Hugh Van Cutsem & Rose Astor June 4th, 2005

[Elspeth]

William's girlfriend of two years might have been forgiven for feeling a little awkward, since her beau's ex-girlfriend Jessica Craig was present too. Conspicuous by their absence, however, were Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall, who likewise stayed away from the wedding of elder brother Edward van Cutsem to Lady Tamara Windsor after finding out they were to be seated separately.

Lady Tamara Windsor? I wonder if she knows she's been promoted to royalty...

[His Lordship]

She certainly has the charm, grace, and beauty to be royal.

[liv]

I didn´t know that Kate is such a beauty. She sems to have style and her clothes were also suitable for a future Queen. I´m impressed by her. I can see a small similarity between her and Mary. Does anyone else see the same?

[Tzu An]

Even if they are vile, horrid people, William and Harry still seem to like them. Either William has terrible taste in friends, and he very well might, or he doesn't see them as bad people.

Of course they don't seem bad around William. William and Harry are the keys to the continuing prominence of the Van Cutsems. Naturally the Van Cutsems are going to be as nice as possible to them, or suck up to them all the time.

[Reina]

As long as WIlliam can trust them than it is ok

[Emily]

..speaking of names, I thought the nickname of Natalia Westminster was "Tally" not Tita -- not so?

[Emily]

....and yes! I thought Kate had a resemblance to Mary in the first set of wedding photos with her in them!

[Lady Jean]

Yes, Tally has been her nickname for years .

The bride looked pretty but I think the huge gorgeous tiara overwhelmed the dress.

Kate Middleton is prettier than I originally thought based on other photos. I like her winsome look.

[His Lordship]

Both actually are her nicknames....but yes Tally is the more frequent and well known.

Kate Middleton has that sporty and elegant look about her. The kind of woman you could imagine getting dirty from a day of hunting and other country sport and then cleaning up for a more formal occasion later in the day. That is such a badge of an English woman who can fit in with the royals.

I am sure William appreciates her very non-plussed way of life in the sense that she is just not a total city girl.

[florawindsor]

Originally Posted by His Lordship

The kind of woman you could imagine getting dirty from a day of hunting and other country sport and then cleaning up for a more formal occasion later in the day.

seems to me that we only saw the sport side of her before, and this is the first time we saw her for a formal occasion. wish we could see more of the formal side in the future, cos she really looks good in these occasions!

[florawindsor]

thanks pdas1201 for the pictures.

may i ask how you get the Rex Features pictures? i can only get the thumbnails:(

Originally Posted by pdas1201

Rex Features

1-2. Edward Van Cutsem
3-6. Ben and Kate Goldsmith (brother and sister-in-law of Jemima)
7-8. Tiggy Pettifer (formely Legge-Bourke, former nanny of William and Harry)
9. Prince William
10. Prince William with William Van Cutsem (behind the lady in the red hat). He is the youngest of the Van Custsem brothers.

[susan alicia]

Originally Posted by Emily

..speaking of names, I thought the nickname of Natalia Westminster was "Tally" not Tita -- not so?

i do not think westminster is a surname, she is the daughter of the duke of and her surname was Grosvenor.

Originally Posted by Elspeth

Lady Tamara Windsor? I wonder if she knows she's been promoted to royalty...

yes and ben and kate are very much married, she is not his partner, well so much for the reporter of helle

[Emily]

You are right -- it is Natalia Grosvenor - but she is the wife of the Duke, not the daughter!

[His Lordship]

Originally Posted by Idriel

I am very surprised by this statement. I was always said that the reason why British aristocrats were doing so much better than most European aristocrats is that the titles, properties AND money go undivided to the eldest son, leaving nothing to other kids.
Tamara being a girl and having a little brother, I wonder to what extend, exactly, she is an heiress. It seems to me that she is the one who did a good wedding. The Van Cutsem boys are very wealthy (on their own since they all have good jobs and potentially by inheritance) and their social standing is above question.
Same comment for Rose.
And just a look at the brides (especially Rose) makes me think they did not need much extra motivation to wed them...:p
In a post you also said that you met the Cutsem brothers and that they were annoying. I wonder if Nicholas was among them. He always seemed to me the nicer and more discreet.

Yes, I have, while the title, property and money do pass to the eldest son in the British aristocracy, in today's world, all the children receive an inheritance.

You are also talking about two VERY wealthy familes...the Westminsters who are ranked #3 in wealth the Times 2005 list, and the Astors...each of those girls will inherit a lot of money.

It is known the Van Cutsems, like many others, relish their royal connections, but are more keen to ensure they stay closer to the top than others...the only reason they are socially prominent is because of that connection to the Prince of Wales...which then trickled down to their sons with William and Harry.

You must remember that in British society, you can be a movie star, athlete, telly star, or self made millionaire...and be part of "society", but in this country where the aristocracy and titles are still at the top of the pyramid and still control the social scene in England...whether they still have their fortunes or not....the titles set them apart from all others.....a Lord or Lady so and so is still above a Holly Branson for example in their society levels.

In the U.S., it is old money vs new money in terms of society...since we do not have a titled aristocracy to separate the two, it is more accepting of self made people...more power to them and old money families like the Rockefellers.

[EmpressRouge]

Originally Posted by His Lordship

You are also talking about two VERY wealthy familes...the Westminsters who are ranked #3 in wealth the Times 2005 list, and the Astors...each of those girls will inherit a lot of money.

The Duke of Westminster was the richest man in Britain until Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich either moved to Britain or just out-riched him. Right now, the richest person in Britain is Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, followed by Abramovich and the Duke. Mittal recently made headlines for setting a new record for most expensive house purchase (I think it's in Kensington area in London, close by residence(s) of the Saudi royals), making it the most expensive home outside side of royal residences. He also set a record for most expensive wedding ever. His daughter's engagement and wedding festivities took place at Vaux le Vicomte, Versailles, and I think maybe even the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, and it's said to have cost $60 million. The Spanish royal wedding of Felipe and Letizia was said have only cost $35 million.

[Hannelore]

More pics of the couple and the bridesmaids

[Hannelore]

William and his elegant girlfriend :) ...

[Bubbette]

She dresses like a woman twice her age--I don't see anything elegant about her.

[kelly9480]

The Astors are tied at 740 with the entire family having a total of L66 million. Most of that is not going to go to Rose, so it's not like she's going to be richer than her husband to the point of it being ridiculous. Whoever Tamara married, unless he was a Greek shipping heir, was going to have less money than her. I'm not seeing why so much emphasis is being placed on the families' wealth. If they love their husbands, and apparently they do, because they could have married elsewhere, that's all that really matters.