Zara Tindall was the most angelic bridesmaid in frothy bow-embellished dress

Zara Tindall, née Phillips, was the poster girl for an adorable bridesmaid in unearthed photos taken in May 1985.

Having turned four just eight days earlier, Zara took on bridesmaid duties for Zara Legge-Bourke as she married Captain Richard Grosvenor Plunkett-Ernie-Erle-Drax at the Wellington Barracks.

Dressed in a meringue-style frock featuring puff sleeves and a bow-embellished skirt, Zara looked angelic as she made her way into the church. Her blonde bob was topped with a floral headband, and she clutched a bouquet in her hand as she was guided carefully up the steps by her mother Princess Anne.

Anne, meanwhile, wore a pale skirt suit layered over a white blouse and finished with a straw hat with a birdcage veil.

The bride was not only the daughter of Dame Shan Legge-Bourke, Anne’s Lady-in-Waiting, but also the sister of Alexandra Legge-Bourke, who was nanny to Prince William and Prince Harry during the 1990s.

She stole the show in a romantic ivory gown featuring dramatic puffed shoulders and intricate lace detailing, completing her look with the Legge-Bourke family heirloom tiara.

Zara and Richard welcomed two children, Tamara and Natasha, during their 12-year marriage before divorcing in 1997.

Why do royal bridesmaids wear white?

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While it’s considered impolite for wedding guests to wear white, it was traditional for royal bridesmaids to be dressed in the colour until around the 1940s. Many royals still continue this etiquette today, as it is historically believed to deter evil spirits.

Zara went on to act as a bridesmaid several more times. In 1994, the late Queen’s granddaughter took on the role at Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones’ wedding with Daniel Chatto, where she was pictured looking lovely in a medieval-style ivory dress to match the bride’s  Jasper Conran corset gown. She added a splash of colour with pink roses woven into her hair. 

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Over a decade later, at the 2008 wedding of her brother Peter Phillips to his first wife Autumn Kelly, the Olympic horse rider proved that the white colourway isn’t a royal rule in a pistachio-green Vera Wang dress.

Zara later told HELLO! of her brother’s wedding: “Obviously I wouldn’t have missed this for the world.”