The Best and Worst Dressed Royal Wedding Guests

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have thrown one of the most anticipated royal weddings in history, with 600 A-list guests joining them to celebrate.

It’s the perfect opportunity for a celebrity fashion show and there’s been some absolutely wonderful outfits. With such strict etiquette rules for guest to follow, unsurprisingly there’s been a few faux pas too!

Here are the best and worst dressed celebrity guests and the etiquette rules they need to follow!

The Best Dressed Guests At Prince Harry and Meghan’s Royal Wedding

After an amazing show at the MET Gala, Amal Clooney proved she can do no wrong with her royal wedding guest dress. The bright yellow structured gown by Stella McCartney and matching hat looked stunning in the sunshine and was on point with the trend for jewel-coloured gowns for 2018.

At such a momentous event, Victoria has chosen wisely with her stately and elegant outfit – with just a hint of cleavage for added glamour. The colour-clashing heels are a stylish finishing touch.

Pippa Middleton showed how to do maternity wear right. The pleats on her pale turquoise floral gown skimmed over her small bump and was a stylish but comfortable choice. Pippa has stuck to wearing heels, but she’s cleverly picked a small kitten heel.

James Blunt and wife Sofia Wellesley are one smart couple! Her vibrant floral dress is totally on-trend and taps into those jewel colours that are a big theme of the guests’ outfits.

US royalty Oprah opted for a gorgeous blush pink shade that looked chic and elegant. Although Meghan’s American guests were thought to have been concerned about adhering to the very British outfit rules, Oprah has stepped up admirably. Her statement hat is a great finishing touch.

How fabulous do these two look! US actress Abigail Spencer (left) who starred with Meghan is Suits, chose a blue and white polka dot dress with matching fascinator, with a wonderful vintage vibe. Actress Priyanka Chopra opted for a structured lilac suit, sticking to the pastels trend for 2018 weddings.

Tom Hardy looks slightly scary looking with his shaved head, but together with wife Charlotte Riley they sure do look good! Her floral dress and matching textured hat is fabulous and the ruffled shape at the bottom adds that touch of whismy. Tom’s navy checked suit is equally sharp.

Tennis ace Serena Williams chose a surprisingly similar outfit to fellow American Oprah, but she pulls off the light salmon outfit with aplomb. Her hat is a wonderful touch to an elegant outfit. The height draws the eye without being ostentatious.

Carey looked refined and happy in her nude-coloured dress with a bright foliage pattern as she entered with her husband Marcus Mumford. We love the knotted neckline.

The Queen was the most stylish grandmother in the room, of course. She wore Pantone’s colour of the year ultraviolet on both her hat and patterned dress, mixing it with stand-out lime green. It’s only right that The Queen should make the best dressed list!

The Worst Dressed Guests At Prince Harry and Meghan’s Royal Wedding

Actor Patrick J Adams who plays Meghan’s on-screen husband Mike Ross in Suits was accompanied by his real-life wife Troian Bellisario, best known for her role on TV show Pretty Little Liars. However, Troian must have missed the rule not to wear white at a wedding, as she chose an off-white, champagne silk dress for the day. It’s always best to avoid any colour too close to white.

While Chloe Madeley stuck to the knee-length dress rule, her decision to keep her shoulders bare with a low, almost-plunging neckline isn’t the most respectful outfit for a royal and religious venue with the head of state in attendance. The dress just isn’t quite right for the occasion.

Idris Elba looked dapper in a navy suit as he arrived with his fiancee Sabrina Dhowre, but her outfit felt unsuitable for such a warm day and happy occasion. It isn’t perhaps the done thing at a royal wedding to wear a fashion label quite so evidently – there’s no escaping the fact this is Gucci.

Cressida Bonas’s garish choice is risky considering she’s attending the wedding of an ex-boyfriend. One key rule is never distract from the bride!

Singer Joss Stone chose an incredibly safe outfit for Harry and Meghan’s wedding. The white floral dress is perfectly nice, but Joss is known for her bohemian, ethereal style and this feels outside her comfort zone.

What Are the Royal Wedding Etiquette Rules for Dressing?

On Harry and Meghan’s wedding invitations, the dress code was very clearly set as “uniforms, morning suit or lounge suit, day dress and hat”. These are very traditionally British dress protocols and it’ll be interesting to see how they’re interpreted by Meghan’s American guests.

For Men

It’s been reported that some of Meghan’s Suits co-stars were struggling with what “morning suit” even means. You’ll recognise it as the suit which has a long morning coat, waistcoast and trousers, while a lounge suit is just a matching jacket and trouser suit. A big no-no would be to have a suit in anything other than a dark colour.

If you’re in the military, you can wear your dress uniform as former soldier Harry is expected to do. However, you’re not allowed to bring ceremonial swords with you (try checking that in at the cloakroom) and you must display medals correctly (see the faux pas below).

For Women

Women must wear hats or fascinators and while colour is encouraged, don’t go too wild – who can forget the stir Princess Beatrice’s Philip Treacy antler headpiece caused? This is a strict must for female guests at royal weddings and often guests will wear matching-coloured dresses.

Day dresses should be interpreted as knee-length or longer; plunging necklines and rising hems must be avoided. Avoid showing off your shoulders – you don’t have to dress as conservatively as a nun but almost all royal weddings take place in a church and an amount of respect is expected to be shown. The rules have relaxed on women wearing hoisery now, so you can put those tights down.

It goes without saying that no guest should wear white on Meghan’s wedding day and all black is too funereal too. Wear colour and the Queen is a huge fan of block colouring so take inspiration from her.

Best Dressed Past Royal Wedding Guests

There have been lots of past royal weddings and royal wedding guests for us to cast a sartorial eye over. Here are some the best.

Kate looked stunning in an understated blush-pink custom dress by Alexander McQueen, who also designed her wedding dress. It was the perfect look to keep attention on bride Pippa but still look on-trend. The matching fascinator topped off the look.

The Queen is well-known for her love of a single-coloured dress coat. Her lemon-yellow one at William’s wedding was smart, chic and just the right level of bright for an April wedding.

Sophie Winkleman wore a beautiful Giorgio Armani dress and coat with a Philip Treacy hat that looked elegant and sophisticated at William and Kate’s wedding.

Queen Sofia of Spain sparkled in jewel-like purple at Kate and Will’s wedding, but it was the now-Queen Letizia’s blush tone that proved all matching could be a wonderful thing.

Princess Beatrice wasn’t afraid of colour at cousin Zara Phillip’s wedding and it really works here. Turquoise and florals were both big trends at the time and she wore them beautifully in this Angela Kelly ensemble.

Past Royal Wedding Guest Dress Faux Pas

David Beckham caused a commotion at William and Kate’s wedding in 2011 when he wore his OBE medal on the wrong lapel. The former football arrived with it attached to the right side of his jacket rather than the left and quickly had to shift it over inside Westminster Abbey.

Well done to Victoria though, who showed everyone how to do maternity dressing in style!

Donna Air was the plus one for James Middleton when they attended his sister Pippa’s wedding last year. But she raised eyebrows by wearing a cream Emilia Wickstead coat dress that bordered on breaking the ‘no white at a wedding’ rule.

Actress Katherine Kelly threatened to upstage the bride with her hat at Zara Phillips’ wedding. Not only did she go for too garish a shade, but she showed off her shoulder which isn’t the done thing at royal weddings.

Check out our pick of summer wedding guest dresses here.