Whatever advice you think the late Queen Elizabeth gave her soon-to-be daughter-in-law Camilla Parker-Bowles on her wedding day to Prince Charles on April 9, 2005—we guarantee that’s not the advice Her late Majesty actually gave.
Apparently, according to The Daily Mail and a lip reader combing through footage from that day 18 years ago, the late Queen’s advice—as well as the topic du jour of the day—centered around Camilla’s decision to wear an elaborate feathered headpiece, which nearly blew away in a gust of wind at the ceremony.
A lip reader unearthing footage from the day said that Queen Elizabeth warned Camilla to not wear it, but Camilla didn’t pay heed, and Camilla “famously battled the wind to keep her headpiece in place as she and Prince Charles emerged from their civil marriage ceremony at Windsor Guildhall,” The Daily Mail writes.
Of the moment when Camilla’s feathers almost flew away, Queen Elizabeth told her eldest son Charles, simply, “I did warn her, wearing feathers.”
Thankfully, Camilla was able to keep the headpiece in place as she and her brand-new husband chatted briefly to members of the public outside of the Guildhall, before they went off to have their marriage blessed by the Archbishop of Canterbury at St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle (where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and, a few months later, Jack Brooksbank and Princess Eugenie, would later marry in 2018).
As Charles and Camilla emerged from the Guildhall as husband and wife, they were smiling, talking to one another, and waving at the cheering crowd; but then, much like the new Duchess of Westminster (formerly Olivia Henson) at her high-society wedding this past Friday, June 7, “they were battered by big gusts of wind,” The Daily Mail reports.
“Hold on tight,” the lip reader claimed Charles said, before, four seconds later, the future King declared “All well done.” Then, in a remark about the crowd, he apparently said “Everyone is coming; they are very curious,” to which Camilla responds “Are they?” Charles then tells his bride “You made it down/now,” before speaking about the wind, saying “I’m not sure we should’ve.” (What would we do for entertainment if not for lip readers dissecting in detail 18 year old wedding videos?) “They’re carrying on regardless,” Camilla then exclaimed, to which Charles tried to reassure her, telling her “We can have a long chat.” Camilla, in response, simply said “Yes.”
But then, the feather debacle again—at this point, “the Queen [Elizabeth] is seen on footage joining the newlyweds, and is greeted by Charles as she stands behind to Camilla’s left and speaks to her,” The Daily Mail writes. As a flustered Camilla tried to hold down her headpiece, she told Queen Elizabeth “Oh, my hair. I think the feathers are flying!” Queen Elizabeth, bemused by this point, makes a quick response before moving to stand directly behind Charles, who said “Oops.” Camilla, still on this subject somehow, then said “I wish I hadn’t had feathers,” to which Charles joked “They look awful.” (Not quite as harsh as “Whatever in love means,” but not what one wants to hear out of her groom’s mouth, nonetheless.)
Seemingly the vast majority of the conversation outside is about these damn feathers; Charles joked again, telling Camilla “You’re only going to poke my eye,” to which Camilla, defeated, replied “If only they’d blow away. It really wasn’t a very good idea.” (Pro tip: always listen to Queen Elizabeth.)
As Charles and Camilla go to greet the crowd assembled, Queen Elizabeth then turns to talk to her husband, Prince Philip, telling him “We’re leaving immediately. It’s so windy.”
Camilla, in addition to this disastrous headpiece, wore a pale blue chiffon gown with a golden embroidered long-sleeved coat over the top of it; and, though the lip reader certainly sensed her frustration at the headwear choice, all that mattered in the end was that, after such a rollercoaster to get there, Charles and Camilla were married. As they greeted well-wishers and began to make their way towards leaving the Guildhall, Charles said both that “It was wonderful” and, sweetly, “I must say, it was something special.”
Eighteen years later, we hope it still is.
