American actor George Clooney, his wife Amal and David and Victoria Beckham were among the guests in attendance at Windsor Castle for the royal wedding. Global media mogul Oprah Winfrey, British actor Idris Elba and singer Elton John were also spotted inside the castle grounds.
The guest list for Saturday’s royal wedding had remained a remarkably well-kept secret.
But as the minutes ticked down toward the ceremony, rumors began turning into fact as some of the lucky 600 guests with invitations to the wedding itself started arriving in sunny Windsor.
Many guests chose bright, bold and energetic colors for the day, with canary yellow a standout choice.
Shades of purple were also popular, from lilac through to amethyst and orchid. Figure-hugging silhouettes were a common feature among many of the female guests.
Royal watchers were treated to the first full view of Meghan’s bridal gown, designed by Clare Waight Keller for Givenchy, as she stepped out of the car at the foot of the steps leading up to St. George’s Chapel at noon.
Spotted at Windsor
The Clooneys arrived around 10.30 a.m. local time, with Amal Clooney wearing a golden yellow gown designed by Stella McCartney. English soccer superstar David Beckham appeared at St. George’s Chapel at about the same time with his wife Victoria, a fashion designer and former Spice Girl.
The Beckhams’ connections with the royal family are well known. They attended the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011 and their youngest child and only daughter, Harper, celebrated her sixth birthday at Buckingham Palace last year.
Priyanka Chopra, the Indian actress and winner of Miss World 2000, was also at the chapel, wearing a Vivienne Westwood dress and a Philip Treacy hat.
Chopra is a friend of Markle and, although the pair haven’t known each other long, it was widely believed she would fly to the UK for the event.
On the day the couple announced their engagement, Chopra posted a picture of Harry and Meghan with a personal message: “Congratulations to my girl @meghanmarkle and Prince Harry!!
Janina Gavankar, actress and friend of Markle’s, was also among the guests.
Idris Elba was seen arriving with Sabrina Dhowre. Elba is best known for playing Nelson Mandela in the 2013 film “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom,” detective John Luther in the BBC series “Luther” and drug trafficker Stringer Bell in the HBO series “The Wire.”
Oprah Winfrey was also at the ceremony. She wore a blush, double-tiered dress with lace trim made of sustainable viscose by Stella McCartney and a hat by Irish designer Philip Treacy. She sat in the Quire – the front part of the chapel – with members of the royal family and other people close to the couple.
Elton John, a close friend of the family who sang at Princess Diana’s funeral, was also present with his husband David Furnish.
Markle’s co-stars in US television drama “Suits” were also inside the chapel, including Patrick J. Adams, who plays her love interest Mike Ross, Gabriel Macht (Harvey Specter) and Sarah Rafferty (Donna Paulsen).
Macht’s wife, actress Jacinda Barrett, wore an Emilia Wickstead dress, according to an Instagram story by Wickstead.
Abigail Spencer, who plays lawyer and Specter’s love interest Dana Scott, Gina Torres, who plays leading lawyer Jessica Pearson, and Rick Hoffman (Louis Litt) were also there.
English singer James Blunt arrived with girlfriend Sofia Wellesley. A Twitter exchange in 2016 revealed the friendship between Blunt and Prince Harry. Responding to a Twitter user who asked who had invited Blunt to the Invictus Games, the international sporting event started by Prince Harry, Blunt replied, “Prince Harry. By text. BOOM!”
Singer Joss Stone, actor Tom Hardy and actress Carey Mulligan were also among the guests, as were comedian James Corden and Julia Carey. Mulligan came with her husband Marcus Mumford, lead singer of UK band Mumford & Sons.
Sports celebrities were also present, including tennis superstar Serena Williams, who wore a pink Versace dress, according to her Instagram account. She arrived with her husband Alexis Ohanian.
Clive Woodward, the former coach of England’s men’s national rugby team, was among the guests. Harry is known to be a rugby fan and often attends England matches.
Jonny Wilkinson, star of the Woodward-coached England team that won the Rugby World Cup in 2003, was also at the chapel.
No world leaders or political figures were invited in their official capacities. But Sir John Major, former UK Prime Minister, attended the ceremony. Following the death of Princess Diana in 1997, Major was appointed a guardian to Prince William and Prince Harry with responsibility for legal and administrative matters.
Royal arrivals
Queen Elizabeth arrived at the chapel with her husband Prince Philip shortly before the ceremony began. The Queen was wearing a delicately flared dress in lime, lemon, purple and gray printed silk and an edge-to-edge coat with a frogging fastening in lime silk tweed. Both are by Stuart Parvin.
She was also wearing an Angela Kelly hat, using the same lime silk tweed with sinamay adorned across the crown with handmade lace crystals and pearls made by Lucy Price. Her brooch is the Richmond Diamond brooch with pearl drop.
Her oldest son and heir to the throne Prince Charles wore a morning coat tailored by Anderson & Sheppard to walk Markle down the Quire aisle. His wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, was wearing an ice pink feathered Philip Treacy hat.
Queen Elizabeth’s three younger children – Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward – were all also at the chapel, as were Harry’s cousin Peter Philips and wife Autumn, cousin Zara Tindall and husband Mike.
The Duchess of Cambridge arrived with the bridal party wearing a hat designed by Philip Treacy and shoes by Jimmy Choo. She wore a primrose yellow wool silk tailored coat by Alexander McQueen.
The parents of the former Kate Middleton – Michael and Carol – arrived at the chapel in the run-up to the ceremony, in the company of their younger daughter Pippa and her husband James Matthews. Pippa sported a £495 ($670) silk dress by The Fold.
Earl Spencer, brother of Princess Diana, his wife Karen and his daughter Kitty were at the chapel as was Tom Parker Bowles, the son of Prince Charles’ wife Camilla from her first marriage.
Harry’s aunt, Sarah Ferguson, who used to be married to Prince Andrew, Prince Charles’ younger brother, was also at the event.
CNN’s Fiona Sinclair Scott contributed to this report.