An election campaign kept Prime Minister Stephen Harper at home instead of as a guest at the royal wedding, but that didn't stop him from rising early like so many other Canadians and taking in the nuptials on TV.

In his suite at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal, where Harper was in town to campaign Friday, he sat on the couch with his arm around his wife, Laureen, and watched Kate Middleton and Prince William exchange vows.

Harper reminisced about how when he was in college, crowds of students in the residences stayed up all night to watch Diana wed Prince Charles. But he wasn't among the wedding watchers that time around, he admitted.

"Well they didn't have PVRs then, either," Laureen said.

It's "a little bit bigger than our wedding," Harper joked.

"Six people and two cats. I had a little bowtie made for my one cat and a little lace collar made for the other cat," Laureen added.

After the nuptials, the Conservative leader toasted the newlyweds.

"This is a great occasion and we're especially delighted, as you all know, that their royal highnesses will be making Canada their first visit this summer, so we're all going to see a little bit of this magic in our country," he said, raising a momosa in the air.

"On this momentous day, let us give a toast to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. To their health and their happiness and to many years of love."