Eight years ago next week, Pippa Middleton was married to James Matthews in a stunning ceremony at St Mark’s Church in Englefield, West Berkshire.

Beautiful bride Pippa, then 33, wore a flowing lace gown with a heart-shaped open back, designed by Giles Deacon. She carried a bouquet of peonies, sweet peas, astilbe, freesias, waxflowers, green bells and mollis.

Prince George, who was just three at the time, and 

Princess Charlotte, then two, stole the show as page boy and mini bridesmaid. (Pippa is said to dislike the term ‘flower girl’.)

George wore an adorable button-up shirt and beige trousers, while his sister sported an ivory dress with a blush pink bow and flower crown, along with a little basket.

But the idyllic day was reportedly ruined for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle due to two unusual requests made by the bride which separated them both at the ceremony and the reception.

With the couple not yet engaged and less than a year into their relationship, Pippa and her mother Carole Middleton apparently shared concerns that the presence of Harry and Meghan might overshadow the big day. The future Duke and Duchess of Sussex eventually agreed it would be best for Meghan to avoid the church and media.

Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the authors of Finding Freedom, say that Harry and Meghan then came up with a plan which saw them drive out to Berkshire on the day of the wedding.

Meghan stayed in an Airbnb that a close friend had rented on her behalf while Harry attended the service in Englefield, arriving with his brother Prince William.

George and Charlotte melt hearts at Pippa Middleton’s wedding

Meanwhile, the American actress did her own makeup and put on a black dress before Harry returned to the Airbnb for a spot of lunch with his partner. He then drove them both to the reception at the Middleton’s home in Bucklebury.

Not content with a traditional canvas marquee, Pippa, a former party planner who married multi-millionaire hedge fund boss James Matthews, had a bespoke glass orangery shipped in from Belgium.

One expert told the Daily Mail’s Royal Editor Rebecca English that it would cost around £35,000 plus VAT for the structure and floor system – but that was just ‘the basics’.

With internal lighting, decorations, carpeting, heating, sound and service marquees, the total could be more than double that.

Together again, Harry and Meghan were set to enjoy the lavish wedding reception as a couple – but the Princess of Wales’s younger sister had other ideas. She had implemented a strict seating plan that separated every couple in attendance.

It meant that instead of spending the evening together, Harry was seated with ITV News at Ten presenter Tom Bradby while Meghan dined with Roger Federer’s wife Mirka.

Guests enjoyed a meal of trout and lamb at the 2017 nuptials washed down with ‘2002 Dom Ruinart Champagne’, according to Finding Freedom.

‘Sitting together in the custom glass marquee that had been erected on the 18-acre property should have been a fun night for the couple, but, per Pippa’s request, no couples sat together,’ the co-authors wrote.

William and Harry arrive at church for Pippa’s wedding

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Harry and Meghan, who was still new to royal circles at the time, reunited near the dance floor after the meal.

And while ‘the old Harry would have certainly closed at the bash with the rest of his friends’, Mr Scobie and Ms Durand note that the then 32-year-old prince instead spent the remainder of the evening catching up with his girlfriend.

When you have hired a £100,000 glass marquee for your wedding and a Spitfire to perform a fly-by during the reception (for which Carole and Michael apologised to the neighbours about the ‘incovenience’), you can’t really make do with bog-standard portable loos – especially if royalty are attending.

And Pippa Middleton certainly made sure the toilets for her nuptials matched the extravagance of her venue.

She requested that bespoke ‘throne rooms’ were provided for guests, designed to resemble a permanent fitted luxury bathroom.

They boasted oak fittings, porcelain basins, spot lighting and full-length mirrors, while the toilets were fitted with vacuum flushes, which work like those on a plane and are eco-friendly.

One industry insider estimated the cost of the loos could easily top £6,000.

But the loos reportedly caused Harry and Meghan more grief than relief.

PIPPA’S EYE-WATERING WEDDING IN NUMBERS 

MARQUEE £100,000 – The glass conservatory-style structure that she had installed in the garden of her family home. The bespoke glass orangery was shipped from Belgium to her family home in Berkshire. The process is being overseen by Peppers Marquees, which holds the only royal warrant for supplying marquees to the Prince of Wales. 

DRESS £10,000 – ‘Giles Deacon is rumoured to be the designer of Pippa’s bespoke designer dress,’ Bridebook founder Hamish Shephard said. ‘Giles previously designed Abbey Clancy’s stunning wedding dress for her marriage to England footballer Peter Crouch which cost £10,000.’  

WEDDING HAIR £300 – The Princess of Wales’s royal hairdresser Amanda Cook Tucker was seen arriving at the home of the bride-to-be days before the wedding. It was predicted that she would style Pippa on her big day, with her wedding price said to be £300.

CATERING £70,000 –  Experts from Bridebook predicted that top luxury London caterers would charge over £170 per guest for catering including all food, chefs and staffing, glassware and crockery hire, and linen hire. 

A marquee wedding requires an extra level of staffing compared to a permanent venue, which will have increased Pippa’s catering costs to around £200 per guest.

DRINKS £17,720 – ‘We expect around 233 bottles of champagne alone will be drunk to keep the guests topped up during the drinks reception and speeches,’ Hamish predicted. ‘This champagne will cost around £9,320, on top of which will be fine wines for the wedding breakfast and open-bar cocktails for the evening.’ 

FLORISTRY £16,000 – Hamish said: ‘Marquees always require a lot more floristry and decoration than a venue, so luxury florists Lavender Green, the florists for the day, will have their work cut out. On top of this, the wedding florist will include the flowers for the church, plus the bouquet and more.

‘With the wedding hosted in the Middletons’ rustic garden, with wild flower meadows and in-bloom purple rhododendrons, expect tall overflowing centrepieces fusing the marquee with the garden. Elaborate table-centres can cost £300 each alone, so with 35 round tables for the guests, the cost can easily stack up.’ 

PHOTOGRAPHY £3,500 – ‘Hiring one of the top wedding photographers, including a gorgeous album, will cost around £3,500. Dorset-based Millie Pilkington, the private wedding photographer for William and Kate’s wedding, is most likely to be the person behind the lens.’

VIDEOGRAPHY £4,000 – ‘Without the world’s media filming every moment like her sister’s wedding, Pippa will likely have a videographer there to capture the day’s special moments. Luxury videographers have teams of cameramen to capture all angles, plus usually a drone or two.’

CAKE £2,600 – ‘A stunningly-decorated cake from a top cake maker will start from £2,600 and need to be six tiers to give a slice to each of the 350 guests. The cake-maker is thought to be luxury London-based Domino Purchas or local-Berkshire based top baker Rosalind Miller.’

STATIONARY £5,125 – ‘The wedding will require a number of stationery elements including save-the-dates, the invitation, the Order of Service, the menus, and the stamps! Invitations from a top stationer will cost around £11 each before the other items are included. Mount Street Printers are said to be the chosen stationer.’ 

GYM MEMBERSHIP £55,000 – Pippa was hitting the gym hard and had joined Grace Belgravia, an exclusive club that promises to create the perfect ‘Hollywood’ pins – at a cost of £55,000 for a lifetime membership. 

FACIALS £100 – Pippa was making trips to a spa in South Kensington offering such treatments as £100 sugar cane facials.  

MUSIC £6,750 – ‘From bell ringers and the organist and choirs in the church, to relaxed acoustic musicians for the drinks reception and a top wedding band and DJ for the party, music will be the centre of the entertainment. A top London 6-piece wedding band will cost over £4,250 with everyone else on top.’

WEDDING RINGS £19,900 –‘Rumoured best man Spencer Matthews better not make the expensive mistake of forgetting the rings. With their wedding rings said to be from Cartier, a diamond encrusted wedding ring for Pippa will cost £15,500 whilst a platinum band for James would be £1,440.’

BRIDESMAIDS’ OUTFITS £2,250 – ‘Whilst the bridesmaid’s dress Pippa shone in at the Royal wedding cost over £2,000, the average cost of a designer bridesmaids dress is £750. The average number of bridesmaids a bride in the UK has is 3.4, so we are assuming Pippa will have 3 bridesmaids.’

CHARLOTTE AND GEORGE’S OUTFITS £1,698 – ‘With Prince George and Princess Charlotte due to be centre stage as flower girls and page boys, Nicki Macfarlane, who provided the flower girl outfits for the Royal wedding, will likely be back on hand. A page boy outfit will cost around £226 each, and flower girl dresses £340.’ 

CHURCH FEES £456 – ‘Pippa and James will need to pay the church their marriage fees, but whilst this is the most important part of the marriage, it has one of the smallest price tags.’

DECORATION AND PRODUCTION £6,000 – ‘For spectacular lighting and production throughout the grounds surrounding the marquee and inside the marquee itself, a top London agency will likely be taking on the job of adding the absolute wow-factor. From bar hire to amazing dance floors, production is key to transforming the blank-canvas of a marquee into something truly jaw-dropping.’

GROOMSWEAR £6,050 – ‘Dashing groom-to-be James Matthews is likely to be wearing a bespoke tailor made tailcoat, waistcoat and trousers from one of London’s top Saville Row tailors. A bespoke tailcoat from a top tailor will cost around £4400 alone.’

MAKEUP UP TO £1,400 – ‘No doubt a top team will be on hand to ensure Pippa and the whole bridal party will be looking absolutely radiant. Hannah Martin of Bobbi Brown, who also did Kate’s wedding makeup  for the Royal Wedding, is the top choice.’

WEDDING FAVOURS £700 – ‘These lovely little gifts for every wedding guest should not break the bank. We expect something low-key and personal, such as a small jar of local honey considering the wild flower meadows that fill the Middletons’ garden.’ 

LUXURY LOOS £4,000 – ‘Don’t forget the toilets! With this marquee wedding the luxury toilets that will need to be on hand are unlikely to be the plastic boxes we are used to seeing at festivals. Imagine luxurious bathrooms with gorgeous soaps and fresh linen hand towels. For 350 guests, top end mobile toilets will cost £4000.’ 

VEIL £2,000 – ‘Celebrity milliner Stephen Jones is rumoured to be the designer of Pippa’s bespoke veil, which will doubtlessly have incredible attention to detail.’ 

ENTERTAINERS £1,500 – ‘Whilst guests taking photos is expected to not be allowed at the wedding, a photobooth will be an ideal opportunity to capture the guests at their best. Luxury children’s entertainers, like London’s based Sharky+George who did the Royal wedding, are expected to be on hand to give parents, like William and Kate, the night off.’

TOTAL ESTIMATED SPEND: £337,049  

During the midst of planning their own fairytale wedding, it was reported by the media that they would be ‘providing the poshest Portaloos on earth’ with ‘porcelain basins’ and ‘gold-plated seats’, as inspired by the ones at Pippa’s wedding.

Writing in his bombshell memoir Spare, Harry clarified: ‘In reality, we didn’t notice anything different about how or where people went pee or poo at Pippa’s, and we had nothing to do with choosing the Portaloos for ours.

‘But we sincerely hoped that everyone would be able to do their thing in comfort and peace.’

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