Princess Diana broke with tradition during wedding vows - and was first royal to do so

Princess Diana's wedding to Prince Charles had most of the elements of a traditional marriage ceremony.

 

It took place in a church, the bride wore white and all of their family and friends watched on as they tied the knot.

 

But there was one tradition that Diana didn't follow - and it was when it came to the vows.

 

Previously, all royal brides before her had promised to 'obey' their husbands in their vows.

 

But Diana became the first to omit this word from her vows. Instead, she promised to her husband to "love him, comfort him, honour and keep him".

 

When her sister-in-law married Prince Andrew several years later - she did use the word obey.

 

Royal brides since including the Duchess of Cambridge, Meghan Markle and Princess Eugenie did not. 

 

However, changing the wording was not the only difference when it came to the vows as both Charles and Diana made mistakes. 

 

Charles said his vows first and instead of reciting "my worldly goods" he actually said "thy worldly goods".

 

© Getty Images Princess Diana and Prince Charles on their wedding day - almost 40 years ago to the day

 

Meanwhile, Diana muddled Charles' names - and ended up calling him by the wrong name.

 

His full name is Charles Philip Arthur George but when it came to the vows, Diana called him Philip Charles.

 

But with 3,500 packed into St Paul's Cathedral for the ceremony and more than 750 million watching on TV - it's no surprise that the couple was a little nervous.

© WireImage Prince Charles and Princess Diana married in a huge ceremony at St Paul's Cathedral in July 1981

 

At the time of the wedding, royal author Penny Junor claims Charles believed the wedding was a mistake but knew it was too late to pull out. 

 

She said: "Charles was not convinced he was doing the right thing in marrying Diana but there was no way out and, bolstered by the hope that things would be different once they were married, he put a brave face on it."

 

A year after their fairytale wedding, Charles and Diana welcomed Prince William and later Prince Harry but the couple separated in 1992 after their marriage broke down. 

 

The couple divorced in 1996, just a year before Diana tragically died following a car crash in Paris.