The Duchess of Cambridge's sister, Pippa Middleton, is getting married. The media buzz is huge: It's not a simple wedding with a few guests, but THE wedding of the year. Here are other glamorous brides to inspire her.
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Here comes the bride: the most fabulous celebrity weddings
Celebrities and royals stage the most glamorous, lavish weddings, gluing millions of people around the world to their TV sets. Here are some famous examples of getting married in style.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
Elizabeth & Philip
Queen Elizabeth was a mere 13-year-old girl when she fell in love with her future husband. The public was wary when the palace announced her engagement to Philip. Although he was Prince of Greece and Denmark, he was also impoverished, and his sisters had ties to the much-despised Germans. The couple married all the same in 1947, one of the first mega TV events.
Image: Imago/ZUMA/Keystone
Diana & Charles
Everyone smiled for the wedding pictures - wasn't this the perfect match? Some 750 million people watched the ceremony on TV on July 29, 1982 - one person out of six worldwide. Today, we know despair lurked behind the glamorous facade: Prince Charles loved another woman. For Diana, it was the "worst day of her life." The unhappy couple had two children, and separated in 1992.
Image: imago/United Archives International
Kate & William
Another wedding in the House of Windsor - and this one was good news, decades after the drama surrounding Charles and Diana. Prince William and Kate married in 2011, a royal dream team that appears to be completely scandal-free. The public adores the couple and their young children, George and Charlotte.
Image: dapd
Silvia & Carl Gustav
Silvia Sommerlath, a young German interpreter, was working as a hostess at the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich when she met Swedish Crown Prince Carl Gustav. It was love at first sight, and they married in June 1976. The Swedish pop group ABBA wrote the hit song "Dancing Queen" for her. The royal wedding had many Germans in tears - finally, they had a Queen, too - even if it was in Sweden.
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Victoria & Daniel
If her father Carl Gustav could marry a commoner and make her queen, then the Swedish royal couple's eldest daughter could also do it the other way around. Many decades later, crown princess Victoria also married a commoner: her fitness trainer, Daniel Westling. The King and the Swedish people were initially skeptical, but over the years, the Prince of Sweden has turned into a very popular royal.
Image: Getty Images/T. Laursen
Grace & Rainier
In April 1956, 30 million people watched the wedding of gorgeous Grace Kelly to Prince Rainier III. The popular US actress was now Princess Grace of Monaco, a small principality on the Mediterranean. She never again starred on the screen. The couple had three children in a marriage rumored to have been unhappy. The paparazzi were always on the princess' heels. She died in a car accident in 1982.
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Charlene & Albert
Many decades later in Monaco, Grace and Rainer's only son, Prince Albert, married Charlene Wittstock. The former South African swimmer wore an elegant Armani wedding gown for the 2011 ceremony, as illustrious guests from all over the world watched her glide down the aisle. The couple had twins in 2014 - and all of Monaco loves the royal toddlers.
Image: Getty Images
Nicky & James
Wealthy hotel chain heiress Nicky Hilton married British multi-millionaire James Rothschild in 2015. Their wedding day was a most lavish affair. The bride wore a 70,000-euro ($77,900 ) Valentino wedding dress for the event held at the Kensington Palace Orangery - the home of British royals Catherine and William.
She was the love of his life. Marilyn and baseball legend Joe DiMaggio married in 1954. Shaped by two strong characters and Joe's jealousy, the marriage was turbulent and short-lived. Joe once said about their sex life that it was like "gods fighting; there were thunder-clouds and lightning." The couple separated in 1955, but Joe always loved Marilyn - and organized her funeral in 1962.
Image: Getty Images/AFP
Letizia & Felipe
In this dream wedding in 2004, the Prince of Spain married Letizia Ortiz, a former TV anchorwoman. A scandal: this was Letizia's second marriage. The couple was not to be deterred, however, and got married amid great media attention. Letizia had two daughters, and was crowned Queen after her father-in-law, King Juan Carlos, abdicated. The marriage is said to be very happy.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo
Amal & George
Venice, Italy, 2014: Hollywood's hottest bachelor, actor George Clooney, and his gorgeous bride, lawyer Amal Alamuddin exchanged marriage vows. The dream couple is expecting twins. Shocking news recently rippled through the tabloids: Amal banned George from their bedroom - because he snores so mightily.
Image: Reuters/Alessandro Bianchi
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Members of high society are beside themselves with joy and anticipation ahead of the wedding of Pippa Middleton, the younger sister of Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge. That more or less makes Pippa a member of the British Royal Family.
On Saturday, May 20, Pippa will exchange vows with her fiancee, businessman and hedge fund manager James Matthews, who went to Eton College with Princes William and Harry.
Luxury nuptials
Pippa has her heart set on a luxury wedding with all the bells and whistles. Daily, new details of the wedding leak out: It is rumored to cost 400,000 euros ($446,000) and 300 guests have been invited, from TV starlets to blue-blooded aristocrats.
A huge glass palace flown in from Belgium has been set up on the Middleton family's grounds. The wedding guests will ride from church to the party location in Bentleys while Pippa is expected to ride in an open carriage like her sister the princess did at her wedding.
As usual, the dress is the best-kept secret, rumored to be a creation by a hip British designer. Names including Ralph & Russo, Marchesa and Victoria Beckham are being bandied about..
Is a mega wedding a guarantee for "happily ever after"? Click through the picture gallery of celebrity weddings above to find out!