Di-hard Trivia: How Much Do You Know About Charles and Di's Wedding?

Estimated Completion Time
6 min
Di-hard Trivia: How Much Do You Know About Charles and Di's Wedding?
Image: Anwar Hussein/Wire Image/Getty Images

About This Quiz

Prince William's parents, Prince Charles and Diana Spencer, had a now-legendary wedding that was so spectacular, it set the bar for every future royal ceremony. Take this quiz to find out how much you know about Charles and Di's big day.
Where did Charles and Di's wedding take place?
Westminster Abbey
Buckingham Palace
St. Paul's Cathedral
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Charles and Di wed in the historic and prestigious St. Paul's Cathedral, which has been serving London's faithful since the year 604. Along with St. George's Chapel in Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's is one of the most popular locations for royal ceremonies.

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How many people took to the streets to see the royal bride and groom on their big day?
50,000
100,000
600,000
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Despite being an overcast, gray morning, more than 600,000 well-wishers lined the streets of London, hoping to catch a glimpse of Prince Charles and Princess Diana on their wedding day.

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Di's engagement ring was:
a huge diamond on a gold band
a large sapphire surrounded by diamonds
a simple gold band
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana's engagement ring remains a renowned piece jewelry with its beauty, craftsmanship and elegance. It consists of an 18-carat oval sapphire set in a platinum band, surrounded by 14 diamonds. Kate Middleton is currently sporting the sizeable rock on her left hand, as it was the ring Diana's eldest son, William, used to propose.

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Which businesses were closed on Charles and Diana's wedding day?
banks
government offices
almost all businesses in Britain
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The royal wedding was a big deal! In fact, the British government called for a bank holiday to mark the occasion, which is the same as a national holiday in the United States. Another bank holiday is scheduled for Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding day.

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How old was Diana when she married Prince Charles?
18
20
25
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana wasn't even close to being the youngest royal bride (that honor goes to Isabella of Valois, who was just six years old when she wed 15-year-old Richard II in 1396), but at 20, Diana was a good bit younger than her eldest son's future wife, Kate Middleton, who will be 29 on her wedding day.

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How many people were invited to Charles and Di's wedding?
500
2,000
3,500
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

And you thought your wedding guest list was out of control! Prince Charles and Princess Diana recited their royal "I do's" in front of 3,500 guests.

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Charles and Diana's wedding was one of the most popular:
television programs ever broadcast
royal family reunions of the 1980s
events that featured a horse and carriage
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Forget the "Cheers" send-off, final episode of "MASH" or any of the Super Bowl games. Prince Charles and Diana's wedding was viewed by an estimated 750 million people worldwide, making it one of the most-watched television programs ever broadcast.

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Lady Diana arrived to the ceremony in:
a limousine
a horse-drawn coach
her personal car
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Unlike Kate Middleton (who plans on riding in a car to her royal nuptials), Lady Diana stuck with tradition and rode in the glass carriage that has ferried most royal brides for more than 130 years, including Sarah Ferguson and then-Princess Elizabeth II.

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Who rode in the carriage with Diana?
her father, Earl Spencer
the queen
no one
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Lady Diana was escorted to the altar by her father, Earl Spencer. Think of it as a really, really long walk down the aisle, only the "aisle" started at the royal Clarence House and ended at St. Paul's.

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It was a pretty cramped ride for Diana in that carriage. What took up most of the room?
her dress
her bodyguards
It was just a really small carriage.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Even before she stepped out of the coach, it was obvious that Diana's dress was too big for her ride. Her face was barely visible, surrounded by a sea of white fabric that spilled over as soon as her door was opened.

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Diana's gown is still considered one of the most beautiful wedding dresses ever created, but what did snarky commentators point out when criticizing the gown?
the fabric
the length of the train
the wrinkles
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana's dress was nearly flawless, but when she got out of the carriage, it was noticeably wrinkled. This was to be expected, of course, as the gown barely fit into the coach, but that didn't stop wannabe fashionistas from complaining about it.

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How long was Di's train?
15 feet
25 feet
50 feet
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

She was marrying a future king, so you'd expect Diana's wedding dress to be something special, but her 25-foot train turned the already remarkable gown into a gorgeous, one-of-a-kind wedding dress that, to this day, we haven't seen topped.

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What did the public know about Princess Diana's wedding dress before the big day?
The public knew the designer, but nothing else.
Diana revealed the neckline and silhouette, but no other details.
Princess Diana's dress was kept a secret until the big day.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The details of Princess Di's wedding dress were closely guarded until the moment she stepped into public view. Appreciative gasps and cheers could be heard as the thousands of onlookers saw the bride in her beautiful gown for the first time.

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Who designed Di's wedding dress?
Versace
Christian Lacroix
Elizabeth and David Emanuel
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana chose young British designers Elizabeth and David Emanuel to create her one-of-a-kind wedding dress. Relatively unknown then, the Emanuel name is now recognized around the world in large part due to this spectacular gown.

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What popular wedding gown silhouette did Diana wear?
A-line
ball gown
mermaid
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana's dress simultaneously embraced and redefined the classic ball gown; to this day, brides everywhere choose this dress style to emulate the fashionable princess.

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From what fabric was Diana's dress constructed?
silk taffeta
silk gazar
satin
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana's dress was made from many different materials, but its primary fabric was ivory-colored pure silk taffeta. It also included lace panels and more than 10,000 hand-stitched pearls.

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The sleeves of Diana's gown were:
puffy
slim, bracelet-length
nonexistent -- she wore a strapless gown
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Remember, this is the 1980s we're talking about! It should come as no surprise that Diana's sleeves were puffy -- really, really puffy. The oversized sleeves draped down the bride's arms but somehow still managed to accentuate her slender frame.

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OK, so we've established that she wore a ball gown, but let's get even more technical. Diana's dress is considered an example of a ____ style.
true princess silhouette
meringue shape
duchess drape
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana's dress was big and puffy, so it's generally considered to be a meringue style. Think about a meringue cookie: It's small at the top, but it widens dramatically at the bottom. Same principle goes for meringue dresses -- the bride's neck and décolleté are accentuated by a slim fit while the rest of the dress flares fully.

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The neckline of Diana's dress was:
flirty sweetheart with a modest plunge
frilled with lace
perky mandarin collar
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana's neckline balanced the fullness of her dress. It was a modest, frilled lace neckline that gave her dress a historic vibe, but was still fashion-forward for the time.

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What trinket did Diana carry with her for good luck?
a tiny horseshoe
a rabbit's foot
a picture of her parents
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

For good luck, Diana had a tiny horseshoe sewn into her gown. However, this wasn't just some ordinary good-luck trinket: It was a golden horseshoe, studded with diamonds.

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How long did it take Diana to walk down the red-carpeted aisle after she got out of the carriage?
45 seconds
three and a half minutes
five minutes
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It might not seem like such a long time, but three and a half minutes is quite a while when you have the eyes of the world on you. Luckily, Diana didn't trip or waver, which is pretty impressive for a bride sporting a 25-foot train!

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Who escorted Diana up the steps of St. Paul's?
her father, Earl Spencer
two bridesmaids and a chauffeur
all of the above
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana started walking up the aisle the minute she stepped out of the glass carriage. Her father, Earl Spencer (who'd been ill for some time), escorted her with help from his chauffeur, and two of Diana's bridesmaids held her train.

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What kind of shoes did Diana wear?
satin shoes adorned with sapphires
white leather shoes trimmed with diamonds
silk duchess satin slippers covered with pearls
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

They may not have been made of glass, but Diana's slippers were certainly worthy of a fairy tale. Designed by Clive Shilton, the shoes were made from luxurious and expensive silk duchess satin. They also held more than 540 hand-stitched pearls and were dyed to match Diana's dress exactly.

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Besides being made from a pricey material, dyed with a special color and covered in pearls, how else were Diana's slippers special?
They were marked with a "C" and "D" for Charles and Diana.
They had a centuries-old postage stamp sewn into the fabric.
They were exact duplicates of Queen Victoria's wedding shoes from her wedding in 1840.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The soles of Diana's shoes were emblazoned with a hand-painted "C" and "D," which were entwined with a heart, symbolizing everlasting love between the bride and groom.

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What did Princess Diana call her groom, Charles Phillip Arthur George, when saying her vows?
Charles Phillip Arthur George
Phillip Charles Arthur George
Prince Charles
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Every bride is a bit nervous on her big day, so Princess Di can't be blamed for flubbing her groom's long name. She reversed his two first names (calling him Phillip Charles instead of Charles Phillip), but having the world's eyes on you at the altar can make a girl antsy!

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Diana might've mixed up her royal hubby's name during the ceremony, but Prince Charles wasn't without his verbal blunders, either. He said:
"thy goods" instead of "thy worldly goods"
"Dinana" instead of "Diana"
"yes" instead of "I do"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It wasn't a huge mistake, but Prince Charles said "thy goods" instead of "thy worldly goods" when marrying Princess Diana.

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What did Charles wear to the ceremony?
a tuxedo
a suit of armor
the uniform of a Naval Commander
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

On his wedding day, Prince Charles reminded everyone that he'd done more for his country than just wait to inherit the throne. He wed Diana in the full dress uniform of a Naval Commander, which he earned commanding the minesweeper HMS Bronington.

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What color was Prince Charles' sash?
black
blue
white
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Prince Charles proudly wore the blue sash of the Order of the Garter over his chest. The Order of the Garter is the oldest and most senior British Order of Chivalry and honors those who have served the sovereign, held public office or have contributed to or enhanced British life.

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What did Prince Charles wear around his neck when he wed Diana?
a ribbon from his mother's wedding bouquet
his Naval ring
a cross
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Prince Charles wore a cross around his neck, but it wasn't any ordinary Christian symbol. It was the cross of the Great Master of the Order of Bath, which is an order awarded to members of the British Armed Services and civil servants.

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Which of the following is not true about Camilla Parker-Bowles?
Camilla did not attend Charles and Di's wedding.
Camilla dated Charles before he married Di.
Camilla eventually married Charles in 2005.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Camilla and Charles were good friends, so it surprised no one that she made the guest list. In fact, in the 1970s, Charles and Camilla were an item before she married Andrew Parker-Bowles and the prince settled down with Diana. Charles and Camilla continued seeing each other, however, and their affair is one of the reasons many people believe his union with Diana didn't last.

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At whom did Prince Charles wink as he walked down the aisle?
his mother, the queen
Camilla Parker-Bowles
his cousin
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Prince Charles was beaming as he made his way down the aisle. He smiled broadly at his parents and gave a big wink to his cousin, 15-year-old Marina Ogilvy.

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What time of day did the ceremony take place?
morning
afternoon
evening
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

They weren't wed at the crack of dawn, but Charles and Diana still had a morning wedding. The ceremony began at 11:20 a.m.

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How many bridesmaids did Diana have?
two
five
eight
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

You'd expect a wedding this regal to have a lot of bridesmaids, but Di kept things reasonable with only five girls by her side.

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How old were Di's bridesmaids?
They were all younger than the bride.
They were all older than the bride.
Their ages varied.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Not all of Diana's bridesmaids were her age. Her maid of honor, Charles' cousin Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones was 17, but one of her bridesmaids was just a 5-year-old!

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How many groomsmen did Prince Charles have?
none
two
five
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Charles didn't have any groomsmen or a best man by his side when he and Diana said "I do." British royalty use "supporters" who play basically the same role as groomsmen and best men, and Charles had two: his brothers Andrew and Edward.

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Every bride needs something old, something borrowed and something blue. What did Diana use?
an old family ring, a borrowed chain necklace and a blue garter
old lace, a borrowed tiara and a blue bow
an old gold locket, a borrowed ring and blue hose
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana's something old was Queen Mary's antique lace, which was a major component of her dress. She borrowed the Spencer family tiara and had a blue bow sewn into the back of her dress.

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What color did the queen wear?
canary yellow
white -- she's the queen and can wear whatever she wants
aquamarine
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

She may be the queen, but even she won't break this wedding tradition! Queen Elizabeth II wore aquamarine to her son's wedding.

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What kind of service did Charles and Diana have?
traditional Church of England
Catholic
multi-denominational
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Charles and Di broke from tradition a bit when it came to their wedding. The Archbishop of Canterbury led the Church of England service, but many other clergymen from different denominations also played a role in the ceremony. So, while the service was decidedly Anglican, there was a noticeable multi-denominational feel to it.

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What kind of bouquet did Diana carry?
posy
cascade
arm sheaf
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

When considering Diana's bouquet, you have to think about her dress, which was really big. Therefore, only a cascading bouquet could match her grandiose style. This choice allowed Diana's flowers to gracefully spill over her hand, cascading towards the ground as if they were overflowing, just like her dress. The bouquet was 42 inches long and 15 inches wide.

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What kind of flowers did Diana include in her bouquet?
peonies, heather and white roses
stephanotis, gardenias and orchids
irises, red roses and orchids
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana's bouquet included numerous blooms, including stephanotis, gardenias and orchids. It also held lilies of the valley, freesia, ivy and myrtle.

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What is the name of the very rare bloom in Diana's bouquet?
Earl Mountbatten roses
Victoria's primrose
Arthurian larkspur
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Royalty gets the best of everything, especially when it comes to flowers. Diana's bouquet included Earl Mountbatten roses, which were special golden roses named after Charles' Uncle, Lord Louis Mountbatten, who was killed in a terrorist attack in 1979. Their color was so exquisite, the Mountbatten roses are said to have inspired the color of the bridesmaids' dresses.

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What piece of greenery in Diana's bouquet adhered to a royal tradition?
mistletoe
ivy
myrtle
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

It's tradition for a royal bride to include a sprig of myrtle from the bush grown from Queen Victoria's 1840 wedding bouquet. Since Victoria's wedding day, virtually every royal bride, including Diana, has incorporated one of these myrtle sprigs into her bouquet for good luck.

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What did Diana do with her bouquet?
She placed it on the Unknown Warrior's tomb.
She tossed it to her bridesmaids.
She kept it; you can still see it today in a collection of Diana's gowns and personal effects.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Like Queen Elizabeth II, Diana placed her bouquet on the tomb of the Unknown Warrior. It's now a traditional symbolic gesture that Kate Middleton is expected to uphold when she weds Prince William.

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The questions have gotten tough! We'll give you a break with an easy one -- in what month did Charles and Diana marry?
May
June
July
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The ceremony that would go on to be remembered as the wedding of the century took place on July 29, 1981.

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What tradition did Diana break when taking her vows?
She never promised to "obey" the prince.
She never promised to bear Charles any children.
She never promised to take Charles "for poorer" since she knew she wouldn't have to.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana's ceremony upheld and even expanded upon many of the grandiose royal wedding traditions of the Windsor clan, but she never agreed to "obey" her husband. Instead, she promised to "love him, comfort him, honor and keep him in sickness and in health."

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What was Diana's name before she married into the Windsor clan?
Diana Spencer
Lady Diana Spencer
Diana of Wales
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Diana's maiden name was Lady Diana Spencer. She was the daughter of Earl Spencer (whose given name was Edward John Spencer), so despite being known as the "people's princess," she did come from a royal background and was even a descendant of Charles II.

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When did Diana officially become a princess?
as soon as she said "I do"
30 days after the union was finalized
never -- she wasn't a royal by birth and only kept the title as long as she was married to Charles
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Although her formal title was Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales, and despite the fact the media referred to her as Princess Di, Diana was never actually a princess. Her official title only signified that she was married to the Prince of Wales, not that she was royalty by birth.

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Before exiting the cathedral with her new husband, what did Diana do for the queen?
She gave her the sprig of myrtle from her bouquet.
She performed a curtsy.
She embraced her.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

As a sign of respect, Princess Diana gave the queen a deep curtsy before leaving with Prince Charles. It was an expected gesture, but undoubtedly still made a good impression on Diana's new mother-in-law and sovereign.

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What music was played as Diana and Charles left St. Paul's?
Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance"
Mendelssohn's "Wedding March"
Handel's "Allegro Maestoso"
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Charles and Diana walked out of St. Paul's to Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance No. 4." Besides being a fittingly titled piece of music for their wedding, the upbeat tune was the perfect piece to introduce the newly married couple to the world.

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After their open-top carriage ride back to Buckingham Place, Prince Charles and Princess Diana made one final appearance for the crowds. What did they do?
They made a champagne toast to the people of Britain.
They fed each other a slice of wedding cake.
They kissed on the balcony.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Before retiring from public view to their much more personal 120-person reception, Charles and Diana stepped out onto the palace balcony and kissed. It was a royal smooch for the ages -- the waiting crowd below went wild, and many expect Prince William and Kate Middleton to pucker up on the same spot for posterity's sake.

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