Friday, June 17, 2011

Sophie Lascelles marries businessman

On Saturday June 11,  Sophie Lascelles, the 37-year-old daughter of the Hon. James Lascelles, and his first wife, Fredericka Ann Duhrsson, got married.  According to the report in the Luton Herald and Post,  the name of the groom is not known.   The family made no announcement, and the details have been rather hush hush.  The ceremony took place at Luton Hoo, which was once owned by Sir Harald and Lady Zia Werhner.   Luton Hoo is now an exclusive hotel licensed for grand weddings and other events.

This wedding, according to a source, "wasn't an old style wedding.  It was quite grand, but there was a more modern vibe.  The table designs were very stylish and the bride looked terrific.  She had about a half a dozen attendants."

Sophie Lascelles is "a talent artist who has exhibited at the Slade School of Fine Art, Tate Modern and the Museum of Garden History."  She is a granddaughter of the Earl of Harewood,  whose mother, Princess Mary, was the only daughter of King George V and Queen Mary.  

The groom is said to be a "senior businessman in the care industry."    No name.  What is even more intriguing is the fact that Miss Lascelles apparently did not seek permission from the Queen to marry.  This is required by the Royal Marriages Act.   Without the permission of the Sovereign,  Sophie's marriage is technically invalid in the United Kingdom. 

Her uncle, the Hon. Mark Lascelles, the son of the Earl of Harewood and his second wife, Patricia, recently received permission to marry. At the May Privy Council meeting, the  Queen gave her permission for two marriages, Zara Phillips and Michael James Tindall and the Hon. Mark Lascelles and Judith Anne Kilburn.

Mark Lascelles was born before his parents' marriage.  He was legitimated by the marriage, but does not have succession rights to the Harewood earldom nor the British throne.  However, one does not need to be a dynast in order to seek permission to marry, according to the Royal Marriages Act.
http://www.daniellearnaud.com/artists/artists-lascelles.html

http://www.footsbarn.com/en/people.php?pid=3

http://www.lutonhoo.co.uk/

http://www.saatchionline.com/sophielascelles

6 comments:

Martha Foote said...

Is Mark Lascelles divorced from his wife Andrea? If so, I need to annotate my copy of Queen Victoria's Descendants.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Yes

Anonymous said...

I thought under the Royal Marriages Act that once you were over the age of 25, you did not have to seek the sovereign's permission to marry, this being the reason Princess Margaret waited until she was 25 to choose her "duty to the commonwealth" and not marry Peter Townsend?

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

This applies to marriages the sovereign may not have approved - and if you are over 25 and inform the sovereign and Parliament that you continue to want to marry, you wait a year - and then marry and marriage is valid (these days, the sovereign is not going to not approve a marriage)
Provided always, and be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That in case any such descendant of the body of his late majesty King George the Second, being above the age of twenty-five years, shall persist in his or her resolution to contract a marriage disapproved of or dissented from, by the King, his heirs, or successors; that then such descendant, upon giving notice to the King's privy council, which notice is hereby directed to be entered in the books thereof, may, at any time from the expiration of twelve calendar months after such notice given to the privy council as aforesaid, contract such marriage; and his or her marriage with the person before proposed, and rejected, may be duly solemnized, without the previous consent of his Majesty, his heirs, or successors; and such marriage shall be good, as if this act had never been made, unless both houses of parliament shall, before the expiration of the said twelve months, expressly declare their disapprobation of such intended marriage.

Hopewell said...

I think the Lascelles are far and above the most interesting part of the modern royal family. Someone should do a book on them.

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

Hopewell, the Lascelles are not a part of the royal family, and are no longer invited to royal events.
They are largely far removed from their cousins. James Lascelles' band was hired to perform at Charles' 60th birthday celebrations, but he was not a guest. The Lascelles have gone their own way - and the younger generation have no ties to the Royal Family