With Princess Beatrice’s wedding on the horizon, the well-to-do will be keeping their fingers crossed that a Save-the-Date will soon be dropping through the letter box.
While it has been said she won’t have a carriage procession or a showy ceremony at Windsor Castle like sister Eugenie, it’s still set to be a must-attend occasion.
But for some, the idea of not being invited won’t even be a consideration.
For while every wedding is special, when it comes to the highest profile nuptials, it seems there are some common elements — namely a glossy coterie of well-connected couples who show up at almost every one.
So who are these lucky serial guests, just how many weddings have they attended — and what are their chances of securing an invitation to the next Royal Wedding?
Alison Boshoff looks over the guest lists of the biggest recent weddings to see who gets invited again and again and again . . .
A raucous speech by ‘King’ Corden
Prince Harry & Meghan Markle, May 2018
The wedding: The pomp and circumstance at Windsor, with an open-top carriage ride and a bride who walked herself down the aisle, had a dazzling guest list including Oprah Winfrey, the Beckhams and the Clooneys.
The guests: Eugenie and Beatrice have always been close to Harry. Eugenie was already friendly with Meghan when they met, having got to know her via mutual friend Misha Nonoo.
In the early days of the romance the pair were spotted on a double date at Soho House in Toronto with Eugenie and then boyfriend Jack, also a guest.
The pomp and circumstance at Windsor, with an open-top carriage ride and a bride who walked herself down the aisle, had a dazzling guest list including Oprah Winfrey, the Beckhams and the Clooneys
Misha Nonoo was there with then boyfriend Mikey.
James Corden gave a raucous speech at the reception dressed as Henry VIII. He was introduced to Harry by David Beckham during the Olympics bid, and they are close friends
Misha is one of Meghan’s dearest friends, having met her six years ago at an art fair, which she attended with first husband Alexander Gilkes, an art dealer.
Gilkes was at Eton with William and Harry.
James Corden gave a raucous speech at the reception dressed as Henry VIII.
He was introduced to Harry by David Beckham during the Olympics bid, and they are close friends.
His wife Julia works for interior design company Charles & Co, the firm said to have done the interiors for the Sussexes’ Frogmore Cottage home. James Blunt and wife Sofia were also there.
Blunt served in the Army like Harry and has helped Harry by performing at charity gigs, including the Invictus Games. Pippa and husband James added to the tally of Middletons at the ceremony.
Serial wedding crew tally: 11
Harry announced pregnancy
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, October 2018
Eugenie was a vision in a Peter Pilotto gown at her wedding at Windsor Castle to affable young businessman Jack Brooksbank
The wedding: Eugenie was a vision in a Peter Pilotto gown at her wedding at Windsor Castle to affable young businessman Jack Brooksbank.
There were a large number of celebrities, many of them chums of Eugenie’s mum Fergie —including Kate Moss, Ricky Martin and Liv Tyler. Robbie Williams’s daughter Teddy was a bridesmaid.
The guests: Harry and Meghan attended — it’s said they revealed during the reception she was expecting.
Beatrice was Maid of Honour, while Pippa and James Matthews joined sister Kate and William.
Misha Nonoo was also there. Her ex-husband Alexander Gilkes was Eugenie’s boss at the auction house Paddle8 in New York; the couple took her under their wing when she moved to the city.
James Blunt and wife Sofia, who is granddaughter of the eighth Duke of Wellington, were there for their second Royal Wedding of the year.
The singer was also at a notorious party in 2016 when Ed Sheeran had his face gashed with a ceremonial sword by Beatrice — who was pretending to ‘knight’ Blunt as a joke and caught Ed’s cheek.
Eugenie’s close friends Ellie Goulding and Caspar Jopling were also there.
Serial wedding crew tally: 10
Top VIP guest? The Queen…
Lady Gabriella Windsor & Thomas Kingston, May 2019
Gabriella — the daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent — wore a romantic white lace dress by Italian designer Luisa Beccaria to marry financier Thomas in front of all the senior royals, including the Queen
The wedding: Yet another Royal Wedding at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.
Gabriella — the daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent — wore a romantic white lace dress by Italian designer Luisa Beccaria to marry financier Thomas in front of all the senior royals, including the Queen.
The guests: Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi attended, marking their first official engagement as a couple, but there was no Eugenie or Jack as they were on holiday.
There was some surprise when Prince Harry showed up on his own.
Meghan, who was only a few days away from having her baby, remained at their nearby Frogmore Cottage home.
Flouting the convention that ex-lovers don’t make good wedding guests, Pippa — who once dated Thomas — was present with husband James. Gabriella and Thomas attended the couple’s wedding in 2017.
Serial wedding crew tally: 5
Tequila sunrise for Katy and Orlando
Karlie Kloss & Joshua Kushner, June 2019
Their wedding was a three-day cowboy themed extravaganza in Wyoming with fireworks, horse riding and plenty of tequila. The couple are part of New York’s arty social scene
The wedding: A three-day cowboy themed extravaganza in Wyoming with fireworks, horse riding and plenty of tequila. The couple are part of New York’s arty social scene.
The guests: Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom were there, sharing a series of pictures of themselves in cowboy costume on Instagram.
The couple are close friends of the bride and groom. Ellie Goulding and Caspar Jopling, and Misha Nonoo and fiancé Mikey Hess were also invited.
The foursome are part of a group that went on a trip to Jordan with Karlie last year.
Eugenie, who met Karlie via mutual pal Misha, was there, as were actors Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, and designer Diane von Furstenberg.
Though they attended an earlier family party, there was no sign of Joshua’s brother Jared and wife Ivanka Trump.
Serial wedding crew tally: 7
Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom were there, sharing a series of pictures of themselves in cowboy costume on Instagram
The grandest of nuptials for pop star Ellie, who was raised in a council house in Hereford, and old Etonian Caspar
Eugenie the matchmaker
Ellie Goulding & Caspar Jopling, August 2019
The wedding: The grandest of nuptials for pop star Ellie, who was raised in a council house in Hereford, and old Etonian Caspar.
They were married at York Minster — his grandfather was a Lord Lieutenant of Yorkshire — with the reception at Castle Howard.
The guests: Eugenie — who first introduced the couple and was delighted to see them fall in love — and Beatrice (pictured bottom with fiancé Edoardo) attended, adding a touch of royal razzle-dazzle.
The Blunts were there.
They appear to know the couple via Prince Harry.
Like Blunt, Ellie performed at the inaugural Invictus Games in 2014.
Misha, Mikey, Karlie, Joshua, Katy and Orlando made the trip from the U.S. and mingled with fellow celebs Sienna Miller, Tracey Emin and Harry’s ex Cressida Bonas.
Serial wedding crew tally: 12
Eugenie — who first introduced the couple and was delighted to see them fall in love — and Beatrice (pictured with fiancé Edoardo) attended
Meghan picked to read a poem
Misha Nonoo & Mikey Hess, September 2019
Part of a three-day extravaganza, Misha (above) and Mikey hosted a sunset wedding in the grounds of a 17th-century villa in Rome
The wedding: Part of a three-day extravaganza, Misha and Mikey hosted a sunset wedding in the grounds of a 17th-century villa in Rome.
The party was apparently planned so that guests of honour Harry and Meghan could be back in the UK in time to fly to South Africa. The dress code was ‘dazzling’.
The guests: Meghan, wearing a £9,000 Valentino dress, read a poem at the ceremony.
Longtime friends, she and Misha spent the summer of 2016 travelling in Europe together when Misha’s first marriage was breaking up.
Beatrice and Eugenie were there, as well as their mother Sarah Ferguson. Both princesses had attended Misha’s first wedding, a three-day affair in Venice in 2012.
Joshua Kushner and Karlie Kloss were there, as well as Katy Perry and Orlando and James and Julia Corden, who are friends of the bride via Meghan.
Serial wedding crew tally: 10
The party was apparently planned so that guests of honour Harry and Meghan could be back in the UK in time to fly to South Africa
With Princess Beatrice’s wedding on the horizon, the well-to-do will be keeping their fingers crossed that a Save-the-Date will soon be dropping through the letter box
So who are these lucky serial guests, just how many weddings have they attended — and what are their chances of securing an invitation to the next Royal Wedding?
Picture research: Claire Cisotti