Prince William glances at Kate with a look of love as the couple enter Westminster Abbey
It was a look of love and admiration captured in an instant. When Prince William entered Westminster Abbey, he glanced at his wife as if to say he was the happiest man in the world.
Not because he is the heir to the throne, but because he has such a wonderful woman by his side.
Like most busy moms, she didn’t seem to notice the compliment—perhaps because she was busy checking over her shoulder to see how the kids were doing.
Still, the weight of the moment would certainly not have escaped her notice. It was almost 12 years ago that William and Kate were married at the Abbey.
He was a timid prince and she was a royal novice.
It was a look of love and admiration captured in an instant. When Prince William entered Westminster Abbey, he glanced at his wife as if to say he was the happiest man in the world
Like most busy moms, she didn’t seem to notice the compliment—perhaps because she was busy checking over her shoulder to see how the kids were doing.
Now they’re confident senior Royals, returning as the Prince and Princess of Wales – and with three little Waleses too.
Not only do they seem more confident, but clearly more in love than ever before.
Wearing formal robes and cloaks – as requested by the king – even dazzled Kate without a tiara.
Instead, she opted for a delicate three-dimensional headpiece with leaves, made of silver, crystal and silver thread.
Not the work of a crown jeweller, this was a collaboration between milliner Jess Collett and the Alexander McQueen fashion studio.
She also wore a dress by Alexander McQueen – the same fashion house that made her wedding dress.
Yesterday’s ivory silk crêpe with precious silver would have passed for a wedding dress under different circumstances.
Thoughtful thread embroidery with motifs of roses, thistles, daffodils and shamrocks to celebrate the four nations of the union.
The George VI pendulum necklace she wore was a nod to the late Queen, made in 1950 by King George VI for his daughter, then Princess Elizabeth.
During a recent walkabout, Kate told a member of the public that the family missed Diana, Princess of Wales every day.
Yesterday, Kate paid tribute to her late mother-in-law by wearing her pearl and diamond earrings.
Yesterday, Kate paid tribute to her late mother-in-law by wearing her pearl and diamond earrings. The real family jewels for the Welsh, however, are their three children
The real family jewels for the Welsh, however, are their three children.
Together, the Fab Five ensure a safe and happy future for a family plagued by tragedy and division.
Prince George, nine, was an impeccable pageboy to his grandfather, the King, and served him until his appearance on the balcony.
His sister, Princess Charlotte, eight, was charming all the way, watching her parents for a smile and the occasional chuckle.
Dressed by the same designer as her mother, she bit her lip and seemed deep in thought during the service, taking it all in.
Little Prince Louis, five, watched before being whisked away after the first hymn and a small yawn.
He returned for the national anthem finale and a carriage ride back to the palace with his family.
It’s not just the kids who have grown so fast. Since becoming the Prince and Princess of Wales, both William and Kate seem to have grown in stature.
The day before the coronation, a relaxed Kate not only posed for selfies with crowds at the Mall, but even spoke on the phone to an ailing aunt in America.
After enduring Prince Harry’s slings and arrows in Montecito, they weather the storms and come through them smiling.
Kate – and the Middleton family, who attended the service – should be credited not only with raising the kids, but helping William grow as he tends to show his softer side.
His relationship with his father therefore seems stronger.
One of the most moving elements of the ceremony was the simple kiss he gave the king after paying homage on bended knee.
On a day of extraordinary emotion, a humble Charles III seemed to say, “Thank you, William.”
It was a moment of regeneration for the Royals. Whatever the splendor of the occasion, the core of it is a family.
The kiss for the king was written, but it was nevertheless sincere.
If Charles’s coronation was a marriage between king and public, William was his best man.
And what comfort he must find in William.
The next big formal event for the royal family could be an investiture of William as the Prince of Wales, but aides say it’s “off the table” at the moment.
However, what is ‘on the table’ is a drive to support good causes.
For one day – indeed sooner than the previous seven decades of waiting – we should expect William to be king and, in time, George too.
The monarchy will then look different.
But with the Welsh waiting in the wings, the future seems – somehow – to be happy and glorious.