The wedding of the year lives up to expectations
Royals out in force as Pippa ties knot
IT WAS billed as the society wedding of the year, and the spectacle certainly did not disappoint.
Pippa Middleton sealed her much-publicised marriage to James Matthews with a kiss – as Prince Harry reportedly made a 100-mile round trip to bring his girlfriend Meghan Markle to the wedding reception.
The Royal was pictured on the front page of The Sun yesterday driving his actress partner to the Middletons’ Berkshire estate after picking her up from London on Saturday evening.
The pair were seen smiling as they drove to the reception for the new bride and groom who tied the knot at the picturesque St Mark’s church in the Berkshire village of Englefield.
The society nuptials of the year was witnessed by family, close friends and celebrities including tennis star Roger Federer and wife Mirka, presenter Donna Air, Princess Eugenie, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, as well as Prince George and Princess Charlotte.
Also among the congregation of the 12th century church in Englefield was Pippa’s controversial uncle Gary Goldsmith and Lady Gabriella Windsor, daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.
After the ceremony, Pippa and James walked hand-in-hand from the church and posed for the waiting press before sharing a lingering kiss at the lych gate as their married life began. Ahead of them the tiny pageboys, dressed in gold-coloured britches and shirts, and bridesmaids in cream sash dresses had scattered confetti petals from baskets.
The bride had managed to keep her wedding gown a secret until she arrived – a bespoke Giles Deacon wedding gown, crafted to create the impression of being seamless.
When she first arrived with proud father Michael in an opentopped vintage Jaguar, big sister Kate played a vital role and ensured her younger sibling looked her best for her big day. She rearranged her train and other parts of her dress before she made her procession into St Mark’s, a reversal of Kate’s 2011 wedding to William, when Pippa was pictured fussing over her sister’s gown.
The best man was the groom’s brother, former Made In Chelsea regular and reality television personality Spencer Matthews.
After the ceremony, the bride and groom led the way for their wedding guests to the nearby Englefield House, where a champagne reception was staged in its long gallery. The wedding is rumoured to have cost Pippa’s parents Carole and Michael hundreds of thousands of pounds, with an expensive glass marquee and luxury portable toilets hired for the evening reception at their Bucklebury home.
The bride had managed to keep her wedding gown a secret until she arrived.