What Prince William Told Kate Middleton's Father On Their Wedding Day

Prince William and Kate Middleton — Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, smile following their marriage at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011, in London, England. Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Members of the royal family may look regal most of the time, but they are actually just like normal people when all their palaces, royal protocols and astounding wealth are taken out of the equation. And while it may look like the lavishness of royal weddings is a no-frills for them, it is not — at least for Prince William.

On the day of his wedding to Kate Middleton, Prince William proved that even he also sees the strangeness of the whole royal wedding tradition. In fact, after Kate’s father, Michael Middleton, walked his daughter down the aisle, Prince William told him a joke that proved he also found the whole situation — marrying the love of his life with billions of viewers around the world watching them through their TV screens — a bit awkward.

In Marcia Moddy’s book, “Kate: An Autobiography,” the author lifted the lid on what the Duke of Cambridge told Kate’s father on that momentous occasion. She revealed that as soon as Kate and her father reached the altar, Prince William turned to Michael and cracked, “Just a quiet family wedding!”

Luckily, Michael said he was not nervous at the time. “Michael later said he wasn’t nervous because he had Kate on his arm, and even told his friends it felt like a dream until he opened the newspapers the following day,” Moody wrote.

Although the billions of viewers watching the royal wedding were not able to pick up what Prince William said that moment, the look on Middleton’s face in the photos released after the wedding confirmed that her husband made them chuckle off their feet that exact moment.

After the joke, the couple dropped the humor and lovingly set their eyes on each other while standing at the altar. Prince William then murmured to Kate, “You look beautiful,”— the same words Prince Charles told Princess Diana on the day of their wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1981.

Prince William and Duchess Kate tied the knot eight years ago in 2011 at Westminster Abbey. Their wedding was one of the most-watched events in history.