We're going to take a look at some of the guests, but bear this in mind: this is only a selection! There are other royal guests that I don't have pictures of, and if I knew anything about German nobility, there'd be even more. (Alas, my spelling capabilities just can't handle that sort of knowledge.) Like all the fanciest royal affairs, the guest list included a fair share of sovereigns and assorted consorts:
Left to Right: the late Queen Ingrid of Denmark, Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik of Denmark, Queen Anne-Marie and King Constantine of Greece, Queen Sonja and King Harald of Norway, Queen Sofia of Spain and the late Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte of Luxembourg
What a deliciously light and summery palette of florals and pastels, eh? My favorite is Queen Anne-Marie, who complemented her luscious emeralds perfectly. The only exception to this rule is Queen Sofia. Not only did she go dark with her gown, she opted to be a rebel and go tiara-less. I don't approve of that.Next up: assorted princesses!
L to R: Princess Benedikte of SWB; Princess Nathalie of SWB; Princess (now Countess) Alexandra and Prince Joachim of Denmark; Crown Prince and Princess Pavlos of Greece; Prince Philippos, Princess Alexia and Princess Theodora of Greece; Infanta Cristina of Spain and Inãki Urdangarín; Princess Sibilla and Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg
I love mother of the bride Benedikte here, and I love Princess Alexandra. Even though her outfit was more like a December wedding sort of get-up, she did ladylike so well I can't help but adore her. I'm also quite shocked at how different Marie-Chantal is dressing here: now that's a style evolution! And I'm shocked that poor Elena had to follow her mother's example and go without headgear. She doesn't even have any orders on. What's up with that?
Last, but never least: the single princes!
L to R: Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark, Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, Prince Gustav of SWB, Prince Nikolaos of Greece
What a world, 1998! No Mary, no Mette-Marit, no Máxima...no wonder the gowns aren't that exciting.But who needs gowns when you've got tiaras, eh? A few tiara shots from the day itself:
L to R: Marie-Chantal, Anne-Marie, Alexandra, Sibilla
Marie-Chantal wore her fringe tiara. This piece doesn't seem to have any Greek royal history, and so might have been a personal purchase or a gift from her mega-rich family. Anne-Marie went with her delicious cabochon emerald parure, including the necklace which can be customized with different numbers of pendants. Alexandra wore her one and only tiara, which is handily called the Alexandrine Diamond Drop tiara, and it is divine. I mean, is this not one of the most delicate Cinderella tiaras...ever? It is. And she was one of the all-time queens of major tiara hair, so once again I'm just all sorts of jumpy claps about this. Last, from Sibilla, we get a rare glimpse of her art deco tiara. This is the smaller of its two settings. I wish she and Guillaume would pop up at a National Day gala some time so we could see this gem again!Alas, the pictures from this day just aren't tiara-y enough for me, so the following shots are better pics of some of the tiaras that were on display (or that I'm guessing were on display) at this wedding:
Queen Ingrid wore the ruby parure that now graces Mary's head, and Sonja wore the amethyst necklace tiara that we now see most frequently on Mette-Marit. Benedikte wore the fringe tiara that comes from her husband's family - and no, that's actually not a photo from the wedding, despite the fact that she's wearing the same gown and Anne-Marie behind her is wearing the same tiara. The rest are guesses: I think Margrethe is wearing her Floral Aigrette Tiara, and it looks like Nathalie was wearing her mother's floral tiara. I'm also betting that Alexia was wearing the diamond tiara that she usually sports.
And with that, we await the wedding of the other Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg sister, Princess Nathalie, on Saturday. It'll be a nice departure from Ascot overload, won't it?
Favorite tiara? Favorite gown? (Or is this 1998 fashion leaving a bad taste in your mouth overall?)
Photos: Seeger/Corbis