EUGENIE’S BIG DAY
THE ROYAL WEDDING
PRINCESS Eugenie was married in a stunning and emotional ceremony at Windsor Castle yesterday as she tied the knot with fiance Jack Brooksbank before 800 ecstatic guests.
Baring her shoulders in a heavily sculptured gown with a deep-V backline, Eugenie used her walk down the aisle as a moment to show off her childhood battle with scoliosis and her patronage motto: “It’s OK to show your scars.”
She wore a layered white wedding gown and the stunning emerald Kokoshnik tiara, loaned to her by the Queen.
Peter Pilotto and Chris- topher De Vos were asked to craft the couture bridal gown, of silk jacquard, to make a feature of her scoliosis scars, from back surgery at the age of 12. She now lives with two steel rods supporting her spine.
The bride arrived with her father Prince Andrew in a cream 1977 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI, the same car Catherine Middleton travelled in to her wedding to Prince William in 2011.
Eugenie’s mother Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, travelled with her older daughter and maid of honour Princess Beatrice, her arrival signalling her return to the heart of the royal family — at least temporarily.
Wearing a green dress by Ascot dressmaking firm Ella Louise Design and wearing a Jess Collett hat, Sarah bounded out of her car with a huge smile on her face before walking up the steps into the chapel. Beatrice was wearing a deep blue dress by Australian designers Ralph & Russo and a headband by Sarah Cant Millinery.
The Queen, Prince Philip, Prince Charles, Prince William and his wife Catherine, and Prince Harry and his wife Meghan — who married at the same chapel five months ago — were among the guests inside St George’s, which was beautifully decorated in stunning autumnal colours of pink, purple, orange and deep reds.
Other royals included Prince Edward and his wife Sophie, Princess Anne and her husband Sir Tim Laurence, and Zara and Mike Tindall.
The Queen and Prince Philip arrived together, the Queen wearing ice blue and peach from her favourite designer and dresser Angela Kelly.
The gorgeous, giggling group of bridesmaids and page boys almost managed to steal the show. Battling the wind, the little ones walked excitedly up the front steps where sixyear-old Louis de Givenchy fell over due to the strong gusts — and Princess Charlotte, 3, also had a little stumble.
The tiny bridesmaids wore adorable white dresses with
large green, patterned bows tied at the waist. They each had white flowers in their hair and white stockings and shoes.
The page boys donned white shirts with navy, velvet pants and the same green fabric as a sash.
Charlotte was seen waving to crowds from the wedding car.
The celebrity-packed wedding attracted guests included models Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne and Naomi Campbell, Australian pop star Holly Valance, Prince Harry’s ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy and movie stars Demi Moore and Liv Tyler.
Speaking in a prerecorded interview, Prince Andrew said of his daughter and son-in-law: “I’m sure they will be massively in love for the rest of their lives.’’
Several thousand people lined Windsor High Street outside the 1000-year-old castle as the couple embarked on a carriage-ride through the streets, waving to the crowds who had shrugged off fierce winds and freezing conditions to welcome them to married life.
Storms over Windsor overnight had kept crowds down, but there was still a party atmosphere around the market town.
There were people dressed in Union Jack waistcoats, hats and glasses, and waving bottles of sparkling wine printed with pictures of Eugenie and Jack.
The grounds of the castle opened at 5am and the 1200 people who won a ballot spot to watch the event from inside the grounds filed in, along with members of charities supported by Princess Eugenie.
Pop superstar Robbie Williams — whose daughter was a bridesmaid — was among those who turned out to see the ninth-in-line to the throne say “I will” to her boyfriend of eight years, a former nightclub manager turned wine merchant. Beatrice read from The
Great Gatsby, choosing the passage known as Gatsby’s Smile as Eugenie had felt it reminded her of Jack, just after they met.