Lavish royal weddings
- Royals' romances may not be "fairytale," but their weddings sure are. Check out the most talked about, over-the-top, and pricey ceremonies fit for a king - and queen.
- Couple: Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles.
Nuptials: After many years of a much publicized love affair, the two married in 2005 in a civil ceremony in Berkshire's Windsor Guildhall. Prince Charles' parents were not present, but attended a blessing for the bride and groom at St. George's Chapel (at Windsor Castle), instead.
(Daniel Deme/WENN)
- Couple: Prince Rainier of Monaco and Grace Kelly.
Nuptials: The couple had only met in person twice, but exchanged letters for many months, before marrying in St. Nicholas Cathedral in Monaco, in which Kelly wore a gown made by MGM's wardrobe designer Helen Rose. The bride's family was required to provide a $2 million dowry for the 1956 nuptials to go ahead.
(WENN)
- Couple: Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly.
Nuptials: The only son of Princess Anne married the Canadian management consultant, whom he met while working in Canada, at St George's Chapel in 2008. Kelly, who converted from Catholicism to marry Phillips, arrived in one of the Queen's maroon state Bentleys and wore a tiara on loan from the groom's mother.
(Photo Pool/Anwar Hussein Collection/WENN)
- Couple: Lord Freddie Windsor, the son of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, and Sophie Winkleman.
Nuptials: The financial analyst married his actress girlfriend at Hampton Court Palace - King Henry VIII's old haunt.
(Photo Pool/Anwar Hussein Collection/WENN)
- Couple: Prince Charles and Diana Spencer.
Nuptials: An astonishing 750 million people watched the 1981 wedding, which took place in St. Paul's Cathedral and cost an estimated $48 million at the time.
(Anwar Hussein/WENN)
- Spencer, then 20, wore a now infamously over-the-top dress that featured lace from Prince Charles' grandmother and a gold horseshoe sewn into the petticoats for luck. (Anwar Hussein/WENN)
- Couple: Prince Joachim of Denmark and Marie Cavallier.
Nuptials: The 2008 wedding took place at a church, followed by a banquet at the couple's home, Schackenborg Castle. Cavallier, who was born in France, became Danish and a member of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Denmark upon marrying the prince. The bride's dress was designed by Spanish-Italian house Arasa Morelli, but was sewn by a Dutch woman with the company.
(AFP PHOTO/LOUISA GOULIAMAKI)
- Couple: Prince Felipe of Spain and Letizia Ortiz.
Nuptials: The bachelor had been linked with many eligible women before marrying the award-winning former CNN journalist in 2004. Ortiz, who wore a gown by Spanish designer Manuel Pertegaz with her mother-to-be's tiara, was the first "commoner" to be the first in line to become Spain's queen. The Madrid wedding was attended by about 1,500 of the country's elite.
(WENN)
- Couple: Prince Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece and Prince of Denmark and Marie-Chantal Miller.
Nuptials: The prince and heiress wed in a 1995 ceremony that was attended by 1,400 and brought the largest amount of European royalty together in London since Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip married. All told, the ceremony and celebrations reportedly put Miller's billionaire father back by $8 million.
(WENN)
- Couple: Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark.
Nuptials: Prince Philip, who renounced his previous titles to marry, and the queen received 2,000 gifts from around the world for their 1947 marriage. England had not yet recovered from the financial devastation of war, so Queen Elizabeth bought the fabric for her gown with ration coupons.
(Library and Archives Canada/K-0000047/Wikipedia)
- Couple: Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.
Nuptials: Five hundred million people watched the 1986 wedding on TV, in which Ferguson wore a splendorous gown with a 17-foot train. She later said their marriage began to break down just a week after the wedding, due to her husband's naval commitments.
(QMI Agency Files)
- Couple: Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Elizabeth Donaldson.
Nuptials: Prince Frederik wed the Australian marketing consultant in 2004, four years after they first met at a bar during the Sydney Olympics.
(Wikipedia)
- Couple: Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Sophie Rhys-Jones.
Nuptials: Compared to most royal nuptials, the wedding between the third son of Queen Elizabeth II and the public relations executive in 1999 was a relatively low-key affair. The couple married before 560 guests in St. George's Chapel, with Prince Edward in a suit and Rhys-Jones wearing an ivory coat dress.
(British Crown copyright/Wikipedia)
- Couple: Princess Victoria of Sweden and Daniel Westling.
Nuptials: The heir to the Swedish throne and her former personal trainer had a lavish fairytale wedding in June 2010 which included a coach ride through Stockholm. An estimated 500,000 people lined the streets to take part in the event, which cost about $2.6 million - half of which was paid by the Swedish government.
(Wikipedia)
- Couple: Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway and Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby.
Nuptials: Though the public initially disapproved of the engagment between Prince Haakon and the single mother, the future princess's openness about her past and her graceful demeanour won her supporters prior to the wedding in 2001.
(WENN)
- Couple: Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands and Laurentien Brinkhorst.
Nuptials: Prince Constantijn married the daughter of a former Dutch politician in both a civil ceremony and a church ceremony in 2001.
(PN News/WENN)
- Couple: Prince Pieter-Christiaan of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven and Anita van Eijk.
Nuptials: The couple were married in a civil ceremony in 2005 at the Het Loo Palace, Apeldoorn, which was followed by a religious ceremony two days later at the Grote van St. Jeroenskerk in Noordwijk. The prince did not seek parliamentary approval for the marriage, and therefore lost his place in succession for the throne.
(PN News/WENN)
- Couple: Prince Philippe of Belgium and Mathilde d'Udekem d'Acoz.
Nuptials: Prince Charles was among the European royalty in attendance at the 1999 wedding.
(WENN)
- Couple: Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark and Tatiana Blatnik.
Nuptials: Prince Nikolaos married the 29-year-old event planner for fashion designer Diane von Fürstenberg in a monastery on the Greek island Stepses in 2010. The groom arrived to the ceremony, which was attended by aristocracy from Denmark, Spain and Sweden, in a speed boat, while the bride rode in a horse-drawn carriage.
(AFP PHOTO/POOL/STUDIO KOMINIS)
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