William & Catherine’s Wedding – Evening Reception & Official Portraits

  April 30, 2011 at 10:33 am by

The Prince of Wales did as any proud father whose son had just married would do last night, he hosted a reception at Buckingham Palace for 300 of the couple’s closest family and friends which lasted until around 3am when Prince Harry drove off in a minivan, sans tie.

View the image at The Daily Mail

The event was a private affair, but Clarence House did release several pictures of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge leaving Clarence House with the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall and Prince Harry. They had all changed into evening wear from the outfits they wore at the Westminster Abbey service that morning – and Catherine had a new Sarah Burton gown. The Daily Mail described the bride’s second gown as a “strapless white satin gazar evening dress with a circle skirt and diamante embroidered detail round the waist.” There was no tiara and no veil, signifying the change in formality between the day’s earlier events and the evening reception. The Middletons, who had returned to the Goring Hotel, were all smiles as they exited the hotel to travel to the Palace in their evening wear (hot-topic Philippa wearing an ocean-green evening dress, mother Carole in tiered black).

The bridal couple danced, ate and mingled with their guests into the wee hours, in the Palace’s grand 36metre long ballroom. The highlight of the event would possibly have been the best man’s speech – any speech by Prince Harry is bound to be a cracker. Luckily the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh had retired for the evening, no doubt well aware of what could spill forth from their grandson’s mouth in jest. The Prince’s speech included a quip about Catherine dwarfing his grandfather.

View the image at the British Monarchy's Flickr

It is unknown when exactly the Duke and Duchess left their reception, but they did spend their first night as a married couple in a Palace suite. They left the Palace this morning, London time, looking casual and relaxed, flying away in a helicopter for a quick weekend away before they honeymoon at a later date.

And while the couple was being whisked away, the official portraits taken by Hugo Burnard were released by the Palace. Three portraits were published on the various official monarchy websites, showing an individual portrait of the couple, one with their families and one with their bridal children.

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