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news
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uknews
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royal-wedding
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8147335
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-----
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# Royal wedding: does Kate Middleton's style echo that of Diana?
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## When Kate Middleton gave her first official interview last week, it was
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almost as surprising as hearing the Mona Lisa speak.
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![Palace advisors have prepared special instructional videos for Kate so she
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can study Diana's winning techniques][1]
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Image 1 of 7
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Palace advisors have prepared special instructional videos for Kate so she can
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study Diana's winning techniques Photo: GETTY
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![Royal enthusiasts may be toasting a fairytale love-story but in the City the
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smart money is already on companies set to benefit from the 'wedding
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factor.'][2]
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Image 1 of 7
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As Ms Middleton admires her engagement ring, ITV and BSkyB, could be boosted
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by the intense interest around the world. Photo: GETTY IMAGES
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![Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on their engagement day at Buckingham
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Palace][3]
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Image 1 of 7
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Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on their engagement day at Buckingham
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Palace Photo: REX FEATURES
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![Prince William and Kate Middleton][4]
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Image 1 of 7
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Prince William and Kate Middleton to wed Photo: Davidson/O'Neill/Rex Features
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![Kate Middleton, right, with sister Pippa who is tipped to be chief
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bridesmaid][5]
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Image 1 of 7
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Kate Middleton, right, with sister Pippa who is tipped to be chief bridesmaid
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Photo: Richard Young/Rex Features
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![Royal wedding: William and Kate set for spring date at Westminster Abbey][6]
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Image 1 of 7
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Kate Middleton and Prince William Photo: Stephen Lock
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![Royal Wedding: The strange origin of royal fairy tales; Prince William has
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given Kate Middleton the engagement ring that belonged to his late mother
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Diana, Princess of Wales; AFP][7]
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Image 1 of 7
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Prince William has given Kate Middleton the engagement ring that belonged to
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his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales Photo: AFP/Getty Images
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[![Justine Picardie][8]][9]
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By [Justine Picardie][10] 8:00AM GMT 22 Nov 2010
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For in the eight years that she has been a princess-in-waiting, [Kate
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Middleton][11]'s silence has been the counterweight to her constant pictorial
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presence; and in the absence of the spoken word, her sartorial choices have
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been as closely scrutinised as the illuminations of an ancient Grail
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manuscript.
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This is, perhaps, predictable, in an era where the labels worn by global
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celebrities have taken on as much significance as religious iconography in
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previous centuries. (Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Dior … the brands are chanted with
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the same reverence as that reserved for hymns and mantras.) Hence Middleton's
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appearance in a sapphire blue dress by Daniella Issa Helayel, to match the
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colour of her engagement ring, has been accorded the same weight of attention
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that accompanied Michelle Obama's decision on what to wear to the Presidential
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Inauguration. Inevitably, the comparison has been with a different First Lady,
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Prince William's mother, Diana. Princess of Wales (or in Tina Brown's
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memorable phrase, "the golden-haired Rebecca of the Royal House of Windsor"),
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whose ring is now on Middleton's finger, with all the weight of expectation
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and history that such a totem must bring. What does it mean ("good luck or
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bad?" tweet the legions of commentators), and why did Kate Middleton choose
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the same shade of blue as Diana did at that previous, ill-starred engagement
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in 1981? If the story of Kate's ascent from a commoner to royalty is being
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hailed as a 21st-century fairy tale, then as with all archetypal narratives, a
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shadow must fall across the sunlight.
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That's one way of telling it, at least, but hopefully there is a less
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portentous alternative. Yes, the comparisons between Kate's clothes and
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Diana's have already been drawn: the transparency of their first, unguarded
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photographs (Diana inadvertently exposed in a see-through skirt; Kate
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apparently more knowing in sheer black lace at a student fashion show); the
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red jackets that identified both on the ski slopes (little red riding hoods
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not yet gobbled by the big bad wolf); the aforementioned Virgin Mary blue
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engagement outfits.
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But much of what Middleton has worn has been so unremarkable that it resists
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analysis. Not that it stops us from trying. She has been heralded as an icon
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of Middle England - her very name an allegorical embodiment of social
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mobility, yet also of middlebrow stability - while simultaneously mocked for
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her patience ("waity Katie") before Prince William finally decided to commit.
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Dismissed for playing it too safe - "lamb dressed as mutton", or as "nouveau
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Sloane", or as dressing like her mother Carole (famously a former air
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stewardess) - Middleton has negotiated a near-impossible minefield of
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criticism of her wardrobe. And really, what else was the poor girl supposed to
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wear other than standardised fail-safes as she waited to be anointed as the
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Chosen One?
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Nevertheless, I confess, I've become as intrigued as the rest of the Kate-
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spotters this week, poring over the runes. Hence my excitement at sharing with
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you the scoop that Mrs Middleton has shopped for her daughter at two Home
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Counties' boutiques - Jeanne Petitt in Hungerford and Moda Rosa in Alresford -
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and that the blue outfit worn by Kate at a friend's wedding last year was
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designed by Jane Troughton, a former student at Edinburgh University, who has
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also dressed Laura Bailey and Jodie Kidd. Oh, and Kate is a regular at
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Austique, a fashionable King's Road boutique whose best-selling stock includes
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days-of-the-week knickers and Sexy Mama Anti Shine Translucent Powder. Read
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what you will into such minutiae.
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## Related Articles
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* [Royal wedding: a triumph for love alone][12]
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21 Nov 2010
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* [The making of a modern prince][13]
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22 Nov 2010
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* [The making of a princess][14]
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21 Nov 2010
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As for the rest of it: well, at St Andrews she looked like many other nicely
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brought-up former boarding school girls, in boot-cut jeans, Puffa jackets and
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neutral cashmeres - but even glossier than most (gorgeous mane of hair, white
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teeth, long legs, trim figure). Thereafter, she steered a course between
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daytime primness and nightlife sex kitten. Her brief career as an accessories
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buyer for Jigsaw was made manifest in her office outfits - floral frocks,
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cardigans, nipped-in-jackets, courtesy of Jigsaw and its sister label, Kew,
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along with knee-high boots from LK Bennett, interspersed with a number of
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unremarkable High Street staples. Nevertheless, a great many consumers appear
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to admire her choices, given that whenever an item of her clothing has been
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identified, it instantly sells out. Witness the run on the Issa engagement
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dress, and previous hits: a £40 Topshop black and white tunic dress, worn on
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the occasion of her 25th birthday in January 2007; a striped monochrome dress
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from French Connection, and a £25 print top from the same brand, charmingly
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titled the "Love Bird", donned as a spectator at a polo match last year.
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At night, Middleton has metamorphosed into a slinkier character, most notably
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in fluorescent sequinned hotpants at a charity roller disco in 2008, and the
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occasional sparkly minidress at her favourite nightclubs, Boujis and Mahiki.
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Added into this potent mix of minx and young matron are Middleton's choices
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for the great rituals of upper-class mating display: shooting parties, society
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weddings, dances and the races.
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Some of these events have a faint echo of PG Wodehouse: for example, the June
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2006 Boodles Boxing Ball, where Kate wore an aquamarine BCBG jersey gown from
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Harvey Nichols (an occasion where the comparison was made, yet again, with a
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similar dress worn by Prince William's mother a decade previously).
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Her appearance at the Cheltenham races in March 2007 was equally scrutinised.
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Middleton's form was studied with even more intensity than the horses. Hilary
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Alexander, fashion director of The Telegraph, was unconvinced by "her somewhat
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school-marmish first outing" at the opening day in March 2007: "her
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unflattering 'Brown Windsor' tweed suit prompted comparisons with older royals
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more than twice her age". But her second appearance, on Gold Cup Day, was
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deemed more confident, in a sweet egg-shell blue Harris tweed jacket designed
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by Katherine Hooker and a beret by Philip Treacy, who has supplied Middleton
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with a stream of big hats and feathered fascinators for passing-out parades
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and weddings.
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Which brings us back to the next episode of the fairytale, already entitled
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The Dress, whether by Daniella Issa Helayel or Phillipa Lepley, Jenny Packham
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or Amanda Wakeley, Alice Temperley or Stella McCartney. At this point, I'm
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more interested in a happy-ever-after; an outcome that does not involve Kate
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Middleton becoming too thin, too airbrushed, too fashion-conscious, or too
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grand. In other words, I am hoping for the impossible and the unspoiled; for
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time to stand still, and that nice girl from Berkshire to keep her sensibly
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shod feet on the ground.
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[X][15] Share & bookmark
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[What are these?][16]
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* Share: [Share][15] [ ][17] [ ][18]
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[Tweet][19]
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/8147335/Royal-wedding-
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does-Kate-Middletons-style-echo-that-of-Diana.html
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Telegraph
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## [Royal Wedding][20]
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* ### [News »][21]
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* ### [The Royal Family »][22]
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* ### [Culture »][23]
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* ### [Features »][24]
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* ### [Justine Picardie »][9]
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In news
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[![Royal wedding: Kate Middleton's wedding dress in pictures][25] ][26]
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### [Royal wedding highlights][26]
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[![Prince William and Kate wave to the crowds ][27] ][28]
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### [Royal wedding highlights][28]
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[![Prince William and his wife Kate, Duchess of Cambridge kiss on the balcony
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in Buckingham Palace after their wedding service][29] ][30]
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### [Royal wedding balcony kiss][30]
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[![The best dressed at the royal wedding][31] ][32]
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### [Wedding day best dressed][32]
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[X][15] Share & bookmark
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Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter
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Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz
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[What are these?][16]
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Share:
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* [ ][15]
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* [ ][17]
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* [ ][18]
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* [Tweet][19]
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* Advertisement
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![][33]
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[![Matt on the Royal Wedding][34]][35]
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## [royal wedding latest »][20]
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[![Royal wedding details][36]][20]
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[Official royal wedding photographs][37]
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[The best dressed guests][38]
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[Royal wedding highlights][39]
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[Royal wedding pictures][40]
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Advertisement
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[Follow The Telegraph on Social Media »][41]
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Like Telegraph.co.uk on Facebook
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Advertisement
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Telegraph Announcements
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* [Marriages][64]
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