Celebrities joined British royalty at Windsor Castle today for the second big royal wedding of the year, with Princess Eugenie, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth, following her cousin Prince Harry down the aisle.
Princess Eugenie, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth, marries today in the second major royal wedding of the year at Windsor Castle, following in the footsteps of her cousin Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan.
Eugenie, 28, younger daughter of the Queen’s third child, Prince Andrew, and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, married Jack Brooksbank, 32, at the monarch’s home to the west of London.
Guests arrived for the ceremony with many holding onto their hats in windy weather.
Sarah Ferguson, mother of Eugenie, arrives to attend the wedding of her daughter in windy weather outside St. George’s Chapel near London. (Adrian Dennis/Associated Press)
Windsor Castle was also the venue for Harry and Meghan’s wedding in May, and Eugenie, ninth-in-line to the throne, has copied much of her cousin’s blueprint for her big day.
The ceremony took place at the castle’s 15th-century St. George’s Chapel with the Dean of Windsor David Conner officiating. Charity guests and 1,200 members of the public have been invited into the grounds for the occasion.
The Royal Family provided a video feed of the ceremony from inside the chapel on Twitter.
Watch the guest arrivals and the wedding ceremony at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, followed by the departure of the newly married couple in the carriage. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/RoyalWedding?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#RoyalWedding</a> <a href=”https://t.co/wzlyjtJ1I2″>https://t.co/wzlyjtJ1I2</a>
—@RoyalFamily
One noticeable absentee was Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, the wife of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, as she was carrying out an engagement in Scotland.
While Harry’s wedding featured a fiery sermon from a U.S. Episcopalian bishop and a gospel choir, Eugenie’s was more traditional with a performance by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and the address given by Conner.
The couple exchange rings during the ceremony at St. George’s Chapel. (Jonathan Brady/Getty Images)
Her elder sister Princess Beatrice, the maid of honour, delivered one of the readings, an extract from The Great Gatsby.
Watch as the Duchess of York greets royal fans outside the church:
Watch the arrival of some of the celebrity guests:
Watch the Queen’s arrival:
Several celebrities were among the guests — including singer Robbie Williams, actress Liv Tyler, models Naomi Campbell and Cara Delevingne, actress Demi Moore, television presenter Stephen Fry, and singers James Blunt and Ellie Goulding.
Queen will host reception
Princess Charlotte, three, daughter of Harry’s elder brother, Prince William, and his wife, Kate, was a bridesmaid while her brother, Prince George, five, was a page boy.
After the service, the couple was to embark on an open-top carriage tour of Windsor, although shorter than the one Harry and Meghan, now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, took when thousands lined the streets of the town.
The Queen will then host a reception for the couple and their guests at the castle.
Eugenie, a director at London’s Hauser & Wirth art gallery, and Brooksbank, who is European brand manager for Casamigos Tequila, which was co-founded by U.S. actor George Clooney, met in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier in 2010.
As Eugenie — ninth-in-line to the throne — does not carry out official royal duties, republicans and some newspapers have said it is wrong that the security bill for the event will be paid for by taxpayers because the Royal Family are only paying for the wedding itself.
But local council deputy leader Phillip Bicknell was relishing the prospect of another big royal draw.
“The monarch and her family are part of the shop window for Great Britain, and at the end of the day anything that goes on that creates people wanting to come to this part of the world — come and see what goes on in Windsor — we’re very happy for that,” he said.