Prince Charles and Princess Diana's marriage may not have worked out [1] the way people had hoped, but things sure did look great in the beginning [2], right? Before the couple became embroiled in multiple stories of infidelity [3] and public trash-talking [4], Diana and Charles were two young people (seemingly) in love. And on the day they were married [5] in 1981, the newlyweds did something that would change British royal wedding protocol forever.
After tying the knot at Westminster Abbey [6], Diana, Charles, and the rest of their royal family members made their way back to Buckingham Palace to pose for official wedding portraits and greet the thousands of adoring fans and well-wishers cheering outside (not to mention the 750 million people watching worldwide [7]). Once on the balcony, Charles and Diana waved to the throngs of people below. After he placed a sweet kiss on Diana's hand, the crowd began chanting, "Give her a kiss!," and Charles leaned in and kissed his new bride.
While Queen Victoria was the first royal to address the British public [8] from Buckingham Palace after her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840, it wasn't until Charles and Diana's nervous smooch in 1981 that a pair of royal newlyweds had kissed for the world. Surprisingly, that wasn't the only way Diana made history at her wedding — during the ceremony, she became the first royal bride to omit the word "obey" from her vows [9]. Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle [10] would follow suit decades later [11] in their vows to Diana's sons, William and Harry, respectively.
While still a touchy (ha) subject for the royals [12], Charles and Diana's historic move made it acceptable for royal couples to show their love for each other [13] in a celebratory public setting. To this day, it is an expected part of royal wedding ceremonies and one that we've grown to look forward to over the years — just see Prince William and Kate Middleton's balcony smooch [14] and the one between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle outside St. George's Chapel [15]. Look back on photos of Charles and Diana's game-changing kiss when you keep reading.
