Let's Hear It For The Boys: The Duke & Duchess of Cambridge's Wedding

We've admired the outfits of the royal ladies on parade at Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding; now it's time to spend some quality time and attention with their handsome escorts. As you well know, we never miss an opportunity to admire a well-dressed man around here.

The Groom and his Best Man have already been analyzed in all their uniformed glory, so let's round out the Windsor clan with the rest of the military men in attendance:

Windsor men in uniform, left to right:

1. The Duke of Edinburgh echoed his grandson's red tunic in his Grenadier Guards uniform.
2. The Prince of Wales wore a dress uniform from the Royal Navy, just as he had when he married William's mother.
3. The Duke of York, once himself a helicopter pilot, also wore a Navy uniform.
4. The Earl of Wessex is, I believe, in the uniform of the Royal Wessex Yeomanry, in which he holds the rank of Royal Honorary Colonel.
5. Vice-Admiral Timothy Laurence wore his naval uniform, as he is the only member of this crew with an active military career rather than a retired or honorary one.
6. The Duke of Gloucester was the only family member to honor William's active duty branch of the military in his Royal Air Force blue.
7. The Duke of Kent came in a red army uniform tunic also. He married in red fifty years ago.
8. Prince Michael of Kent paired his ceremonial dress uniform with the sash of the Royal Victorian Order, as he is not a member of the Order of the Garter like his blue sash-wearing friends.

A military uniform isn't required for full dapper status, of course. Morning dress will do just fine:

Windsor men in morning coats, left to right:

1. Peter Phillips, looking handsome and not at all sleep-deprived for a new father.
2. Mike Tindall, Windsor boyfriend extraordinaire and the next groom up to bat when he marries Zara Phillips in July.
3. Viscount Linley, Princess Margaret's son and surprisingly the focus of many more pictures than his lovely wife was.
4. Lord Frederick Windsor, son of Prince and Princess Michael and the groom at the last Windsor wedding in September 2009.
5. Tim Taylor, wife of Lady Helen and son-in-law of the Duke and Duchess of Kent.

 Plenty more dashing uniforms to be had from other royal families:

Foreign royals in uniform, left to right:

1. The Prince of Orange brought the same uniform he was married in.
2. The Prince of Asturias was dapper in his naval uniform and the Royal Victorian Order sash.
3. Prince Philippe of Belgium was handsome in black, though I can't help but feel his uniform was lacking in a bit of panache compared to all the ornamentation on these other gentlemen.
4. Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg wore his distinctive orange tasseled waist band with the sash of the Royal Victorian Order. I wonder if this served as a reminder to Queen Elizabeth that she hasn't yet had a chance to bestow the Order of the Garter on this fellow head of state?
5. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong from Malaysia was another head of state without the top English order on display. No U.K. orders at all, in fact.
6. King Harald of Norway wore his true blue Garter sash, of course, and was also one of the only men in uniform to carry a sword to the ceremony. 

Some of the foreign royal guests opted out of military dress for the ceremony:

Sovereigns in morning dress, left to right:

1. Prince Albert of Monaco. I was pretty surprised he didn't opt for a uniform. He went for morning dress at Felipe and Letizia's morning wedding, but a uniform at Philippe and Mathilde's. Personal choice?
2. King Constantine of Greece, as an ex-King, was obviously without uniform. But jolly as ever, mind you.
3. The King of Tonga showed up quite natty indeed, in his top hat, cane, and long coat. You will note the coat's lining matches his tie.
4. The Sultan of Brunei came with his only wife, having divorced his second one last year. (Actually his second second wife - he divorced the first second wife too. Get it? Still with me?)
5. The King of Swaziland came with a wife as well, one of the fourteen that he's currently married to. That's gotta get confusing.

Princes in morning dress, left to right:

1. Crown Prince Alexander of Yugoslavia, looking totally happy to be there with wife Katherine, as some of you noted in the foreign royal ladies post.
2. Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso of Lesotho is Prince Harry's partner in the Sentebale charity. You will note he has matched his tie to his wife's colorful national dress.
3. Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, so dapper, came along with one of his sons...
4. Prince Constantine, who is one of Prince William's godchildren. (And a future heartbreaker, for sure.)
5. And last but not least, Prince Daniel of Sweden must have been having flashbacks to his own recent turn as royal groom. He's turning out to be quite a dapper prince indeed, isn't he?

Have any personal favorites? I confess, my heart still belongs to the best man.

UPDATE

I have found some of the lesser-known Windsor men for us to admire:

More Windsor men in morning coat, left to right:

1.  The Hon. Charles Armstrong-Jones, son of Viscount Linley. And future doppelganger – man, does that kid look like his dad.
2. Daniel Chatto, husband of Lady Sarah. Their two sons were also along for the wedding ride.
3. The Earl of Ulster, son of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.
4. Gary Lewis, husband of Lady Davina, son-in-law of the Gloucesters.
5. George Gilman, husband of Lady Rose, son-in-law of the Gloucesters. Not a bad showing for the three Gloucester men here, eh? Yum.

 

And even more Windsor men, left to right:

1. Earl of St. Andrews, son of the Duke and Duchess of Kent.
2. Lord Downpatrick, the Earl’s son. I still don’t understand why photographers don’t take better pictures of handsome, unmarried Windsor men. Well, this one, at least.
3.  Lord Nicholas Windsor, lookalike brother of the Earl.
4.  James Ogilvy, dapper son of Princess Alexandra of Kent.

Photos: Getty Images/Daylife