Royal Wedding Winners, Losers: Angry Little Bridesmaid, Pippa, Bea And More
10 photos
<p>The official Royal portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Carmbridge with their families and wedding party</p>
<b>Grace van Cutsem, (CRANKY) WINNER</b>: Okay, Pippa Middleton may have been the bombshell bridesmaid, but little 3-year-old Grace van Cutsem is certainly the angry bridesmaid. The child, who is Prince William's goddaughter, was captured in many photographs and video looking annoyed and perturbed by the loud cheers (and the Royal Airforce Flyover). And it turns out wee Grace is the daughter of Hugh van Cutsem and Lady Rose Astor (as in John Jacob AstorâLady Rose is a descendant of the New York branch of Astors that <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/royalwedding/2011/04/29/2011-04-29_bridesmaid_grace_van_cutsem_3_covers_her_ears_while_crowd_shouts_for_william_and.html">includes John Jacob Astor</a>).
<b>Pippa Middleton, WINNER</b>: The bride's younger sister was wonderful in assisting her sister with the wedding gown's long train and at ease with the younger bridesmaid and page boys. But Pippa became a <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/royalwedding/little_sis_pippa_maid_splash_Yk9TjNxV31YSU4gty4oX9L">near-instant fashion icon</a> in her body-skimming white Alexander McQueen bridesmaid dress. Us Magazine called her "Hottest bridesmaid ever!" and British papers practically acted like it was the first time they had seen the 27-year-oldâ<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1381873/Royal-wedding-2011-Kate-Middletons-sister-Pippa-stole-show.html">The Daily Mail's headline</a>, "<b>Her Royal Hotness: How Kate's foxy sister Pippa stole the show.</b>" <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/royalwedding/2011/04/29/2011-04-29_pippa_middleton_steals_the_show_at_sister_kate_middletons_wedding_at_westminster.html">One person Tweeted</a>, "Pippa Middleton, best body at the wedding other than David Beckham." But, sorry, boys, she's dating a cricketeer-turned-banker <a href="http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2011/04/meet-alex-loudon-pippa-middletons-royal-wedding-date.html">Alex Loudon</a>.
<b>Sarah Burton and the Alexander McQueen label, WINNER</b>: Kate Middleton's decision to have Alexander McQueen creative designer Sarah Burton design her wedding dressâa lace and satin creation that has <a href="http://www.wwd.com/fashion-news/designers-react-to-royal-wedding-dress-3596053?src=rss/recentstories/">drawn raves</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/30/fashion/weddings/30royaldress.html?_r=1">pretty much</a> across the boardâmay have also saved the British label. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703655404576292441920783316.html">According to the Wall Street Journal</a>, "Fashion industry executives said the royal commission all but secured the long-term survival of the brand, which was unclear after <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1250249/Alexander-McQueen-commits-suicide.html">Mr. McQueen's death in February 2010</a>, and even after the appointment of Ms. Burton, his head womenswear designer."<br/> <p>The night before the wedding, British fashion columnist <a href="http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/columns/hilary-alexander/TMG8481788/Royal-wedding-tantalising-clue-points-to-Sarah-Burton-as-Kate-Middletons-dress-designer.html">Hilary Alexander suspected</a> that Burton was the designer when a woman (whose face was hidden by a huge furry hat) wearing ballet slippers and a distinctive studded belt was seen ducking into the bride's hotelâbecause Burton wears a distinctive leather belt and ballet slippers!</p> <p>Burton also designed the slinky, body-hugging bridesmaid dress that Pippa Middleton wore, as well as the new Duchess of Cambridge's reception gown, a strapless white dress with a diamante belt and flaring skirt.</p>
<b>Lace, WINNER</b>: The wedding dress's intricate lace, featured in sleeves and over the bodice, was created by the <a href="http://www.royal-needlework.org.uk/">Royal School of Needlework</a>, by embroiderers ages 19 to their 70s, at Hampton Court Palace. The women, who had to wash their hands every 30 minutes to keep the lace clean, had <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13249018">no idea they were working on lace for Kate Middleton's wedding dress</a>, and after hearing who the bride was, they were very proud, with one saying, "It makes it worth all the years of training as an embroiderer."<p>Also, expect to see a resurgence in sleeves and more modestly elegant gowns. And, yes, cheaper knock-offs of the dress are <a href="http://www.northjersey.com/shopping/042911_Kates_Dress_Designers_re-create_the_look_for_commoners.html">in production</a>.</p>
Happy Cartwheeling Verger, WINNER: The feed inside Westminster Abbey caught an exuberant verger doing a cartwheel inside the empty space. The Mirror reported, "Cameras caught his antics, which were beamed to millions of people around the world, ensuring the unsuspecting verger, understood to be Ben Sheward, is set to become an online hit. A Westminster Abbey spokesman said: 'The verger, like all of us, was very pleased the service had gone according to plan, and was expressing his exuberance.' It is understood he is unlikely to get into any trouble over the incident."
<b>Larry the Cat, WINNER</b>: Shelter cat Larry was acquired by 10 Downing Street to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/gallery/2011/feb/15/larry-downing-street-cat-arrives">deal with a rampant rodent problem</a>. He might be the most popular figure in British government and even he got into the spirit of the wedding by <a href="http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/28/6550654-royal-feline-fever-larry-the-downing-street-cat-gets-in-the-royal-wedding-spirit?chromedomain=windsorknot">wearing a natty bowtie</a>.
Commoners, WINNERS: Sure, Kate Middleton comes from an upper middle-class family (her parents are airline employees turned self-made millionaires from their Internet party accessories store), but she's still the first "commoner" in hundreds of years to marry into the royal family.
The Internet, WINNER: Buckingham Palace established an official Royal Wedding website and streamed the wedding on YouTube (the YouTube channel "TheRoyalChannel" has clips). According to the Hollywood Reporter, the event broke Internet records: "The ratings for the British royal wedding are still being tallied but early indications are lots of people were watching on TV and online. Yahoo! said Friday that its live video stream of the wedding set an all time record for traffic, beating the previous record viewing for the Michael Jackson funeral by 21%." A Yahoo spokesperson said, "Overall traffic is surpassing expectations and we are breaking records in terms of traffic and video consumption." Google and YouTube are still working on their numbers, but here's a clip of the couple:
<b>Princess Beatrice And Her HatâAnd Her Sister Princess Eugenie, LOSERS</b>: The Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, wasn't invited to the wedding because they probably thought she'd be a distraction. But if only they had realized that daughter Princess Beatrice would steal the show with an off-the-cuff Philip Treacy hat/fascinator. There's a Facebook page, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Princess-Beatrices-ridiculous-Royal-Wedding-hat/203705509669392?sk=wall">Princess Beatrice's Ridiculous Royal Wedding Hat</a>, (77,000 fans so far) and a <a href="http://princessbeatriceandherhat.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a> (this is <a href="http://princessbeatriceandherhat.tumblr.com/post/5044501837">our favorite</a>). <br/>Prince Andrew's other daughter, Princess Eugenie, also received low marks are her ill-fitting Vivienne Westwood suit. The NY Times called their getups "Mad Hatter outfits." Ouch.