The international jet set highlight the couple’ssocial network
Royals, sheikhs, supermodels and Russian oligarchs – Eugenie and Jack’s star-studded congregation cements the royal couple at the heart of the international jet set. More inclusive than Harry and Meghan’s nuptials, the York guests list included 37 royal relatives compared to the 34 invited in May. There was also a generous nod to foreign royalty with Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece, his wife Marie-Chantal and daughter Maria-Olympia all seated in the quire alongside his brother Prince Philippos and members of the Hanoverian royal family.
The inclusion of the Crown Prince of Bahrain will raise an eyebrow after the Duke of York’s friendship with the King of Bahrain attracted negative headlines due to the regime’s track record on human rights.
An appearance by the gun smuggler Tarek Kaituni, once a confidante of Colonel Gaddafi, is also likely to call Andrew’s judgment into question. The Libyan “fixer” was jailed in 2005 for attempting to smuggle a machine gun from Holland to France after spending a year in jail for possession of drugs in Tunisia, and once presented Eugenie’s older sister Princess Beatrice with a £18,000 necklace at her 21st birthday party in Spain in August 2009.
Qatari rulers Sheikh Hamad, Sheikh Suhaim and Sheikh Fahad also made it on to the guest list, also a reflection of the Duke of York’s Middle-Eastern ties. Another controversial inclusion was Richard Liu, the JD.com chief executive, whose friend was jailed last week for raping a model he took to a Sydney dinner party hosted by the Chinese billionaire.
The fabulously titled Erbprinz and Erbprinzessin Oettingen-Oettingen und Oettingen-Spielberg, who were also invited to the Sussexes’ and the Cambridges’ big days, represented the Royal family’s Bavarian connections. The von Bismarck dynasty was also well accounted for, not least thanks to Kate Moss’s relationship with Count Nikolai, 14 years her junior.
As soon as a nervous Sarah, Duchess of York took her place in the royal pews, she sought out a familiar face opposite – her sister Jane Ferguson, who was joined by her boyfriend, venture capitalist Ramin Marzbani. Andrew Ferguson, Fergie’s half- brother, was also given a front-row seat alongside his fiancé Florence Hill as well as her nieces and their families.
Prime position was also given to Manuel Fernandez, the handsome Spanish internet tycoon to whom the Duchess has been romantically linked for several years.
Indeed, the Duchess’s fingerprints are in evidence throughout the St George’s Chapel seating plan, seen by The Sunday Telegraph. She has been friends with Naomi Campbell for years thanks to their involvement in the Fashion For Relief charitable initiative. Fellow catwalk star Moss, who attended with her daughter Lila, is also a long-term friend, having been introduced by the late Sir David Tang, the Hong Kong businessman best known for founding the fashion label Shanghai Tang and regarded as one of the best connected men in London. Tang’s widow Lucy and son Edward were both on the guest list. Vogue editor-in-chief Mark Guiducci also got the call up in the absence of editor Edward Enninful.
Demi Moore was there because her beau Eric Buterbaugh is an old friend of Fergie’s. Ricky Martin was there because his charitable foundation has links with the anti-slavery work Eugenie has been working on.
Speaking of Hollywood A-listers, where were the Clooneys? As a founder of Casamigos, the tequila brand which employs the groom as European brand ambassador, George and his wife Amal had been expected to do a repeat appearance following their presence at Harry and Meghan’s celebrations. In fact, Mrs Clooney was attending the Pennsylvania Conference for Women and her husband delivered a speech attacking Donald Trump at Variety’s Power of Women lunch in Los Angeles.
The cream of British showbusiness was also well represented, with singer Robbie Williams and his wife Ayda Field not only given two of the best seats in the house but the honour of their daughter Theodora acting as bridesmaid. Williams first met
Princess Eugenie, along with her sister Beatrice and mother when they were on holiday in the Caribbean in 2011. Since then, they have all grown incredibly close.
The comedian Jimmy Carr and his girlfriend Karoline Copping have been on holiday with the happy couple and were once spotted having dinner together at Roka in Mayfair. Similarly, Cara and Poppy, the Delevigne sisters, have long been a part of the York sisters’ social circle, while Stephen Fry, Ellie Goulding and James Blunt now appear more ubiquitous at royal occasions than Joanna Lumley.
Although Jack Whitehall, Jamie Redknapp and Richard Bacon all tweeted about their attendance – there is no record of them on the seating plan, suggesting they were in the cheap seats along with entrepreneur Nick Candy and his wife Holly Valance, who were spotted outside but not named among the VIPs. Whitehall’s younger sister Molly did make it on to the main list as a former classmate of the bride at Marlborough College along with fellow alumna the Duchess of Cambridge, her sister Pippa, who arrived heavily pregnant, with husband James Matthews and brother James Middleton.
On Jack’s side of the quire were old classmates from Stowe School, Alex Farr and Rory Chichester, friends William Gayner and Maddie Chesterton, the polo player Charlie Hanbury and his wife Yoanna Otto, daughter of Princess Anna Oettingen-Wall er stein, and Viscount Er leigh, one of Prince Harry’s closest friends.
Indeed the crossover between Eugenie and Harry’s friends is plain to see in the guest list (the cousins are described as “thick as thieves”), with the Duke’s close companion Tom “Skippy” Inskip and his wife Laura also making it onto the power-player pews. Fellow guests Harry Wentworth-Stanley and Susanna Warren are also good friends of Harry. Even Meghan’s bestie, the stylist Misha Nonoo, made it on to the list along with David Beckham’s closest friend Dave Gardner and his girlfriend Liv Tyler.