Monday 22 October 2012

Royal Wedding


The Daily Telegraph reports that royalty from around the world attended the two-day wedding at the weekend of His Royal Highness Prince Guillaume, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg, 30, to the Countess Stéphanie Marie Claudine Christine de Lannoy, 28.

Their Royal Highnesses The Earl and Countess of Wessex, representing the Royal Family, joined counterparts from countries including Sweden, Japan and Morocco, as the couple celebrated their marriage with a civil service on Friday followed by a religious ceremony on Saturday.


Guests included King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway, their son, Crown Prince Haakon and his wife Princess Mette-Marit, Princess Caroline of Monaco, Prince Frederick and Princess Mary of Denmark and Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia of Spain.

Members of the royal families of Jordan, The Netherlands, Greece, Romania and Belgium also attended the celebrations, hosted by Luxembourg’s Grand Duke and Duchess, Henri and Maria Teresa.

Prince Guillaume and his bride began their weekend of nuptials on Friday afternoon with a civil ceremony at the town hall in Luxembourg City, the capital, where the countess took her new title, Princess Stephanie of Luxembourg.

The civil ceremony was followed by a reception and gala dinner at the Grand Ducal Palace.

On Saturday morning, their marriage was blessed with a religious service at the Notre Dame Cathedral.

Princess Stephanie was accompanied to the cathedral by her father, Count Philippe de Lannoy, and her brother, Count Jehan.

The service was conducted in a mixture of Luxembourgish, French and English and featured a minute’s silence in memory of the bride’s mother, Countess Alix de Lannoy, who died in August, aged 70, after suffering a stroke.

Following the service, the royal couple travelled back to the Grand Ducal Palace, where they appeared on the balcony and exchanged a kiss, to cheering crowds.

The couple have been dating since 2009 and became engaged in April.

Prince Guillaume has studied international politics and undertaken humanitarian work in several countries. Princess Stephanie is an accomplished linguist, having studied languages at the University of Louvain in Belgium.

No comments :