Women and men have been choosing to get married later in life, and that is largely evident in royals such as Meghan Markle and Princess Beatrice.
According to Statistica, the average age of men has risen from 27.4 in 1972 to 38.4 by 2019, while women have increased from 24.7 to 36.1. So how old were royal brides when they chose to walk down the aisle? From Queen Elizabeth to Princess Anne and Princess Kate, look back at royal brides' ages – starting from the youngest at just 19 years old.
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Princess Diana
Lady Diana Spencer was 16 when she met then-Prince Charles, aged 29, and they got married three years later at St Paul’s Cathedral in 1981. At the time, Princess Diana was 19 years old, making her the youngest royal bride, while Charles was 32.
Queen Elizabeth II
Princess Elizabeth was 21 when she tied the knot with 26-year-old Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey in 1947. The late monarch could have been even younger had her father George VI given them permission to wed, but when they became secretly engaged in 1946, they reportedly postponed announcing the news.
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Princess Anne
The Queen's daughter Princess Anne followed suit, choosing to exchange vows with her first husband Captain Mark Phillips at Westminster Abbey in 1973 at the age of 22 – just one year older than her mother was when she married. She then married Sir Timothy Laurence in 1992 aged 42.
Sarah Ferguson
Prince Andrew and his wife Sarah Ferguson waited a little longer before getting married. They were both 26 at their show-stopping ceremony in 1986, with the Queen's son choosing to pop the question on his birthday.
Princess Eugenie
Princess Eugenie met her husband Jack Brooksbank in Verbier in 2010, but it wasn't until eight years later that they got married at St George’s Chapel when the royal was 28. "We met when I was 20 and Jack was 24, and fell in love," Eugenie told the BBC.
Princess Margaret
Princess Margaret was 29 when she married Antony Armstrong-Jones, then 30, in 1960. She had previously been in a relationship with divorcé Captain Peter Townsend, who was 16 years her senior.
Princess Kate
Despite being the same age as the Queen's sister, the Princess of Wales was considered an older bride when she tied the knot with Prince William at Westminster Abbey in 2011. After meeting at the University of St Andrews, the couple dated on and off for almost ten years before getting married when Kate was 29 and William was 28.
Princess Beatrice
Princess Beatrice, then 31, and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, then 36, chose to have a low-key wedding during the coronavirus lockdown in July 2020 following a two-year relationship.
Countess Sophie
Prince Edward was the youngest of the Queen's children, and also the eldest groom among his siblings. The 35-year-old married Sophie Rhys-Jones, then 34, at St George’s Chapel in 1999.
Meghan Markle
The Duchess of Sussex, who was previously married to Trevor Engelson, was 36 at the time of her royal wedding with 33-year-old Prince Harry in 2018. Harry recently admitted he thought he would be a young groom, but didn't find love with Meghan until 2016.
Queen Consort Camilla
Both King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla had been married, welcomed families and divorced before they exchanged vows in 2005, so it's not surprising that Camilla was the oldest royal bride to walk down the aisle. For their civil ceremony, which took place at Windsor Guildhall, Charles was 56 and Camilla was 57.
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