Why Lady Sarah Chatto's low-key royal wedding hit the headlines

Publish date: 2024-09-30

Princess Margaret's daughter's wedding took place weeks after a royal scandal

Lady Sarah Chatto and her husband Daniel Chatto chose a much more low-key wedding compared to other royals, so why was there so much media interest?

Instead of choosing a large venue such as Westminster Abbey – which is where her brother Viscount Linley got married – Princess Margaret's daughter chose to have an intimate ceremony at St Stephen's Walbrook in London. On their 29th wedding anniversary, we reminisce about Sarah and Daniel's headline-making big day.

Firstly, their royal wedding fell on 14 July 1994, just weeks after King Charles' affair confession. During an ITV interview with Jonathan Dimbleby, which was broadcast on 29 June, the journalist asked then-Prince Charles if he had been "faithful and honourable" to Princess Diana, and he responded: "Yes. Until [the marriage] became irretrievably broken down, us both having tried." 

It was later confirmed that Charles was referring to his relationship with his now-wife, Queen Camilla, whom he married in 2005.

Lady Sarah was a bridesmaid at the former couple's 1981 wedding, and her own nuptials marked the first public event that both Charles and Diana attended following the interview. Despite the scandal, Diana ensured the attention remained firmly on the bride and groom, and was pictured in a black and white dress smiling and waving to crowds.

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She was joined by other royals such as Princess Margaret and Queen Elizabeth II who witnessed the 30-minute ceremony. In fact, it was so short that Sarah and Daniel were forced to wait for their driver outside the church before heading to Clarence House for their wedding reception!

Sarah looked beautiful in a corset-style, long-sleeve wedding dress designed by Jasper Conran, which wasn't dissimilar to her bridesmaid's dresses.

Her half-sister, Lady Frances Armstrong-Jones, her cousin, Zara Tindall (then Phillips), and a family friend, Tara Noble-Singh all wore corset lace-up white gowns with round necklines and fresh pink flowers in their hair.

Sarah accessorised with the Snowdon Floral Tiara which was created especially for her nuptials. It was made using three diamond brooches that were originally a wedding gift to her mother Margaret from her husband Antony Armstrong-Jones, the First Earl of Snowdon, in 1960.

She also borrowed pearl and diamond earrings from Princess Margaret, which she later inherited after her mother's death.

Following their big day, Sarah and Daniel went on to welcome two sons: Samuel, born in 1996, and Arthur, born in 1999.

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