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Great Britain's royal weddings are famous for their pomp, pageantry and gleaming crown-jewel tiara traditions. Most of them, anyway.

When royal cousin Lord Frederick Windsor tied the knot with actress Sophie Winkleman on Sept. 12, 2009, the British press dubbed the nuptials "Windy and Winky's Wobbly Wedding."

It's no wonder Queen Elizabeth II, her heir-to-the-throne son, Prince Charles, and most of her high-profile grandchildren managed to have "other commitments" that kept them away from the lavish, over-budget celebrity-style wedding.

Windsor, a banker and former Burberry model, is the son of the queen's first cousin Prince Michael of Kent and his controversial wife, Princess Michael.

Their son was 31st in line to the throne on his wedding day.

Marrying royal did not make Winkleman a princess, but the pretty brunette has played one on television. While best known for her role as Big Suze in the British comedy series "Peep Show," she also played Princess Eleanor in the ITV television drama "The Palace." Stateside she's been seen on "CSI: Miami."

Photo: WPA Pool / Getty Images

Friends and family described the lovebirds -- who became engaged on Valentine's Day 2009 when Windsor spelled out a proposal on a Scrabble board -- as a "perfect fit." Natch.

Their ceremony in the Chapel Royal in Hampton Court Palace in Surrey, where King Henry VIII married his sixth wife, Catherine Parr, was a celebrity event that was tabloid-scandalous before the rehearsal dinner.

While the couple turned down a "life-changing" sum of money from Hello! magazine for exclusive picture access (sparing themselves the palace reprimand that came the way of offending royal relatives Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly), the word "gauche" came to define the affair.

While the queen begged off and headed north to "inspect the troops," she missed quite a show. Princess Eugenie, daughter of Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, was the only member of the immediate royal family in attendance.

Tabloids reported that Princess Michael, who by all accounts was thrilled with the match, was in charge and her extravagant plans were bankrupting the budget. She allegedly resorted to importing "cheap Champagne" and bartering for discounts on everything from meals and invitations to wedding fashions to cut out-of-control costs.

Meanwhile, the tabloids sniped about Winky and Windy making the unroyal move of opening a bridal registry for items such as crystal stemware at retailer Selfridges. Gasp!

Still it seemed like a beautiful wedding for a perfectly happy bride and groom:

The bride's approximately $8,000 dress by the Russian design house of Razo included some 80 feet of white crystal-beaded silk duchesse satin and 36 feet of silk taffeta, and included a 10-foot detachable train. The dress featured a sweetheart neckline and lace sleeves. Its designer, Anna Razo-Bistroff, was reportedly a close friend of Princess Michael's and gave the bride a substantial discount.

She walked down the aisle of a chapel decorated in pink roses and handmade jasmine garlands to the strains of Mozart's Laudate Dominum to meet her groom, who was wearing a formal, gray Hardy Amies suit and pale-blue tie.

Winkleman's six bridesmaids, who in the British royal tradition were children, wore white floral headbands. Windsor had 15 ushers.

The sight of the beautiful bride and her wedding party was perhaps not quite as riveting as the "something blue" in the pews: Princess Michael wearing a plunging, cleavage-baring royal-blue satin gown and coordinating wrap with a giant pink flower fastened to her updo. "Pushy steals the show," was the Daily Mail's headline.

After the ceremony, guests enjoyed Champagne, canapés and cake at Hampton Court's Great Hall before the couple left for an evening party, complete with live music provided by the groom's friends, at Lady Annabel Goldsmith's home in nearby Ham.

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