page_title: Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton
section_title: Groom and best man
hierarchical_section_title: Wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton / Ceremony / Wedding attire / Groom and best man
caption_attribution_description: Prince William on the Balcony at Buckingham Palace following his wedding
context_page_description: The wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton took place on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in London, United Kingdom. The groom, Prince William, is second in the line of succession to the British throne. The bride, Catherine Middleton, had been his girlfriend since 2003.
  The Dean of Westminster, John Hall, presided at the service; the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, conducted the marriage; Richard Chartres, the Bishop of London, preached the sermon; and a reading was given by the bride's brother, James. William's best man was his brother, Prince Harry, while the bride's sister, Pippa, was maid of honour. The ceremony was attended by the bride's and groom's families, as well as members of foreign royal dynasties, diplomats, and the couple's chosen personal guests. After the ceremony, the couple made the traditional appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace. As Prince William was not the heir apparent to the throne, the wedding was not a full state occasion and many details were left to the couple to decide, such as much of the guest list of about 1,900.
  Prince William and Kate Middleton met in 2001.
context_section_description: Prince William wore an Irish Guards mounted officer's uniform in Guard of Honour Order with a forage cap, rather than the bearskin hat. As a serving Royal Air Force flight lieutenant who also held the equivalent Royal Navy rank of lieutenant and army rank of captain in the Blues and Royals, William could have chosen to wear the uniform of any of these junior officer ranks.  However, as he had been appointed colonel of the Irish Guards on 10 February 2011, he opted instead to wear the full dress uniform of that regiment. As a Knight of the Order of the Garter, he wore the order's star and blue riband, to which were affixed his RAF wings and Golden Jubilee Medal. William did not wear a sword in the church.
  Prince Harry wore the uniform of a captain of the Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons), with a forage cap. He wore aiguillettes, a cross-belt and gold waist belt with sword slings, but no sword. He wore the wings of the Army Air Corps and Golden Jubilee and Afghanistan Campaign medals.
  Designer Russell Kashket worked with the Princes to address concerns they had with the outfits. One such concern was the heat of the Abbey, so the designers used special material to absorb the heat while still achieving the desired look. Further, military dress uniforms do not traditionally have pockets, but the palace requested that some sort of compartment be added to Harry's outfit so that Catherine's wedding ring would not be lost.
caption: Prince William in uniform
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