Wednesday, June 15, 2011

A brilliant wedding at Windsor

June 15, 1905

The little town of Windsor was in "holiday attire" today for the wedding of Princess Margaret of Connaught, eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Connaught and Prince Gustav Adolf, eldest son of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Sweden, reports the New York Times.

The arrangements for the wedding were "under the personal direction of King Edward VII, the bride's uncle.     It was a beautiful, clear summer day.   St. George's Chapel was not decorated
"with the exception of scattered flowers,"  but what was brilliant  was the "blaze of uniforms and decorations."  Female guests were in "full Court dress with coronets or tiaras."

The bridegroom was accompanied by Prince Eugen and Prince Vilhelm of Sweden.  Prince Vilhelm is Gustaf Adolf's younger brother.  They were followed by King Edward and Queen Alexandra,  Princess Victoria, the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Sweden, the Duchess of Connaught, the Prince of  Wales, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Baden, and the Khédive of Egypt.

The choir sang "When the God of Old" shortly before the bridal party came down the aisle.  This same hymn was also used when the Duke of Connaught married Princess Luise Margarete of Prussia.  As Elgar's Imperial March was played, the princess, on the arm of her father, passed from the "castle to the chapel."  They were met at the entrance by the Lord Chamberlain.   The bridal party included Princess Margaret's younger sister, Princess Patricia of Connaught,   Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg, Princess Mary of Wales, and Princess Beatrice of Edinburgh.

The Archbishop of Canterbury officiated at the ceremony and was assisted by the Bishop of Oxford.

Princess Margaret's wedding dress was a "cloud of pure white Irish lace, posed over white satin and strewn with garlands of orange blossom and myrtles."   Her corsage was "cut low," and she had the "regulation Court train."

A reception at Windsor Castle followed the Anglican ceremony.    The wedding cake was the centerpiece of the luncheon, and was five feet in height, "consisting of three tiers, the lower tier being three feet in diameter."  Overhanging the tiers were sugar figure, "bearing wheat, the symbol of purity."


According to the Associated Press, the newlyweds left Windsor for Cheshire.  They will spend their first night of their honeymoon at Saighton Grange, the heat of the Countess Grosvenor, and, tomorrow, they will travel to Ireland.

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