Love & Sex

Be honest: Whenever you think of Queen Elizabeth, you don't think of a warm and fuzzy ol' granny. That woman is a monarch. She means business. But, you know, to Prince William, she is HRH Grandma. And having a grandmother with that much power has its perks! Especially when it comes to a wedding, which -- even when it's not a royal one -- can get so out of hand super fast.

In a new ITV1 documentary about Queen Elizabeth that airs next month, Wills opens up about how when he first started planning his wedding to Kate Middleton, he was handed the original royal wedding guest list (by whom is not clear) with 777 names on it ... and apparently, "not one person I knew or Catherine knew." How horrific! And we thought the royal wedding was all fun and games. Ha!

So how did Wills cope?

He took the list to the Queen! In the documentary, he explains:

I went to her and said, 'Listen, I've got this list, not one person I know – what do I do?’ and [the Queen] went, 'Get rid of it. Start from your friends and then we’ll add those we need to in due course. It’s your day.’ 

WOW! (And I'm not just saying that, because I had no idea the Prince has adopted Valley girl terms like "went" and "goes" instead of "says." But anyway, I digress ...)

Now, okay, I admit that the skeptical side of me thinks that maybe the Queen ended up tossing the royal couple a curveball or two before their "I do"s actually occurred, but still. Must give her props for helping them out with the guest list from the get-go! Usually, couples are dealing with the opposite situation -- aka their parents or grandparents are the ones giving them an enormous list of strangers they have to invite.

And yes, that's just one of the lovely side effects of the spring 2013 wedding my fiance and I are currently planning. For me, thinking there will be strangers there on our Big Day -- people we have absolutely no relationship with there to celebrate our relationship -- is completely maddening. Looking at some of the guests who fit this description on our list, my fiance and I have been pulling our hair out, shouting "Why???" and anticipating a nasty showdown at some point with the parents who have demanded said guests.

Obviously, I can't even begin to imagine 777 strangers making up our entire wedding list. Gah, what a nightmare! Thank goodness for the Queen. Sounds like she really turned Kate and Wills' wedding from a potential annoyance into a real dream come true.

Can you believe this about the Queen? How did you feel about your wedding guest list including people you didn't know?

Image via Paul Gilham/Getty Images