Bridesmaid Amber Petty shares inside look at Princess Mary’s wedding day

For the first time, Princess Mary’s bridesmaid Amber Petty reveals what really happened behind palace doors the morning of the wedding.

I woke up on the morning of Mary’s wedding, utterly cross-eyed with exhaustion. “Oh my God, thank God it’s here!” I thought, remembering it was about 3am before I took the last of 50 or so bobby pins out of my hair. A swirling sea of faces and glittering events had led us to this day.

There had been many surreal moments during the two weeks since I’d arrived in Copenhagen, many thanks to the creativity and thoughtfulness of my best friend’s future mother-in-law, Her Majesty the Queen of Denmark. Amongst all the pomp and ceremony, royal traditions and protocol, Frederik’s mother chose to put me in a bedroom across the hall from the bride.

“I said, ‘How the hell did you get us into this?’” (Picture: Supplied)

“Why do I feel so sad? God, only you would be standing here being all miserable and stupid.” (Picture: Supplied)

On the morning of the wedding, around 9am, as I woke up looking like something the cat had dragged in (to the Queen’s castle without getting caught by the guards), I decided to go and see how Mary was feeling on the biggest morning of her life – a day tens of millions of people around the world had been anticipating and would be watching.

I opened my door and darted my head left and right – no-one was coming. I was always terrified of bumping into someone official, none more so than the Queen (despite her kindness). I was a clumsy “curtsey-er” and couldn’t bear her having to fear I was about to nosedive at her feet.

I stepped across the hallway to Mary’s door and put my ear against it to see if she had company. I heard nothing, so I knocked. “Come in,” a voice replied. I found Mary sitting alone drinking tea. Everything was so calm – as though it were any other morning. “Hi,” I said as I plonked myself in the chair opposite her.

“So,” I said, trying to dial back my smirk, “What are you up to today? Got much on?” We both laughed, thankful for a little lightness in the small window of time before we’d need to let all that go. I shook my head, pulling a stupid, perplexed face, and said, “How the hell did you get us into this?”

Within a few hours, I was standing on the red carpet outside the cathedral next to Mary’s sisters, Jane and Patricia. The rapid-fire inner dialogue fuelled by my every insecurity, and heart-pounding emotion, began rolling like a cassette tape destined to tangle and break. Oh my God, nobody told me they’d be just there. Like, just there. I knew there’d be photographers, but there must be 200 of them.

It’s like a wall of lenses, so close I reckon I could chuck a drink on them. Christ, I wish I had a drink now. Wow. Everyone’s so happy. Happy to have her. Mind you, so they should be. She’s lovely. They could do a lot bloody worse. All that cheering in the royal square this morning – it’s like they were welcoming us all. This motley crew of Aussies.

Amber Petty stars on the cover of this Sunday’s Stellar.

Oh, please. How delusional. Welcoming, “us”? Are you right? You’re not her sister. You’re not family. You’re the one she had to have because you’d have been so broken if she didn’t. She could probably smell your fear from Copenhagen to Bondi. Careful … relax your face. I bet I look really hard.

Why do I feel so sad? God, only you would be standing here being all miserable and stupid. I wonder if there’s something wrong with me? Why do I always feel sad at the wrong times? Maybe I am mentally ill?

Sh*t. This is it! They’re going berserk. OK, she’s coming. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t overdo the serious face. Stay in the moment. Remember what’s real. At the end of the day, she’s just getting married. It’s OK. You’ll be OK. It’s just another goodbye.

This is an edited extract from This Is Not A Love Song by Amber Petty, available now. Read her interview with Stellar here.