USA TODAY International Edition
Hats off to Eugenie’s wedding
Philip, ‘Gatsby’ and a tiara add poignant twists
It was another royal wedding to remember. When Princess Eugenie of York married Jack Brooksbank in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle on Friday, it was a day crowded with scenes of high romance and deep emotion, tradition and modernity, plus gobsmacking fashion and jewels. And don’t forget the sweetness overload. Here are some of the major moments from the second royal wedding in five months, following the May 19 nuptials of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle watched around the world.
Gramps was there
Eugenie’s grandfather, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth II’s husband of nearly 71 years, made it to the wedding of his beloved granddaughter, no doubt causing more than a few eyes to water with pride. Until the last minute, it was not certain he would: He’s 97, retired from public life and still recovering from hip replacement surgery. There were cheers when he was first spotted sitting next to the queen in the car. He walked unaided into the church a few paces behind Her Majesty, as he has done innumerable times before over her 66-year-reign, a familiar and reassuring emblem of endurance.
Princess Beatrice’s reading from ‘The Great Gatsby’
Princess Beatrice, the bride’s older sister and maid of honor, read from the Great American Novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” when she delivered the second reading during the service. The passage was about the central character’s “rare smile with a quality of eternal reassurance.” The Dean of Windsor, the Rev. David Conner who presided, told the congregation that Eugenie read the novel when she first started dating Brooksbank and chose that passage because it reminded her of her fiance and his warm smile. Sweet, even though “Gatsby” has been interpreted as Fitzgerald’s critique of the lifestyles of the rich and frivolous American society in the 1920s.
The dress that showed the scars
Eugenie’s Peter Pilotto gown was a stunner, but it was special in another way, too: Eugenie wanted the back to dip low enough to show her scars from scoliosis surgery when she was 12. The dress featured a wide V-neckline that folded around the shoulders to a low back that draped into a full-length train. Eugenie has long been open about her health struggles. As she told ITV on the eve of the wedding, “I think you can change the way beauty is, and you can show people your scars, and I think it’s really special to stand up for that.”
Blowin’ in the wind
At least it didn’t rain, but it sure blew. No surprise – this is England, after all. But it plays havoc with hair and hats, the latter being de rigueur at British weddings and royal weddings especially. A few women nearly lost their hats, including mother-of-the-bride Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, who was seen clutching her kelly green, winged topper as she entered the church. Duchess Kate had to hold down the skirt of her raspberry Alexander McQueen frock keep it from flying too far above her knees. Worse, bridesmaid Princess Charlotte and pageboy Louis de Givenchy each took tumbles climbing the steps into the church. Given the weather, it was smart to send Eugenie and Jack on their carriage procession in the glass-enclosed Scottish State Coach. Harry and Meghan rode in an open carriage for their postwedding procession in sunny, calm weather.
The rarely seen tiara
Eugenie wore the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara, a bandeau-style tiara borrowed from the queen. Made by Boucheron in 1919 in the “kokoshnik” style popularized in the Russian Imperial Court, it features brilliant and rosecut diamonds pavé set in platinum with six emeralds on either side.
The kiddies were charming
Prince George, 5, and sister Charlotte, 3, are now royal wedding veterans. George’s goofy facial expressions and Charlotte’s undeniable charisma – she’s an expert at the royal wave – delighted photographers and anyone else who saw them.