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| Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank. Image: Screenshot |
Princess Eugenie of York married Jack Brooksbank in a lavish wedding ceremony in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, on October 12, 2018. This is the second big wedding—albeit less celebrated—for the British Royal Family, after the wildly popular April wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
The bride, Princess Eugenie is the second daughter of Prince
Andrew, Duke of York (the Queen’s second son and third child) and Sarah
Fergusson, Duchess of York. The groom, meanwhile, is an accountant-cum-company-director’s
son. According to People, the couple met in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier, where Eugenie was introduced
by friends to Jack. They had dated since then and the couple kept their
relationship in private. They sustained their relationship despite the fact
that Eugenie transferred to New York in 2013 where she spent some time working
in the online auction house Paddle8.
The princess is currently an associate director of the
Hauser and Wirth art galleries in London, while Mr. Brooksbank serves as ta
brand ambassador for Casamigos tequila, which was co-founded by the actor
George Clooney.
The Engagement and Engagement Ring
The engagement of Princess Eugenie with longtime boyfriend
Jack Brooksbank was announced in January 2018, although Mr. Brooksbank proposed
to Eugenie while they were vacationing in Nicaragua at the end of 2017. For the
engagement ring, the groom purchased a huge cut of Padparadscha sapphire. The couple worked together on the design of the
engagement ring after they returned home. The product was an oval-cut
pink-orange sapphire surrounded by diamonds, on a gold band that looks quite a
bit like Eugenie's mother's engagement ring featuring a Burmese ruby surrounded
by diamonds designed by Prince Andrew himself.
The Guests
The couple invited about 850 guests to attend their wedding
ceremony at St. George’s Chapel. The guests included the extended members of
the British Royal Family, relations from the Greek and Hanoverian royal
families and countless friends and colleagues. A partial list of those who
attended can be found here.
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| The Earl and Countess of Wessex and Viscount Severn. Image: Screenshot |
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| Zarah Phillips and Mike Tindall. Image: Screenshot |
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| Princess Anne and Vice Admiral Timothy Laurence. Image: Screenshot |
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| The Duke of Kent and the Duchess of Gloucester. Image: Screenshot |
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| Lady Gabriella Windsor and Thomas Kingston |
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| The Duke and Duchess of Sussex |
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| The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge |
The Wedding Gown
Designed by famous Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos of the British label Peter Pilotto, Princess Eugenie’s wedding gown was made with several layers, each layer carefully designed to offer the intended silhouette. The dress highlights a fitted bodice and full-pleated skirt and the neckline folds around the shoulders and down into a low back which continues into a full length train. Princess Eugenie wanted her gown to show the scars she got from a corrective surgery for her scoliosis so she wore no veil and requested, instead, for a low back.
The Tiara
On her wedding day, Princess Eugenie wore a tiara in public for the first time. She borrowed the seldom-seen Greville Emerald Kokoshnik tiara from Queen Elizabeth II’s vault rather than wear her mother’s York diamond tiara. The Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara was commissioned from Bocheron by society hostess the Hon. Mrs. Ronald Greville in 1919. When she died in 1942, the tiara, together with her fabulous jewelry collection, including the Greville tiara, was bequeathed to Queen Elizabeth (later The Queen Mother), who passed it on to Queen Elizabeth II in 2002. Until Eugenie’s wedding, the tiara was never worn publicly after it fell on royal hands. It glitters with its brilliant and rose-cut diamonds pavé set in platinum highlighted by the six emeralds on both sides of a large cabochon emerald in the center. To complement the tiara, Princess Eugenie wore diamond and emerald drop earrings which were Mr. Brooksbank’s gift to her bride.
The Wedding Bouquet
The bouquet was composed of lily of the valley, stephanotis pips, baby blue thistle, white spray roses and trailing ivy. Sprigs of myrtle from Osborne House were also added as they were traditionally part of every royal bride’s wedding bouquet since the reign of Queen Victoria. Victoria, Princess Royal, was the first royal bride to carry a sprig of her myrtle when she married Prince Frederick of Prussia (future Empreror Frederick III). Since then, almost every royal bride in the British Royal Family carries sprig of this myrtle into their wedding bouquet. After her wedding, Princess Eugenie’s flowers were taken Westminster Abbey and offered on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, a tradition started by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother after her wedding to the future King George VI in 1923.
The Wedding Ceremony
The wedding ceremony was conducted by David Connor, Dean of Windsor, David Connor, while the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, led the prayers. The ceremony followed tradition, starting off with the couple’s exchange of vows, followed by the groom placing the wedding ring – made from a piece of Welsh gold given to them by The Queen – on the bride’s finger. The groom’s cousin, Charles Brooksbank, and the bride’s sister, Princess Beatrice of York, gave the readings. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the State Trumpeters of the Household Cavalry provided the music, with Andrea Bocelli delivering two solos during the service. Additional signing was also given by the Choir of St. George’s Chapel.
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| St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. Image: Wikimedia Commons |
Following the ceremony, the couple, with their parents and siblings proceeded to the North Quire Aisle to sign the Registers. The National Anthem was played as the new couple paid homage to The Queen before proceeding out of the chapel through the West Door with the members of the Nijmegen Company of the Grenadier Guards, of which the Duke of York is Colonel, lining the steps.
Crowds gathered outside the chapel and the princess and her groom waved and sent them kisses before entering the Scottish State Coach, which was pulled by four Windsor Greys. Pipers from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, performed from the Garter Tower while the Scottish State Coach processed on Windsor Castle grounds.
The Reception
A wedding party was hosted by The Queen at Windsor Castle. A five-tiered wedding cake created by Sophie Cabot was the highlight of the wedding reception. Three tiers of the wedding cake were red velvet, another two tiers were chocolate sponge cake with the bottom tier displaying the couple’s initials in gold, surrounded by hand-painted blackberry bramble, was the highlight of the wedding reception with. To imbue the wedding’s autumn feel, the cake was adorned with cascading handmade sugar ivy, fall leaves and berries.
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