TODAY marks 33 years since Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson tied the knot.

On July 23, 1986 Prince Andrew married English commoner Sarah Ferguson at Westminster Abbey.

Just over a month before the fresh faces of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson beamed throughout Weymouth as they attended a charity gala at Weymouth Pavilion on June 8, 1986.

The town was set alight with the anticipation of the royal couple's visit, pulling out all the stops to make it an occasion to remember.

The Duke of York had previously been posted at Portland so he was accustomed to the area, but the build-up to their impending nuptials made it headline news.

The beneficiary for the night was the King George Fund for Sailors, named after the prince's great-grandfather.

Attendees at the Pavilion - which was only three quarters full because of what townspeople said was over-pricing - were treated to a host of Weymouth's finest talent.

The gala's organising director, Harold Cordell, synchronised the opening of the show which saw 200 performers squeeze a whole evening's show into a 30-minute slot.

Then came singers, impressionists, musicians, choirs, majorettes and minstrels, all acting to the pair watching from the maroon-draped royal box that had been lovingly dressed by Angie Briggs.

It may have all ended less than 10 years later, but on this occasion the world was at the young lovers' feet. However, earlier this year it was rumoured the pair were 'unofficially back together' after they spent an April weekend in Bahrain side by side.