Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in the royal wedding of the century on July 29, 1981.After forgetting to kiss at the altar, the couple rectified the error on the Buckingham Palace balcony in front of 600,000 onlookers.Queen Elizabeth, Diana\u2019s new mother-in-law, gave a piece of advice to Diana as they waved at the crowds below.<\/p>\n
On July 29, 1981, 600,000 people gathered on the streets of London to catch a glimpse of Prince Charles<\/a> and Princess Diana<\/a> on their wedding day, BBC<\/a> reported. After marrying at St. Paul\u2019s Cathedral\u2014and forgetting to kiss at the altar\u2014the new Prince and Princess of Wales headed to Buckingham Palace, where they stepped out on the palace\u2019s balcony and started a tradition that continues with royal weddings up to the present day.\n<\/p>\n On the balcony, Diana interacted with not just her husband Charles but also her mother-in-law Queen Elizabeth<\/a>, who told Diana as they were waving to the crowds of people below them to \u201clook\u201d at all of the people who had \u201cbeen there all day\u201d to see her, per a lip reader speaking to The Daily Mail<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n Princess Diana, Prince Charles, and Queen Elizabeth on the Buckingham Palace balcony.<\/p>\n Getty<\/p>\n Per Brides<\/a>, the lip reader also caught that Charles told Diana, \u201cYou look perfect.\u201d After the two forgot to kiss at the altar, Charles apparently sought to rectify that error, asking Diana for her hand and saying, \u201cKissy.\u201d It\u2019s a tradition that\u2019s been carried on by royal couples since\u2014with Prince William<\/a> and Kate Middleton<\/a> even sneaking in two balcony kisses for good measure.\n<\/p>\n The night before the wedding, royal biographer Penny Junor wrote in her book The Duchess: The Untold Story that Charles sent Diana a secret letter and a gift to alleviate her understandable nerves. \u201cThe night before the wedding, which Diana spent at Clarence House with her sister Jane, he sent her a note along with a signet ring bearing the Prince of Wales feathers,\u201d Junor wrote. The note read, according to Junor, \u201cI\u2019m so proud of you, and when you come up, I\u2019ll be there at the altar for you tomorrow. Just look \u2018em in the eye and knock \u2018em dead.\u201d\n<\/p>\n Princess Diana and Prince Charles kissing on their wedding day.<\/p>\n Getty<\/p>\n Princess Diana and Prince Charles on July 29, 1981.<\/p>\n Getty<\/p>\n Yet not every account of the night before Charles and Diana\u2019s wedding was as positive. \u201cOne of the most shocking things that Diana told me was that the night before the wedding, Charles told her that he didn\u2019t love her,\u201d Diana\u2019s astrologer Penny Thornton said in the ITV documentary The Diana Interview: Revenge of a Princess. \u201cI think Charles didn\u2019t want to go into the wedding on a false pretense. He wanted to square it with her, and it was devastating for Diana.\u201d\n<\/p>\n