Watch: Princess Kate's sister Pippa Middleton's first bridesmaid duty we almost missed

Publish date: 2024-06-01

The Princess of Wales asked for help as she arrived at Westminster Abbey

The Princess of Wales stepped out of the car at Westminster Abbey to a chorus of screams and cheers from royal fans on her wedding day with Prince William on 29 April 2011.

She was accompanied by her father Michael Middleton, who then walked her down the aisle, and her sister Pippa Middleton, who was a beautiful bridesmaid. Designed by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen, Kate's long-sleeved, lace wedding dress with its nipped-in corseted waist, padded hips and 8.85-foot train has gone on to influence hundreds of brides – but it was also the reason why Pippa's duties were called on so early in the day. 

WATCH: Princess Kate asking for her sister Pippa's help moments before royal wedding with Prince William

Plenty of photos have documented the first glimpses of beautiful bride Princess Kate and her glamorous younger sister, who wore a figure-skimming, cowl-neck white bridesmaid dress. Pippa later joked that the gown she wore to her sister's royal wedding fitted "a little too well", following lots of attention over her figure. 

DISCOVER: Why do royal bridesmaids wear white?

"As I have found out, recognition has its upside, its downside and – you may say – its backside," Pippa joked at a dinner held by Women in Advertising and Communications London group.

Michael Middleton looked like a proud father-of-the-bride on the way to the wedding 

Revealing that she was so nervous before her sister's wedding that she didn't sleep for two days, she said of her bridesmaid dress that she was just "glad it fitted" at the time, but added, "In retrospect, it fitted a little too well!"

As they entered the majestic wedding venue, Pippa went on to keep a watchful eye over the Princess' other young bridesmaids and page boys, including  Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex and Forfar's daughter Lady Louise Windsor and Queen Consort Camilla and her ex-husband Andrew Parker Bowles' granddaughter Eliza.

Pippa went on to look after the other royal bridesmaids and page boys

Prince William and Princess Kate exchanged vows in front of around 1,900 guests before celebrating with a smaller guest list of 600 people at a luncheon at Buckingham Palace, hosted by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

FIND OUT: Why Peter Phillips' ex-wife Autumn was 'frightened' at royal wedding

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