When the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge tied the knot, Prince Harry delivered a speech that was “warm and affectionate,” with Harry referring to his brother as “The Dude” and Kate as “The Duchess.”
“Harry said William was the perfect brother,” a source said. “It was exactly how you would expect a best man’s speech to be. He cracked loads of jokes about William. He called him a ‘dude’ several times. He kept coming back to it, saying ‘What a dude.’”
He also noted how love changed the new Duke.
“William didn’t have a romantic bone in his body before he met Kate, so I knew it was serious when William suddenly started cooing down the phone at Kate,” he reportedly said in his speech.
Even though the speech was heartfelt and emotional — causing Kate tear up — Harry couldn’t resist doing a brief impersonation of his brother and Kate’s lovey-dovey conversations. But he did cut out some humor which may have crossed the line.
How it almost went wrong
But it was possibly what Harry didn't say, that made sure the speech was so well remembered.
He had asked his best friends Thomas Van Straubenzee and Guy Pelly to be a sounding board ahead of the speech and is understood to have dropped a reference to ‘Kate’s killer legs’ from the final edit.
‘Harry had some joke in about how he had immediately given Kate the thumbs up when William first brought her home because she had such a great pair of pins, but he didn’t want to embarrass her,’ said a friend.
I'm sure the Duke and Duchess are glad about that!
According to sources inside the evening reception, Harry’s speech was ‘warm and affectionate’ and peppered with good humour and jokes.
Lessons learned
There are two good lessons to be gained from Harry's experience:
1. Get feedback: It's always a good idea to run your jokes by a trusted friend.
2. Don't mention the bride's anatomy! Enough said.