It may be daunting turning up to a wedding alone, but in 2008 the Duchess of Cambridge did just then when she was still the girlfriend of Prince William. Kate attended two royal weddings alone, without her date; the first was to Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly's ceremony in May 2008, and the second was to Lady Rose Windsor and George Gilman's nuptials in July of that year.
Prince William was unable to make his cousin Peter's wedding in Windsor as he had a previous invitation; he was attending the wedding of his ex-girlfriend Jecca Craig's brother in Kenya. William has always remained close with the Craig family and accepted the invite for the Masaai-themed wedding. In 2016, he again flew to Kenya to attend Jecca's own wedding.
Kate chose not to join the royals on the church steps so as not to deflect attention
Back in 2008, a source told the Telegraph that William's decision to skip his cousin's royal wedding was not seen as a snub to the rest of the family. "Prince William is going to be out of the country this weekend on a long-standing prior engagement," the insider said. "It is an unfortunate clash but he spoke to his cousin Peter and he is fine with the situation. His girlfriend will be going in his absence."
Despite not having a date, Kate was in good company as she attended the Windsor nuptials with Prince Harry and his girlfriend at the time, Chelsy Davy. The then Miss Middleton looked lovely at the wedding, which was covered exclusively by HELLO!, wearing a pale pink jacket, a sheer black top and full skirt, matching her veiled pillbox hat.
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Kate and Chelsy had slipped into the church through a side door so as not to deflect attention from the bride and groom. They also chose not to leave the ceremony with the rest of the royal family, who were waving off Peter and Autumn in their carriage from the church steps.
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Two months later, Kate attended another wedding alone, that of Lady Rose Windsor and George Gilman in London. The couple tied the knot at the Queen's Chapel near St James's Palace, with a host of royals on the guest list including Princess Anne, Prince Edward and his wife the Countess of Wessex. Lady Rose is the daughter of the Duke of Gloucester, who is the Queen's cousin.
Kate attended the wedding of Lady Rose Windsor and George Gilman in 2008
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Kate drew attention for attending without her boyfriend William, who was away on military operations in the Caribbean, serving aboard HMS Iron Duke. Her solo outing sparked rumours of her own engagement, which eventually took place two years later in November 2010.