Royal Weddings at Westminster Abbey: Who Married Here

Short answer: the Abbey counts 16 royal weddings, from Henry I and Matilda of Scotland in 1100 to Prince William and Catherine Middleton on 29 April 2011. Queen Elizabeth II married Prince Philip there on 20 November 1947, and Princess Margaret, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew all married there too. Since 1923, royal brides have left their bouquets on the grave of the Unknown Warrior.

Which royals married here

The Abbey says that only 16 royal weddings have taken place in the church. Wikipedia lists these:

Year	Couple
1100	Henry I and Matilda of Scotland
1243	Richard, Earl of Cornwall, and Sanchia of Provence
1269	Edmund, Earl of Leicester, and Aveline de Forz
1382	Richard II and Anne of Bohemia
1486	Henry VII and Elizabeth of York
1919	Princess Patricia of Connaught and Alexander Ramsay
1922	Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles
1923	Prince Albert, Duke of York (later George VI), and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
1934	Prince George, Duke of Kent, and Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark
1947	Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten
1960	Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones
1963	Princess Alexandra of Kent and Angus Ogilvy
1973	Princess Anne and Mark Phillips
1986	Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson
2011	Prince William and Catherine Middleton

Notice the gap. After 1486 there were no royal weddings here for more than four centuries. Princess Patricia’s wedding on 27 February 1919 opened the modern run, and Wikipedia lists nine royal weddings in the 20th century.

Two of the medieval couples are still in the Abbey: Richard II and Anne of Bohemia lie in St Edward the Confessor’s Chapel, and Henry VII and Elizabeth of York in the Lady Chapel. See the royal tombs.

The Abbey notes that George VI and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon exchanged vows at the High Altar in April 1923, and that Princess Alexandra, Princess Anne and Prince Andrew were all married on the steps of the High Altar. Princess Elizabeth’s wedding in 1947 took place, the Abbey says, during post-war austerity.

Prince William and Catherine in 2011

Prince William and Catherine Middleton married on Friday 29 April 2011. They are now the Prince and Princess of Wales.

• Officiants: the Dean of Westminster, John Hall, led most of the service; the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, conducted the marriage; and the Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, preached.
• Guests: about 1,900 people attended in the Abbey.
• Audience: Wikipedia reports a UK peak of 26.3 million viewers.
• The dress: designed by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen.
• The music: the Choir of Westminster Abbey sang.

Their marriage licence is now on show in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries.

Who else can marry here

The Abbey’s website does not offer weddings to the public or set out who may marry there. If you need the current position, ask the Abbey directly.

The Lady Chapel, the chapel of the Order of the Bath, has its own small organ, the Queen’s Organ, which the Abbey uses mainly for small services such as weddings and memorials.

The bouquet on the Unknown Warrior

Royal brides married in the Abbey leave their bouquets on the grave of the Unknown Warrior. The custom began in 1923, when Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, who had lost a brother in the First World War, laid hers on the grave on her wedding day.

Brides have followed it since. In 2011, Catherine’s bouquet was placed on the tomb after the photographs had been taken. The Abbey notes that royals married elsewhere have sent their bouquets afterwards, including Princess Diana, and Queen Camilla’s coronation bouquet was laid there in 2023. More in the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.

What you can see of it today

On a visit you can stand at the places where the weddings happened:

• The High Altar and the steps in front of it, on the standard route.
• The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at the west end of the nave, where the bouquets are laid.
• The marriage licence of Prince William and Catherine Middleton in the Galleries (separate £5 ticket, no photos).

The Westminster Abbey entrance ticket ($43) covers the church. The VIP tour with the Galleries ($179) is the only listing we sell that includes Galleries tickets, with a Blue Badge guide. Compare every option on our tours page.