But Britain's chronic social

and economic ills will have to be cured at source

before real peace returns to the streets.

[people chatter]

[loud thud]

So there was huge division in the country,

but in an odd sort of way, it was withdrawn

for the royal family.

[Reporter] The wedding between Prince Charles

and Lady Diana will be celebrated in many ways.

Some will just buy a memento of the occasion.

Others will take part in the thousands of street parties.

A select few will attend the ceremony

at St. Paul's Cathedral.

For all it's hoped it will be a time of unity

for a troubled nation.

[Angela] Love is the flower you've got

to let grow, or so the saying goes

and florist David Longman was tasked

with creating a bouquet fit for a princess.

They say that flowers in the wedding bouquet

show fertility, fidelity and loyalty.

The fashion of carrying flowers,

you can put it to Queen Victoria.

She carried a posy of flowers.

My father joined the Worshipful Company of Gardeners.

They had the ancient tradition of presenting flowers

to the royal family on state occasions.

And the first time he was involved within

the wedding of the queen, then Princess Elizabeth.

That's where we started.

We made the bouquets for Princess Margaret,

and several others.

My conversations with the Lady Diana

was very similar to so many discussions

I'd had with brides and what they wanted.

I showed her the designs.

All right, we have many more designs

and more intricate designs than we probably

showed to some normal bride.

We'd talked to the dressmaker beforehand,

I'd been to see the dressmaker.

But only Emmanuels were very discreet

and wouldn't tell me very much,

which I quite understood.

They did give me a patch of material

so I could sort of feel what it was going to be like.

But then, and they showed me an outline sketch that is,

and I knew it was going to be a very voluminous dress.

The outline sketch was a great help.

It's a combination of what you know about the dress,

the disposition of the bride, her hair, her height,

and what she thinks about it.

The end of the day, she is the important one.

She's the one you've got to please

to help make her day, the happiest day of her life.

She was like any other bride, excited, intrigued,

wanting guidance and what she was to have.

Very normal, very, very normal person, the young bride.

I took this book with the designs, various designs,

which we had put together showing her what she could have.

There's crescents and half crescents and rounds

and she chose this one, which is a long drop bouquet.

Lilly of valley, stephanotis, orchid.

The prince made one request and that was

a Mountbatten rose in memory of his uncle

who he was very attached to.

He particularly wanted it and there was anyone gra,

it's not really a florist rose, it's a garden rose.

And it was the only colour 'cause it's a golden rose

there in the centre of the bouquet.

We made a mock, a silk mock or what she had chosen

that she saw that.

The decision obviously was hers,

but she listened to our guidance.

She was so easy to deal with.

She wasn't particularly demanding.

She was always charming.

[Angela] However, Diana did have one

particular request for David.

If we look at the photographs of Princess Elizabeth's

wedding, you'll see that the big photograph

with all the bridesmaids, everyone is carrying a bouquet

except bride.

And the story was that the princess

asked that her bouquet to be put on the tomb

of the unknown warriors.

Lady Diana, she'd heard this story so she said, please,

can we have two bouquets.

So they had one which went straight onto the tomb

and the other one, which I delivered

to Buckingham Palace was ready for the photographs.

There was a great deal of secrecy.

The press got hold of it and as soon as they know,

they want to interview and talk about it

and what they gonna do, what the design's going to be.

And of course those things are secret until the bride

walks into the church.

Flowers in the cathedral.

I suppose we had something like 28 people

working on the flowers.

I had about three or four of my very senior florists

who were well qualified.

With the flower ladies of St Paul's

we'd put a lot of work and thought into it.

For example, just inside the door floor pillars

one, two, three and four, each one had 25 alstroemeria,

30 stocks, 20 gladiolus, 20 lilies, 45 gold roses,

35 white carnations and white hydrangea

and some white spray chrysanthemums.

-That's a lot of flowers. -That's a lot of flowers

in each arrangement.

[Reporter] There was an unexpected last glimpse down

that famous aisle.

Soon, the doors were to be firmly shut,

but inside work would continue all night.

Outside, that red carpet to lay under the watchful eye

of a police guard, a hundred foot of actually

a rather modest quality nylon,

which is proving rather difficult to lay.

We did a final inspection of the cathedral

flowers at about half past 10, 11 o'clock.

And I walked to the west store

and you saw all the crowds down the laggard hill.

You could see the crowd were having a whale of a time

and they were gonna have an even better day.

It was lovely, absolutely wonderful.

[Reporter] It just had to be the biggest street party

since the coronation, and the nearer you got to St Paul's

the noisier and happier it became.

After all these days, you do need an excuse

for dancing in the streets.

[people sing]

And of course there has to be the dust guard,

often greeted with cheers itself, as it made its run,

as it was to do so many times that night.

And asleep, many people did despite

the cheery nighttime chatter of a radio DJ

coming from loud speakers right along the route.

You couldn't actually see an inch of pavement anywhere

and money wouldn't buy you a space

from most of these people.

[Angela] As dawn broke over London

preparations have been taking place throughout

the night to ensure that the big day went off perfectly.

Now on the morning of the wedding,

we was up at three o'clock, went to the palace,

moved the cake, put it all down, put it back in the box,

he screwed it all up.

Got a buggy, took it right across

the other side of Buckingham Palace,

put it up in the gold room for the wedding breakfast.

And many came to put the top piece on the flowers.

I didn't do that because I couldn't do that.

I thought I'd done enough.

I was really, you know, just so relieved

that the cake had been stood there

and we'd moved it and it was already for the thing.

And my boss, he put the top on the cake for me.

And I've never felt such a relief.

You can't explain it, the relief

that you've finished it and it's done.

All they had to do was eat it.

My head florist started at four o'clock

in the morning to meet the bouquets.

We converted my office, the back of our shops

we were into a the work room for her to work away

from the other staff.

[church bell rings]

[Reporter] At six o'clock this morning

the party was still going on, but a trifle more wearily.

The crowd had of course built up steadily,

all the best places had gone and the losers

waited to be moved off the road,

hoping someone would let them onto

that highly prized pavement.

So as the crowd settles down and the tension begins

to mount here as much as anywhere,

St Paul's is ready and waiting for its big day.

I can remember the morning of the wedding well,

'cause I, you have to, first of all,

you've got to get into the cathedral

which is nearly impossible unless you have your duty pass.

The choristers arrive by their own entrance

from the choir school and we have a rehearsal

which lasts about 40 minutes or so,

just to warm everyone's voices up.

And then final sort of team talk as I call it, you know,

before we go up there.

And we weren't allowed to practise upstairs, of course

that morning 'cause people were assembling

in the cathedral from about 9:30 onwards I think.

[Angela] And it wasn't just the bride

and groom who had wedding day nerves.

One of the boys told me quite recently

that they were given sick bags.

I mean, there is this nagging feeling

in your mind all the time.

What happens if somebody is taken ill?

What happens if somebody wants to go to the loo?

[Reporter] In case you've ever wondered

how the guard of honour know exactly where to stand

well, here's the man with the chalk

who carefully marks each place with a circle

and their number.

By the time of the royal wedding Britain

and much of the world was in the grip of Di mania.

They were obsessed.

All everyone cared about was what will Diana wear?

What would she say?

What would she do?

Would she kiss Charles on the balcony?

[Reporter] By now the slightly weary crowd

was saving their very loudest cheers for later on.

[Interviewer] What are you looking forward to most of all?

Seeing Lady DI, I reckon.

-You reckon so? -Yes.

[Interviewer] is that what everybody wants to see,

-I think. -Give her a kiss.

[crowd chuckles]

The public, they couldn't get enough,

there were thousands of people on the streets was it

and I'm tell you the reason why was one

of the biggest viewing audiences ever.

it's just Cinderella is a very [murmur] princess,

that's the feeling everybody wanted in the media.

We end up being two hours before their arrival.

[Angela] As he waited, Kent noticed

some rather familiar faces inside St Paul's.

Charles, all of his relationships were in there.

There was Camilla.

There was Susan George, there was Diana's sister.

I think there were one or two others as well.

I can't remember names, but he'd invited all his own flames.

Prince Charles was a supporting actor.

There wasn't much conversation about him

or any of a member to the royal family.

It was all about Diana.

People really fell in love with the idea

of this wonderful young woman marrying

into the royal family.

To them it seemed that the beginning of a wonderful romance,

the fairytale.

She was wearing this extraordinary dress.

Piling it into the carriage, they were sitting

in there as if it was filled up with soap such in fact,

the carriage was filled up with her dress.

When the gold coach drew up to the cathedral

and Diana stepped out and you saw the dress

for the first time, that was so exciting.

When they had to get her out of the carriage,

they had to arrange it all so it was all kind of impromptu.

You've seen they have all sorts of rehearsals

for this kind of thing, but they couldn't rehearse

the dress.

I don't think it was actually ready

until the morning of the ceremony.

And it caused a bit of a problem.

Everyone kind of ignored the fact that it was

full of creases because everyone wanted it to go off well.

I love the dress.

I think it's, I think it's so romantic.

I think it's pure 80s and I think you had to be young,

tall, and beautiful to pull it off like Diana

and no one else could.

That gigantic train, the longest train

of any wedding dress in history.

And an awful shock because when she saw get out

of the carriage, no bouquet.

I thought my goodness, what's happened this time?

What happened they got her out, they put her dress right

and then the foot man went back into the carriage

and brought the bouquet.

I must've been for 30 seconds. [chuckles]

I had a very nasty moment.

[Angela] Bouquet in hand, Diana entered

St. Paul's Cathedral with her father by her side.

the eyes of the world looked on as the princess to be

in her dress with a 25 foot train

embarked on a three and a half minute walk down

the aisle to meet her prince.

Life for Diana would never be the same again.

When she walked in and the music and everything else,

it was just something to say beautiful.

I was witnessing history.

I can say to my kids right, I was in there to do it.

[Angela] Even the Archbishop of Canterbury

talked about the fairytale.

Everything really was the princess vision,

the happy ever after vision.

It just was such a huge responsibility

to lay on the shoulders of Charles

and particularly Diana that for the rest of her life

she'd have to live out our fairytale fantasies.

-I, Diana Francis. -Diana chose not

to say that she would have obey her husband

in her wedding vows and that was a real break

-from tradition. -To love and to cherish...

[Diana] To love and to cherish...

-Till death us do part. -Till death us do part.

Diana was showing that even though she was only just 20,

she was a young girl who everyone had underestimated.

She wasn't going to be the malleable puppet

that everyone thought.

She wasn't going to obey her husband and vow to.

She was going to be her own woman, a modern,

independent bride.

Charles and Diana's wedding was the biggest televised event

in history.

I don't think anything will ever beat it.

750 million people sat down to watch the wedding

all over the world and that meant watching

at very unsociable times in the middle of the night

in some parts of the Commonwealth

and some parts of the world.

And yet everyone wanted to watch it

even people who weren't very interested in the royal family.

The new piece written by William Mathias,

I think it might've been the musical premiere

with the biggest audience in the world ever.

I mean, I got very excited at one moment,

I threw my hands in the air like you do

when you're conducting and the lampshade right next to me,

flipped off and did a quick twirl

and the clergyman sitting next week just caught it.

So if you look carefully at the photos of that day,

you can see there's one lamp with no lampshade left on it.

He couldn't have sung any better.

I mean, that was the best we could have done.

We gave our all, you know, heart and soul.

And it was not about us, it was about

the two people getting married.

That's what weddings are about.

[uplifting music]

[Angela] For those who'd spent months

working behind the scenes, it was now time

to enjoy the moment.

She carried a large bouquet, something like 36 inches long

and she was reasonably tall.

It was well-balanced and we discussed

how she should hold it.

To get the right perspective you want to hold it

halfway down which looks much better.

There's a most wonderful moving sight

that's left a wonderful impression on me

of that lovely occasion.

Diana's beauty, her freshness, her innocent,

her kind heart and her emotional warmth,

all of this came across in the wedding.

And the woman who became the most famous woman

of the 20th century, the most photographed woman

of the 20th century, this all begins

in the royal wedding itself.

On the day of the wedding, I was in my office,

in the editor's office, waiting for all the pictures

to be brought into us because it was a picture led issue.

So we ran down Fletcher Lane.

They had military bands.

So the air was full of music and there was no traffic

because it all had been blocked away

for the royal procession.

They were all people hanging out all the windows.

It was fabulous, it was a fabulous day.

And they came clattering up and tearing up the streets

and everyone cheered.

[crowd cheers]

And then we ran back up to the office and waited.

And then the picture started coming in

and gradually people started to come into the office

who had been covering the story from various places.

[crowds cheer]

We saw on them balcony, they came out,

the jet fighters flew over, the crowds cheered,

the sun shown, but...

he wouldn't kiss her.

She was, they were talking, they were,

the children were scampering around.

The old folks were smiling.

And we were chanting, "Kiss her,

for Christ's sake kiss her," because we wanted

the kiss picture and we thought it was never gonna happen.

[crowds cheer and chant]

I think there were 40 photographers on [murmurs].

And I think, probably four, maybe five got it

because it was [clicks] it was all over.

[crowd cheers]

And I looked at it and I thought, well, you know, that's,

there's history is changing.

Royals always came out on the balcony after weddings

but they didn't kiss.

Charles and Diana kissed and really

that was the beginning of all of our investment in Charles

and Diana as the perfect couple, as the new type of monarchy

and Diana really as a romantic princess

of everyone's hearts.

[Angela] July the 29th, 1981,

a day that enchanted the world.

And now thanks to new technology a day that looks like

it was filmed yesterday.

It's like a time machine.

We can watch the footage as if we were there,

as if we were watching it for the first time,

gathered around the TV being part of this huge moment.

[Angela] So let's sit back and enjoy

as never before, the wedding of the century.

[triumphant music]

[Narrator] As if by royal appointment,

the weather on the great is perfect,

giving London a touch of summer magic.

From Buckingham Palace a semi-state Landau

carries the queen and the Duke of Edinburgh

to St Paul's Cathedral to the wedding

of their much loved son, the Prince of Wales.

[crowd cheers]

And as the queen mother said for all of us,

"I wouldn't have missed this day for anything."

[crowds cheer]

On the steps of St. Paul's, it's a scene

straight from a Victorian picture book.

[crowd cheers]

Then enchanting bridesmaids with wreaths of flowers

in their hair and the page boys,

straight and slim in 19th century sailor suits,

all under the firm but pretty eye

of Lady Sarah Armstrong Jones, the chief bridesmaid.

[crowd cheers]

The wedding guests to assemble,

not just the famous like Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

and Mrs. Nancy Reagan, wife of the American president,

but personal and family friends as well.

Also many of the crowned heads of Europe,

quite happy for once to play second fiddle.

[crowd cheers]

The huge, cheerful crowd that has waited so long

and patiently roars and waves it's welcome.

[crowd cheers and claps]

And now the hero of the hour, beneath the pomp and titles,

a nice, rather nervous young man

on the most tender and important journey of his life.

Beside him, his brother and chief supporter Prince Andrew,

wondering perhaps if he's forgotten the ring.

[crowd cheers and claps]

As Prince Charles sets off for the cathedral,

his mother arrives to be greeted as tradition

in the city demands by the Lord Mayor of London.

The queen mother escorted by Prince Edward.

[crowds cheer]

[carriage rumbles]

Around the 1902 state landau rides a Prince of Wales

escort the household cavalry, gleaming and bright.

An escort of mounted police wait for Lady Diana

at Clarence House.

Though still a commoner, the pretty English girl

will be transformed into the third lady of the realm,

Princess of Wales.

In St Paul's the queen and the other members

of the royal family make their way past

the other 3,000 wedding guests to take their places.

[mellow organ music]

The Duke and Duchess of Kent, the Duke

and Duchess of Gloucester, Princess Margaret

and Vicount Linley and Princess Anne

with Captain Mark Phillips.

[happy organ music]

the queen in proceeded by the Lord Mayor,

bearing the pearl sword presented to the city

by Queen Elizabeth I to commemorate

the victory over the Armada in 1588.

[happy organ music]

[dramatic organ music]

And so the stage is set.

And here is the groom exactly on time,

punctuality being the privilege of princes.

Prince Charles wears a uniform of Royal Navy commander,

his brother that of midshipman.

[crowds cheer]

Passing through Admiralty Arch, the bride is not far behind.

[crowds cheer]

At her side, the father, the Earl Spencer.

Prince Charles makes his way down the aisle.

His supporters, Prince Edward with Prince Andrew,

still hoping he hasn't lost the ring.

[happy organ music]

of course wearing the usual privilege of brides,

Lady Diana arrives on time as well.

The whole days to be a super example of precision

and timing so typical of British ceremonial.

[crowds cheer and claps]

The world gets its first full glimpse

of the fairytale Princess, demure behind her veil

and the wedding dress that has been a carefully

guarded secret; resplendent ivory silk taffeta

trimmed with auntie place and a long, long train,

all 25 feet hand embroidered.

As been witching and romantic a bride

as ever touched the heart of the world.

[crowd cheers]

But that long train is a bridesmaid's nightmare.

[crowd cheers and claps]

On her father's arm Lady Diana Spencer

sets off to join the prince of her heart.

[uplifting hopeful music]

Her bouquet, orchids and pale gardenias,

dark myrtle and golden Mountbatten roses.

[uplifting hopeful music]

So Charles and Diana have come together before God

and the world to make their vows, each to the other.

The service is to be taken by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] Charles Philip Arthur George,

will thou have this woman to thy wedded wife,

to live together after God's ordinance

in the holy estate of matrimony.

Will thou love her, comfort her, honour and keep her

in sickness and in health and forsaking all other

keep thee own lay unto her, so long

-as you both shall live? -I will.

Diana Francis, will thou have this man

to thy wedded husband, to live together according

to God's law in the holy estate of matrimony.

Will thou love him, comfort him, honour,

and keep him in sickness and in health

and forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him

so long as you both shall live?

[Diana] I will.

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] Who giveth this woman

to be married to this man?

[Earl Spencer murmurs]

I, Charles Philip Arthur George...

I, Charles Philip Arthur George...

-Take thee Diana Francis, -Take thee Diana Francis,

-To my wedded wife, -To my wedded wife,

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] To have

and to hold from this day forward,

To have to hold from this day forward.

-For better, for worse. -For better and for worse.

-For richer, for poorer. -For richer and for poorer.

-In sickness and in health. -In sickness and in health.

-To love and to cherish. -To love and to cherish.

-Till death us do part. -Till death us do part.

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] According to God's holy law.

According to God's holy law.

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] And there too

-I give thee my troth. -And there too,

I give you my troth.

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] I, Diana Francis.

-I, Diana Francis. -Take thee

Charles Phillip Arthur George.

[Diana] Take thee Phillip Charles Arthur George.

-To my wedded husband. -To my wedded husband.

-To have and to hold. -To have and to hold.

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] From this day forward.

[Diana] From this day forward.

-For better, for worse. -For better and for worse.

-For richer, for poorer. -For richer, for poorer.

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] In sickness and in health.

[Diana] In sickness and in health.

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] To love and to cherish.

[Diana] To love and to cherish.

-Till death us do part. -Till death us do part.

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] According to God's holy law.

[Dian] According to God's holy law.

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] And there too

-I give thee my troth. -And there too I give

thee my troth.

[Narrator] There, he hadn't lost the ring after all.

-With this ring. -With this ring,

-I thee wed. -I thee wed.

-With my body. -With my body,

-I thee honour. -I thee honour.

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] And all my worldly goods

with thee I share.

All thy goods with thee I share.

Let us pray.

[Narrator] And so the knot is tied.

[Archbishop Of Canterbury] Those whom God

has joined together, let no man and put asunder.

For as much as Charles Philip Arthur George

and Diana Francis have consented together

in holy wedlock, and have witnessed the same

before God and this company and thereto have given

and pledged their troth either to other

and have declared the same by giving

and receiving of a ring and by joining of hands,

I pronounce that they'd been man and wife together

in the name of the father and of the son

and of the holy ghost, amen.

[Narrator] Charles and Diana now man and wife

move up to the high altar for the blessing.

[uplifting happy music]

God the Holy Trinity make you strong in faith and love,

defend you on every side and guide you in truth and peace.

And the blessing of God almighty, the father, the son

and the holy spirit be amongst you

and remain with you always.

[trumpets blow]

[upbeat music]

[Narrator] Their royal highnesses,

the Prince and Princess of Wales make their way back

down the aisle to the tumultuous welcome

awaiting them at the steps of St Paul's.

[crowds cheer]

And so out into sunshine and bells in wild delight

as a palpable wave of affection and pride

wells out from the crowd.

-[church bells ring] -[crowd cheers]

Suddenly that long train makes the state landau

look remarkably full.

As their families look on with what emotions

in their hearts, the Prince and Princess of Wales

begin their first public journey,

returning through the packed streets of London

to Buckingham Palace.

[crowd cheers and claps]

There are those who say that the monarchy

has no relevance to modern British life.

Obviously, a lot of people don't agree.

[crowd cheers and claps]

Behind the newlyweds comes the queen,

accompanied by the Earl Spencer.

[crowd cheers and claps]

The Duke of Edinburgh with the bride's mother,

Mrs. Shand Kydd.

The Queen Mother with Prince Andrew.

[crowd claps and cheers]

Who can doubt the love and happiness that this couple

so obviously feel and shared.

So strong that for one inspiring day

a whole nation can forget its troubles

to unite in wishing them well.

[crowd claps and cheers]

The bridal carriage draws up at the grand entrance

to Buckingham Palace on as grand and happier day

as summer sun looked down on.

[uplifting music]

[crowd cheers]

Lady Sarah straightens out a few last problems

with that train.

[uplifting music]

Close behind the bridal couple,

the queen's carriage procession arrives.

[uplifting music]

The procession over, the crowd rushes

for the traditional vantage point of the palace railings.

Whilst behind a slender police cordon

The Mall fills with people like a thermometer

fills with mercury.

[people chatter]

And this is what they're waiting for.

An appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace,

which has seen so many royal and national occasions

in the past.

[crowd claps and cheers]

A kiss, which receives a roar of approval from the crowd

who called the couple back and back again onto the balcony.

It's hard to argue with half a million people

who know what they want.

[crowd claps and cheers]

And every single one was rewarded by this tender kiss.

[crowd claps and cheers]

[uplifting music]

At last, photographs taken, wedding breakfast eaten,

toasts drunk, and after fond farewells

the young couple managed to get away on their honeymoon.

A thoroughly unofficial addition to the 1902 state landau,

balloons decorated with the Prince of Wales feathers

and a notice proclaiming just married,

in case anyone didn't know.

It seems that princes of the blood or not

younger brothers are much the same everywhere.

Queen Victoria may not have been amused,

but everyone else was.

It's obvious, even trite to describe this tale

of the beautiful maid who marries a handsome prince

as a fairy story.

It's certainly sentimental to do so.

But what's wrong with that?

[uplifting music]