2011 was the year of THE Royal Wedding of Prince Williams and Kate Middleton but also the year of four other lesser known royals. Here are the top 5 you may have missed and some of the highlights of their wedding:

1. Prince Williams of England and Kate Middleton (April 29, 2011)

30 years after Prince Charles and Princess Diana walked down the aisle. Prince Williams wed Kate Middleton at Westminister Abbey . The bride wore Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen (and has since worn the label for many occassions, raising its brand). The event was spectacular, recorded as the sixth biggest event on internet history. Also, it notably raised the profile of Kate’s younger sister Pippa, and her famous derriere.

2. Prince Albert of Monaco and Charlene Wittstock (July 2, 2011)

Press rumours swirled that the bride tried to run away twice and yet another paternity suit filed days ahead of the wedding, you couldnt help but feel sorry for Charlene Wittstock as she wed her prince. The bride wore Girogi Armani and welcomed 450 guests to a white tie dinner and ball with fireworks display to top the evening off. A former Olympic swimmer, South African born Charlene looked stunning and was seen crying during the ceremony which is much more emotion than what we usually see of royal weddings in the full glare of publicity.

3. Zara Philips of England and Mike Tindall (July 30, 2011)

(Princess) Zara wed her Rugby playing boyfriend in the summer after the very public and grand wedding of her cousin. The couple chose a low key affair with a Edinburgh church and a reception at Holyrood House, the monarch’s official residence in Scotland (why not when granny is the queen!) The couple also chose to only release on official wedding portrait and banned the media in the church and reception. Despite that, thousands of loyal fans lined the streets to cheer the happy couple. The bride wore a Stewart Parvin dress, a full cathedral length tulle viel and a royal tiara. Even their engagement party was low key abroad the Royal Yatch Britain which is now advertising hire facilities for £60/head.

4. King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk of Bhutan and Jetsun Pema (October 15, 2011)

The Bhutanese royal have a sweet story of the king first proposing to Jetsun Pema when he was 17 and she was 7 at a family picnic in Thimpu. Apprently, he had told her ‘If we meet again, and I am single and not married and you are single and not married, lets marry.” Many years later, they met again when Jetsun Pema had blossomed into a lotus (thats literally what her name means in Bhutanese and Tibetan!). The royal couple did not invite any foreign dignitires but invited thousands of their subjects and held a very public kiss (public displays of affection are not normal that part of the world).

and finally… and “What royal?’ highlight

5. Prince Georg Friedrich von Prueben of Germany wed Princess Sophie von Isenburg (August 27, 2011)

The groom, the great great grandson of Germany’s last Kaiser wed his own Hessian Princess in the Hohenzollern dynasty’s old summer residence, the famed Sanssouci Palace built by Frederick the Great. 700 guests were invited with only a few international royalty present (so no Kate Middleton and Prince Williams!). The lack of enthusiasm for their wedding in their home country may have to do with the fact that German nobility was stripped of their special privileges in the 1919 Weimer Constititions. In fact, I only heard of this wedding as the ‘Who?What royalty?” sections of weddings covered for 2011. In any case, we wish these royals every happiness in their married life.