Kate Middleton will be 'oldest bride'

Only two women older than her have married a king-in-waiting, and both were divorcees.

The Duchess of Cornwall was 57 when she became the Prince of Wales’s second wife in 2005, while Eleanor of Aquitaine was about 30 years old when she married the future Henry II in 1152, though her exact date of birth is not known.

Eleanor, who became Queen upon Henry’s accession in 1154, had earlier divorced her first husband, Louis VII, King of the Franks, and was the mother of the future Richard I and King John.

By the standards of the time of her marriage to the 19-year-old Henry, she would have been considered ancient as a Queen-in-waiting; typically, royal brides were in their teens.

The oldest woman to marry a reigning king is thought to be Catherine Parr, the sixth wife of Henry VIII, who was 30 when she married in 1543.

Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, might have been as old as 32 when she became Queen in 1533, but disputes over her date of birth mean she could also have been as young as 26.

Diana, Princess of Wales, had just turned 20 when she married Kate Middleton’s future father-in-law the Prince of Wales in 1981, while the late Queen Elizabeth was 22 at the time of her marriage to the future George VI.

The youngest royal bride was Isabella of Valois, who was aged just six when she married Richard II in 1396.

--By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter 11:59AM GMT 16 Nov 2010

Kate Middleton will be 29 when she marries Photo: Stephen Lock