At the simple altar of the tiny village church of St. Mary, Balcombe, Lady May Cambridge, the Queen's niece, was married to Captain Henry Abel Smith of the Royal Horse Guards. While the Queen, the Prince of Wales and other bearers of great and honoured names looked on, Lady May broke a tradition of centuries by omitting the word "obey" from her marriage vows. She was the first British royal bride to be married with the service from the new Prayer-book.
At the back of the church Princess Elizabeth, who was making her first official public appearance, stood on a pew chatting to the other three juvenile bridesmaids. With her stood her mother, the Duchess of York, whispering last-minute instructions. Then, as the organ pealed out in welcome, Lady May came through the west door on the arm of her father, the Earl of Athlone. Behind her followed the bridesmaids in soft powder-blue, Princess Ingrid of Sweden walking with Princess Sybilla of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and little Princess Elizabeth alongside her cousin Lady Mary Cambridge. As the bride whispered her responses her voice was so low that it could scarcely be heard. The bridegroom's voice, too, was low and scarcely audible.
The bride and bridegroom knelt while the Archbishop read a chapter of Corinthians, and then, as the choir sang the invocation "God be in my head and in my understanding," the bride and bridegroom, arm in arm, walked to the vestry. The Queen followed, and in the vestry Lady May signed her name for the first time as "Emma May Abel Smith." The Queen signed the royal register and kissed the bride.
Lady May's dress was of plain pearl-coloured satin antique. With it she wore the lovely veil of priceless old Honiton lent her by the Queen, who wore it at her own wedding thirty-eight years ago. The train fell from the shoulders in beautifully arranged folds of satin. Her veil, folded flat across her forehead, fell in a "waterfall" cascade to frame her face, and only a true-lovers' knot of orange blossom on the left side ornamented the simple gown.
The reception was held at Brantridge Park, Lord Athlone's seat, near Balcombe. The wedding cake was decorated with soldiers of the Horse Guards and hunting scenes. Before the ceremony took place thousands of people crowded every inch of the path leading to the church from the roadside. Some had waited since early morning. Thousands more thronged the lane leading from Brantridge Park, the bride's home, and some of the more adventurous climbed trees to get a better view. Many paid high prices for their positions.
These archive extracts, compiled by the Guardian's research and information department, appear online daily at gu.com/fromthearchive
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