PHOTO: Reuters
WINDSOR, ENGLAND - Final preparations were being made in the English town of Windsor on Thursday (Oct 11) for Britain's second major royal wedding this year, this time involving Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter Princess Eugenie.
Eugenie, younger daughter of the Queen's third child Prince Andrew and his former wife Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, will tie the knot with Jack Brooksbank, at the monarch's Windsor Castle home on Friday.
The nuptials come just five months after the glittering wedding of Prince Harry, younger son of heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, and American actress Meghan Markle, now the Duchess of Sussex, at the same location.
Eugenie, 28, ninth-in-line to the throne and a director at London's Hauser & Wirth art gallery, and Brooksbank, 32, who works in the drinks and hospitality industry, are copying some of her cousin's plans.
Princess Eugenie ties the knot at Windsor castle
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Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter Princess Eugenie married wine merchant Jack Brooksbank at Windsor Castle on Friday in front of celebrities and Britain's senior royals including Prince Harry and wife Meghan who wed at the same venue in May.
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Eugenie, 28, younger daughter of the queen's third child, Prince Andrew, and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, tied the knot with Brooksbank, 32, in a traditional ceremony in the castle's 15th Century St George's Chapel.
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Eugenie's dress, by Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos of the London-based label Peter Pilotto, had a low back to reveal scars from surgery she underwent to correct scoliosis when she was 12.
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"It's a lovely way to honour the people who looked after me and a way of standing up for young people who also go through this," she told ITV's "This Morning" ahead of the wedding.
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The couple, while showing clear signs on nerves, beamed happily during the hour-long service.
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The 92-year-old queen and her husband Philip, 97, who has retired from official engagements, were joined by other royals and celebrities including Hollywood stars Liv Tyler and Demi Moore, models Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell and singer Ellie Goulding.
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Princess Charlotte, 3, daughter of Harry's elder brother Prince William and his wife Kate, was a bridesmaid, and her brother, Prince George, 5, a page boy.
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Final preparations were being made in the English town of Windsor on Thursday (Oct 11) for Britain's second major royal wedding this year,
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this time involving Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter Princess Eugenie.
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Eugenie, younger daughter of the Queen's third child Prince Andrew and his former wife Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, will tie the knot with Jack Brooksbank, at the monarch's Windsor Castle home on Friday.
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Guests wait for the royal wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank in Windsor Castle
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Guests arrive ahead of the wedding of Princess Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle
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British singer-songwriter Robbie Williams
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American supermodel Naomi Campbell
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American actress Demi Moore
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American actress Liv Tyler
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Chelsy Davy
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Guests take their seats as they arrive to attend the wedding of Britain's Princess Eugenie of York to Jack Brooksbank at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
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The couple have likewise invited 1,200 people from across Britain to join in the celebrations in the castle grounds and to watch the newlyweds leave St George's Chapel after the service.
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They will then take an open-top carriage ride through Windsor, although it will be shorter than the one Harry and Meghan took in May when thousands thronged the streets and hundreds of millions worldwide watched on television.
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The Dean of Windsor will officiate the ceremony and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform during the service.
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The ceremony will be broadcast on British TV and live streamed on the Royal Family and Prince Andrew's YouTube, Facebook and Twitter channels.
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Baker Sophie Cabot preparing and baking parts of the red velvet and chocolate Royal Wedding Cake in the kitchens of Buckingham Palace in London .
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Face masks can be seen on sale at a gift shop ahead of the royal wedding between Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank.
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While the royal family is paying for the wedding itself, there has been disquiet among republicans and some newspapers over the security bill for the event, which has been estimated at more than £2 million, given that Eugenie does not carry out official royal duties.
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The couple, who met in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier in 2010 and got engaged in Nicaragua in January, have likewise invited 1,200 people from across Britain to join in the celebrations in the castle grounds and to watch the newlyweds leave St George's Chapel after the service.
They will then take an open-top carriage ride through Windsor, although it will be shorter than the one Harry and Meghan took in May when thousands thronged the streets and hundreds of millions worldwide watched on television.
"We think we've been blessed this year with two royal weddings," said Phillip Bicknell, the local council deputy leader.
"We're hoping she's going to have a great day and we're very pleased that she's shared her day with us."
Stars from the world of show business and sport attended Harry's wedding, and Buckingham Palace announced on Wednesday that one of Eugenie's bridesmaids will be Theodora Williams, the six-year-old daughter of former Take That singer Robbie Williams and his wife Ayda Field.
Three-year-old Princess Charlotte, daughter of second-in-line to the throne Prince William and his wife Kate, will also be a bridesmaid, while her brother Prince George, five, will be a page boy. Eugenie's older sister Beatrice, 30, will be her maid of honour.
Nearly all Britain's senior royals are expected to attend, although Prince Charles's wife Camilla will be absent, as she has a prior engagement in Scotland. It was not certain whether the 92-year-old Queen's husband Prince Philip, 97, who no longer carries out official duties, will be present.
The Dean of Windsor will officiate the ceremony and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli will perform during the service. Also among the guests will be the surgeon who carried out an operation to straighten Eugenie's back when she was 12, British media reported.
The ceremony will be broadcast on British TV and live streamed on the Royal Family and Prince Andrew's YouTube, Facebook and Twitter channels.
NOT STRESSED
"I'm not stressed at all," Eugenie told Vogue magazine for its September issue. "It's very nerve-wracking because you want it to be perfect but then you realise that you're going to be with the person you love forever and nothing else really matters."
While the royal family is paying for the wedding itself, there has been disquiet among republicans and some newspapers over the security bill for the event, which has been estimated at more than £2 million (S$3.6 million), given that Eugenie does not carry out official royal duties.
Just married! Prince Harry weds American actress Meghan Markle
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Britain's Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle were pronounced husband and wife on Saturday by the Archbishop of Canterbury
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in a glittering union that brought a measure of modern Hollywood glamour into the 1,000-year-old monarchy.
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Markle entered the chapel unescorted, dressed in a flowing white gown created by British designer Clare Waight Keller and wearing a veil and diamond tiara.
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In a ceremony that combined modernity and the ancient rituals of a royal house that dates back to 1066, Prince Charles, heir to the throne and Harry's father, accompanied Markle to the altar from the middle of the chapel.
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When Meghan Markle walked down the aisle to marry Prince Harry on Saturday, she had with her the 53 countries of the Commonwealth - each one represented in the embroidery of her veil.
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Waight Keller, who became the first female artistic director at famed French house Givenchy last year, said Meghan loved the idea of "all of those countries walking with her through the ceremony."
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The newlyweds will be known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, putting them in the senior ranks of British royalty.
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But alongside tradition, there was innovation, by British royal standards. Markle, 36, did not vow to obey her husband; Harry, three years her junior, will wear a wedding ring - unlike other senior male royals.
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Britain's Queen Elizabeth II looks on during the wedding ceremony
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The chapel was adorned with white roses, Diana's favourite flowers.
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The service was conducted by the Dean of Windsor with Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican Church, overseeing the exchange of vows. Lady Jane Fellowes, Diana's sister, delivered the reading.
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Meghan's mother Doria Ragland and Prince Charles leave after the ceremony.
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Doria Ragland, Prince Charles and wife Camilla Parker Bowles
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The royal couple, who met on a blind date in 2016 and fell in love in a tent under the stars in Botswana, tied the knot in a castle that has been home to 39 English monarchs since 1066.
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Prince Harry's ex-girlfriend Cressida Bonas was among the guests.
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Princess Charlotte and Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton
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Prince George
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Kate Middleton's sister, Pippa Middleton
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Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip
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Earl Spencer, the late Princess Diana's brother.
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Sarah Ferguson
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After the ceremony, the newlyweds greeted some of the 1,200 members of the public invited into the castle grounds before starting a carriage procession through Windsor.
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About 38,000 people signed a petition, organised by campaign group Republic, against taxpayers' money being spent on the occasion.
"Most Brits opposed taxpayer funding of Prince Harry's wedding but as with all royal events were forced to accept it," a spokesman for the group said.
"But there's something different about Friday's royal wedding, and people aren't happy."
Britain's top-selling Sun newspaper ran a front page story on Wednesday with the headline "£2m too much for Eugenie wedding", saying the event could have been held at a chapel near her childhood home.