Luxembourg Royal Wedding: Prince Guillaume And Countess Stephanie Tie The Knot
Luxembourg’s wedding of the year took place Saturday, as Prince Guillaume and Belgian Countess Stephanie de Lannoy got hitched at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Luxembourg City.
While the Luxembourg wedding may have lacked the coverage of last year’s British equivalent, there was no shortage of William-and-Kate-style pomp and ceremony. After concluding a two-day wedding gala with a religious ceremony, Guillaume and Stephanie emerged grinning from Luxembourg’s own Notre-Dame Cathedral before walking beneath a row of soldiers’ drawn swords.
The pair then toured the streets of Luxembourg City, waving at well-wishers from their vehicle. After that came the moment royal wedding-watchers tend to crave most: peering down at their subjects from a palace balcony, the couple kissed for a roaring crowd.
The Luxembourg wedding drew some appropriately royal guests – as well as the happy couple, the ceremony was attended by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden, Prince Naruhito of Japan, and Britain’s Prince Edward and his wife, Sophie.
Prince Guillaume is the 30-year-old heir to the throne, and Luxembourg’s grand duke-in-waiting. His 28-year-old bride has revealed she will renounce her Belgian citizenship so that she might one day become Luxembourg’s grand duchess.
The tiny European country of 500,000 ground to a standstill as many Luxembourgians watched the wedding on television. Thousands more saw the ceremony on a big-screen that was erected in a public square near the cathedral.
Viewers will have seen Stephanie wearing a lace Elie Saab dress, complete with a five-meter-long wedding train. The ceremony was conducted in a mixture of French, German and Luxembourgish.
Following a traditional Luxembourg wedding banquet attended by some 800 people, the new royal couple returned to town to shake hands with onlookers before a fireworks show. They concluded the day by driving away in a limousine with a “Just Married” sign (in Luxembourgish, naturally) on the back.
