GUESS WHO’S GOT STAR ROLE AT EUGENIE’S WEDDING
NELSON Mandela makes a surprising contribution to invitations to the up-coming wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, I can reveal.
When guests open the card, they will find printed inside a philosophical quotation from the former South African President, below the swirling initials of the couple, in gold and entwined.
Some may think it is all a bit right-on but I can also reveal that the inclusion of Mandela’s bon mots have the backing of the Queen, who knew him well.
She hosted a banquet for him at Buckingham Palace in 2008 and was especially pleased when his release from prison in 1990 after 27 years led to South Africa rejoining her beloved Commonwealth in 1994.
The first batch of invitations was received yesterday and guests would have read the phrase: ‘What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.’
The adoption of this heartening message by English literature graduate Eugenie, 28, was prompted by her own admiration for Mandela.
Two weeks ago she attended his centenary celebration, hosting a reception at Coutts Bank where she met veteran antiapartheid campaigner Andrew Mlangeni. It is understood that Eugenie is friends with his grandsons Ndaba, 35, and Kweku, 33. Wedding guests are asked to reply to the Lord Chamberlain’s office at Buckingham Palace for Eugenie’s much-anticipated nuptials to Jack, 32, at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, at 11am on October 12.
The dress code is ‘morning coat’ for men and ‘day dress with hat’ for female guests. Like her cousin Prince Harry, Mr and Mrs Brooksbank-to-be have invited members of the public. Eugenie’s sister Beatrice will be head bridesmaid.
Meanwhile Eugenie, keen to look trim on her big day, has put herself on a notso-delightful diet of Alkaliser juice – a cocktail of cucumber, mint, ginger, spinach, lemon and celery – with breakfasts of nut and seed granola and coconut and mushroom soup for lunch.