UnlikeKate MiddletonandMeghan Markle,Princess Dianaattended her firstTrooping the Colourprior to marrying into the royal family. Diana, then only 19, made her Trooping debut one month beforetying the knotwithPrince Charlesin June 1981.
Kate and Meghan, however, got engaged between Troopings, which typically have a“no ring, no bring” policy. Saturday marksMeghan’s Trooping debutsincePrince Harryproposedin Novemberand the couple gotmarriedlast month.
When Diana stepped out at her first Trooping the Colour, the princess-to-be wore a custom Bill Pashley blue floral suit that she’d requested from him when they met in May of that year. Diana held herself with poise as she rode in a horse-drawn carriage withPrince Andrew, since Charlesrides on horsebackas a royal colonel of the Household Division.
Jayne Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty
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The Queen, then 55, remained uninjured, offered her 19-year-oldhorse Burmesea reassuring pat and rode on “as cool as a cucumber as if nothing had happened,” her former guard Alec Galloway recalled toSky News.
Once the situation was under control and Sarjeant was charged under the Treason Act of 1842, the events continued as planned, with Diana joining the royal family on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the first time.
BOB DEAR/AP/REX/Shutterstock
The incident raised security concerns for Diana and Charles’ wedding the following month at St. Paul’s Cathedral, especially because Sarjeant — who was sentenced to five years in prison — was said to be seenwearing a Charles and Diana wedding buttonon the day of the Trooping event.
Tim Graham/Getty
But thebig daycame and went with no security issues, and the newlyweds became the first royal couple to kiss for the crowds on the Buckingham Palace balcony after their wedding ceremony.
source: people.com
