Prince William and Kate Middleton Broke Royal Protocol at Their Wedding

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When Prince William and Kate Middleton were married in 2011, their ceremony was watched by millions of people all over the world. Nothing grabs the world's attention like a royal wedding. During the ceremony, though, the pair actually broke royal protocol in a way that few noticed.

In a resurfaced documentary, it was revealed that William and Kate went against the advice of their royal staffers when making one of the most important decisions about their wedding and its guest list.

According to Express, a resurfaced 2012 documentary called "Prince William at Thirty" revealed that the pair wanted complete control over their ceremony.

“Initially Buckingham Palace had drawn up a very extensive guest list, I think over 700 names of Heads of State, Kings, and Queens around the world,” Katie Nicholl, an expert on the royal family, shared. With the list in hand, William apparently went directly to Queen Elizabeth II and asked if this list had to be adhered to for their wedding.

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As we know from "The Crown," the queen usually likes to stick to protocol, but in this instance, she was willing to be flexible. She told William that he could rip up the guest list. What's more, she made it clear that they could invite whoever they wanted to the ceremony. After all, it's their day.

The guest list for the wedding still included plenty of foreign heads of state, but it also included the people Kate and Will really wanted theirs for their wedding.

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In addition to gaining control of the guest list, Prince William also made time to honor his mother Diana at his wedding. In fact, Kate's engagement ring was the same one that had been worn by Diana. Initially, Harry had taken the ring, but when he realized that it was time for his brother to marry, he gave it to his older brother.

It was a touching gesture that also speaks to how close the two brothers used to be to each other.

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Kate and Will's romance began during their time together at St. Andrews University in Scotland. The two went through a rough patch that led to a temporary split in 2007, but they dated for another three years after that before Will proposed in 2010.

A year later, the two were married in a gorgeous ceremony at Westminster Abbey. Royal weddings don't come that often, so when they do, it's important to treat them with the specialness that the event calls for, even if that means an early morning in the U.S.