‘You look beautiful’ –words that told story of big day

When Kate arrived at the high altar of Westminster Abbey and William turned to her, for his first sight of his bride on their wedding day, he spoke, simply and movingly. “You look beautiful,” he said, and she did.

A million people were on the streets outside and two billion more were watching on television around the world, but at that instant they might have been alone, so natural and unforced was the look they exchanged.

This was a royal wedding unlike any other in recent decades. Yes there was pomp, yes there was the sort of pageantry that only Britain in full-dress uniform can stage, yes there was the sense of occasion on an epic scale. But what gave it its magic was a sense of something else quieter, more heartfelt, infinitely more important – that this truly was a union of hearts and minds.

A decade of courtship had led to the abbey, and standing before the altar were two young people who knew each other far better than any royal couple since Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten stood on the same spot in November 1947.

There were other indications of the closeness of the couple. William chatted easily and smilingly with Kate’s family before the service began, and his choice of uniform, the red of the Irish Guards, must surely have been for the regiment’s motto; Quis Separabit – Who Shall Separate Us?

That air of closeness between future king and his queen was what brought people out in such numbers. Many had camped overnight, bagging the best positions along The Mall and outside Buckingham Palace, and more yet flooded into the centre of the capital as dawn broke grey and overcast. They spanned all ages, classes and creeds – those whose memories went back to wartime and George VI, those who had never known a time without the Queen, those who saw in the happiness of William and Kate echoes of their own lives.

Eventually, the Metropolitan Police estimated that these unofficial, but most welcome, wedding guests numbered a million, and before the day was even half over the capital would echo to their cheers.

The first of the 1,900 official guests began arriving at the abbey shortly after 8am as the build-up to what was a global event began to gather momentum. As the minutes ticked past towards 11am, and the scheduled start of the service, the biggest television audience in history was settling down to watch.

It was 45 minutes before the service began that the pace quickened, when William and his brother and best man, Harry, in the uniform of the Blues and Royals, appeared and headed for the abbey, waving and smiling at the crowds lining the route. If the groom was nervous, he showed few signs, greeting friends and circulating amongst the guests before he and Harry made their way to a side chapel to prepare for the service.

Their father and the Duchess of Cornwall arrived soon afterwards, and then, 20 minutes before the ceremony, a huge roar from the crowd greeted the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh as they left Buckingham Palace.

All eyes now turned to the Goring Hotel, where Kate had spent her final night as both a single woman and a commoner. The first glimpse of the dress that had been the subject of so much fevered speculation came at nine minutes before the hour, when she emerged and was assisted into the car that would carry her, and her father Michael.

It was only a short journey, but it was entirely in the joyous spirit of the day.

Behind a veil of the most delicate lace, Kate was radiant, beaming at the well-wishers as she passed, waving not with regal reserve but with undisguised delight.

She didn’t keep the groom waiting for long, arriving at the abbey on the stroke of 11am as the bells rang out. Inside, the nave had been dressed with trees as well as flowers, and the guests had their eyes fixed on the Great West Door, craning their necks to get a first sight of her.

Her descent from the car was grace itself as her bridesmaids spread the train of her gown behind her and she headed along the red carpet that led to the altar, as Psalm 122, I Was Glad, was sung by the choirs. She smiled ever more broadly as she approached. William kept his eyes front, but his brother turned his head to look, smiled and told him that she was here, arriving at the altar just six minutes after the scheduled start of the service.

It was the moment of the day as their eyes met and he told her that she looked beautiful; they were plainly slightly nervous, and William opted to ease the tension, and acknowledge that the eyes of the world were on them, by cracking a joke to his soon-to-be father-in-law that was relayed by a lip-reader: “We’re supposed to have just a small family affair.”

Despite the joke, the nerves remained; William’s voice had the tiniest of cracks as he said “I will”, and he fumbled slightly as he placed the ring on Kate’s finger, getting it momentarily stuck. No matter; the crowds outside the abbey, who had cheered as the couple exchanged vows made themselves heard louder than ever as the archbishop pronounced them man and wife, at which, a few feet away from her grandson, the Queen smiled broadly.

There was another exchange of the most tender of looks between the newlyweds as the anthem was played, and prayers said. Jerusalem, followed by the National Anthem, provided the most rousing of endings to the service before the newly-created Duke and Duchess of Cambridge proceeded through the nave, smiling and nodding to friends and family.

There was a new crescendo of cheers as the couple emerged from the abbey, and William put on his cap and gloves before helping his bride into the 1902 State Landau that would take them to the palace. If the crowds gathered in London had been joyous in the lead-up to the wedding, now they were ecstatic. A sea of Union jacks were waved as the open-top landau passed by under escort from mounted guardsmen, the happy couple inside waving and smiling.

And then, another magical moment on this most glorious of days – as the landau approached Buckingham Palace, the cloud broke and the sun came out.

Close behind them came the Queen, Harry with the bridesmaids, Charles and Camilla. And there the pomp stopped – the remainder of the guests were ferried from the abbey in a fleet of minibuses.

This was a day that needed a finale, and it came an hour later on the palace balcony.

The police allowed the crowds to surge farther and farther forwards, until they were before the gates, and every space around the Victoria Monument was taken.

All eyes were turned upwards, and at 1.25pm William and Kate stepped out to the biggest cheer of the day. The crowd wanted to see a kiss, and they got it, two minutes later, as he leaned in, kissed her on the lips, and she giggled. There was an encore before they went back inside a few minutes later, moments after a fly-past by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight and four modern warplanes, two Typhoons and two Tornados.

It was over – a day filled with joy, pageantry and tenderness had come to the most natural and unforced of conclusions, a day of optimism that brought millions together in celebration, not just at the obvious happiness of a young couple, but in the feeling that they had witnessed a bright new start for the monarchy.