Combined coat of arms of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips
The wedding day, which was on the twenty-fifth birthday of her older brother, Charles, Prince of Wales was declared a special bank holiday and a global estimated audience of 500 million watched the Westminster Abbey ceremony, with large crowds lining the streets on the wedding day.[4][7][8] In the UK, 27.6 million people tuned in to watch the event.[9] Although Phillips was technically a lieutenant in the Army at the time of the marriage, he was also an acting Captain and was styled as such.[10][11] Princess Anne was accompanied to the ceremony in the Glass State Coach by her father, the Duke of Edinburgh.[5]The Queen, The Queen Mother, The Prince of Wales, and Prince Andrew arrived in the Scottish State Coach. The ceremony featured many ceremonial aspects, including use of the state carriages and roles for the Household Cavalry, Irish Guards, and Coldstream Guards.[12] A tall, iced wedding cake with silver tiers was prepared for the ceremony.[13] Tiers of the cake were formed in the shape of a hexagon, and "a statue of a female jockey leaping a fence" was placed on top of it as a tribute to Anne's career as an equestrian.[14]
The service was a traditional royal wedding conducted by Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of Canterbury. In keeping with tradition, Anne's wedding ring was crafted from Welsh gold.[15] The tradition of using Welsh gold within the wedding rings of the Royal Family dates back to 1923. Following the service, the couple then returned to Buckingham Palace for the traditional balcony appearance and a wedding lunch.[11] At night, they stayed at White House Lodge in Richmond Park before going on their honeymoon on board the Royal Yacht Britannia, travelling the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.[4][11] The wedding ceremony was positively received by the public who gathered in the streets to celebrate the occasion.[4][11] The BBC gained the rights to broadcast the event.[15]
^Morgan, Gwen. "A Royal Wedding Album". Chicago Tribune 15 November 1973. Retrieved 4 March 2016. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Michael Ramsey, blesses Princess Ann and Capt. Mark Phillips....
^Lopez, Alfred, ed. (2005). Postcolonial Whiteness: A Critical Reader on Race and Empire. Albany, NY, USA: State University of New York Press. p. 49. ISBN0791463613.
