The wedding with the ex factor! Kate and William watch their friends tie the knot... joined by FOUR of their former partners

For many couples, bumping into an old flame can be something of an awkward affair.

But it would seem that the marriage of Kate and William is built of sterner stuff than most.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge attended a wedding on Saturday where there were no fewer than four of their former partners.

Feeling awkward? William and Kate look out from under an umbrella at a wedding attended by no fewer than four of their former partners

Umbrella day: William, who looked smart in a morning suit, shielded his wife from the rain

Wet weekend: The royal couple make their way into the church for the ceremony as the rain falls

Star attraction: Crowds gather to watch the royal couple arrive

The wedding, also attended by Pippa Middleton, was of Kate’s friend from Marlborough College, Alice St John Webster and Gerald Alvenel in a picturesque Somerset village.

But also amongst the 300 guests were Prince William’s former girlfriends Olivia Hunt and Rose Farquhar, along with Kate’s previous love-interests Henry Ropner and Willem Marx.

Aspiring actress Miss Farquhar, 28, dated William, 30, after he left Eton in the summer of 2000. Miss Hunt, 28, a writer, dated the Duke briefly before Kate at St Andrews.

Old flames: Writer Olivia Hunt (left) and aspiring actress  Rose Farquhar (right), both believed to be former girlfriends of William, were at the wedding

Familiar faces: Journalist Willem Marx (left) and Henry Ropner, pictured with wife Natasha (right), are understood to be former partners of the Duchess of Cambridge

Mr Marx, 29, a journalist, was 30-year-old Kate’s first boyfriend at Marlborough and baronet’s son Mr Ropner, 30, is rumoured to have dated Kate when she and William separated in 2007.

For the wedding, in the village of Bishops Lydeard, near Taunton, Kate wore her favourite nude LK Bennett shoes and a £490 blossom print silk chiffon dress by London-based ethical fashion company Beulah along with a Jane Corbett white hat.

 

Interestingly, Beulah was started by another of William’s former girlfriends Natasha Rufus Isaacs.

Big day: Kate watched her friend from Marlborough College, Alice St John Webster (centre), and Gerald Alvenel (left) tie the knot

Proud moment: The bride is escorted to church by her father Rory

The bride wore a beaming smile: Alice St John Webster can hardly contain her delight

Elegant: Pippa Middleton wore an elegant pale pink and black embroidered £380 Alice Temperley shirt dress

But as this was the second time Kate has worn one of her designs - having worn a floor-length Sarai gown for a gala fundraising last October - there are evidently no hard feelings.

William, who looked smart in a morning suit, shielded his wife from the rain with an umbrella as they made their way into the church.

Hardly a week goes by when Pippa, who wore an elegant pale pink and black embroidered £380 Alice Temperley shirt dress, is not a guest at a wedding.

Attractive: David and Emilia Jardine-Paterson dressed very smartly for the wedding

David and Emilia Jardine-Paterson (left) and Sam and Annabel Waley-Cohen (right), all close friends of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, attended the wedding

Friends of the royals: Tom and Harriet Sutton (left)  and Andrew Charlton, pictured with a female companion (right), were among the guests

Sam Waley-Cohen and his wife Annabel (left) were among the guests, as was  Louise Aubrey-Fletcher (right)

Throughout the month of May, the 28-year-old socialite attended the marriages of her friends on three out of four weekends.

On only one of these occasions was the ever-popular Miss Middleton accompanied by Kate and William.
This was for the wedding of Kate’s former schoolfriend Hannah Gillingham in Wingfield, Suffolk.

Snappy dressers: Harry and Louise Aubrey-Fletcher pose for photographs at the wedding in Somerset

Picturesque: The wedding took place in St Mary's Church, in the village of Bishops Lydeard, near Taunton