As glamorous as royal weddings seem, there’s one big downside that comes with marrying a member of the monarchy: Your wedding day probably isn’t going to look exactly the way you imagined it would. After all, there are century of tradition that need to be upheld, from the location of the ceremony to the bride’s bouquet. But when Kate Middleton married Prince William, there was one part of her wedding day that she was not willing to budge on.
While talking about the couple’s 2011 nuptials in the documentary William & Kate: The Journey, royal expert Ashley Pearson revealed that Kate’s wedding day hairstyle wasn’t what the royal family envisioned for her, as Express reported.
“Royal sources tell me that the royals indicated very strongly to Kate that they would prefer her to wear her hair up for this very special occasion,” she said.
Though Princess Diana‘s hair was short when she married then-Prince Charles in 1981, other royal women had always worn updos when they walked down the aisle, including the late Queen Elizabeth, who pinned hers back during her 1947 wedding to Prince Philip.
Kate, however, was reportedly bound and determined to wear her long hair down, no matter what the senior royals believed she should do.
“Kate had her heart set on wearing her hair down with long flowing curls, which is her favorite way to wear it and actually William’s favorite as well,” Ashley added in the documentary
But when it came to his wedding look, Will wasn’t so lucky. According to what he told royal biographer Robert Hardman, the red uniform he wore to say his vows wasn’t his first choice and he had to take the Queen’s orders.
“I wanted to decide what to wear for the wedding. I was given a categorical: ‘No, you’ll wear this!'” he said, per Marie Claire UK. “So you don’t always get what you want, put it that way … But I knew perfectly well that it was for the best. That ‘no’ is a very good ‘no’. So you just do as you’re told! We had a couple of discussions on this matter but, as I learnt growing up, you don’t mess with your grandmother.”
Though William didn’t get his way, it’s hard to fault Kate for insisting on having the wedding hairstyle she wanted. After all, there’s no doubt she wanted to look and feel her best when tying the knot – especially with millions of people from all around the world tuning in to see the future queen of England on her big day.
Besides, she looked gorgeous, so it appears it was worth the risk of upsetting senior royals in the end. In that moment, she became an icon.
