Hereditary Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg and María Teresa Mestre y Batista: Feb 1981

[Lalla Meriem]

In the Grand-Ducal Palace.

[HRHAmy]

It looks like Henri and Maria Teresa left the cathedral by car? I thought they would have left by carriage? Is that only in some royal families?

[Saschana]

I guess it depends what the couple wishes, but to be honest I have never seen a carriage used by the Grand Ducal Family so I'm not sure they have one that is still intact and could be used.

[HRHAmy]

Oh I see, thank you! I figured they all had carriages because that's what they used before cars but like you said, they may not have them anymore or they're not in an operable state.

[HRHAmy]

Is there anymore info on MT and Henri's wedding like who were their bridesmaids? Best men? Did they have a brunch or a dinner after the ceremony? Did anyone make any speeches? What was said in the civil ceremony? Are there any pictures of the civil ceremony? Did they have a first dance?

It's interesting that theres not a lot of info available on their wedding because it was so beautiful and romantic.

[IloveCP]

Im not a afan of her dress,mostly beacuse I don't like fur.But it is interesting.

The Royal Order of Sartorial Splendor: Flashback Friday: Grand Duchess Maria Teresa's Wedding Dress

[ilovemonaco]

i loved their wedding...she looked so young and innocent and beautiful....i just didnt like the fur trimmings....

[PrincessApple]

I love Maria Teresa's wedding dress! Many of the links do not work for me. Are there any other high quality pictures from the wedding? I also wonder, does anyone have any photos from the civil service and also the engagement?

[Saschana]

A picture of their civil wedding
RTL.lu - Event Fotoen
The same gallery also has pictures of their engagement, I believe.

[PrincessApple]

What a lovely treat! Thank you . Just to clarify, is the brown outfit the civil ceremony and the yellow the engagement?

On the side, Maria Teresa is incredibly beautiful. And she always looks so radiant and pure.

[Josefine]

were MT known to the public before her engagment to Henri? or was she a suprice?

[Saschana]

Originally Posted by PrincessApple

What a lovely treat! Thank you . Just to clarify, is the brown outfit the civil ceremony and the yellow the engagement?

For the civil ceremony she wore the same dress that she wore in church; picture 5 is a picture of the civil wedding, it is taken inside the Palace when they signed the register.
She wore the brown outfit for the engagement (definetely) and the yellowy one when she officially arrived to Luxembourg (I think).

Originally Posted by Josefine

were MT known to the public before her engagment to Henri? or was she a suprice?

AFAIK, she came as a surprise. There might have been talk in the country that the the Hereditary Grand Duke has a girlfriend in Switzerland but certainly not like it was/is in other countries, including paparazzi pictures and gossip magazines.
It will be pretty much the same when the now Hereditary Grand Duke or his brothers or sister will get married. Nobody knew about Princess Tessy before the official announcement that she was pregnant. At the time, rumours were actually that Prince Felix would be the father of a child out of wedlock and not Prince Louis.

[An Ard Ri]

Originally Posted by Saschana

A picture of their civil wedding
RTL.lu - Event Fotoen
The same gallery also has pictures of their engagement, I believe.

I've never seen that before,thank you for posting.

[PrincessApple]

For some reason, I had it in my head that the civil ceremony took place a week before the religious wedding, so thank you, Saschana, for clearing the air.

[Saschana]

I think that was the case for Henri's brother Guillaume and his wife Sibilla. They had a week or two between the civil and the religious ceremony.

[PrincessApple]

Their son had a separate civil and religious ceremony when marrying Tessy, didn't he? In countries where a religious wedding is not recognized on its own it seems there is no common practice among the royals. I wonder why some couples, like Henri and Maria Teresa as well William-Alexander and Maxima, choose to have the civil and religious ceremonies on the same day while others couples, like Albert and Charlene as well as the other Dutch royals, have separate 'weddings.'

For a bride with two ceremonies on the one day, her dress stood up well! Has it ever been on display?

As Maria Teresa was a 'surprise' bride, is it known how long she and Henri were friends and/or courting before the engagement was announced?

[Saschana]

You are right PrincessApple. Louis and Tessy also had a civil wedding on a seperate day.

As far as I know, they first met in 1976 when they started to attend University in Switzerland. Of course I don't know when they staretd to be romantically involved.

[Stefan]

Originally Posted by Saschana

You are right PrincessApple. Louis and Tessy also had a civil wedding on a seperate day.

Louis and Tessy had their civil Wedding in the morning and the religious in the afternoon. For Henri and Maria Teresa and also Margaretha and Nikolaus and Marie Astrid and Carl Christian the civil Wedding was in the morning at the Grand Ducal Palace folowed by the religious marriage.

[Saschana]

Thanks for the info Stefan. I always thought they got married civilly the day before their religious wedding.

[PrincessApple]

Originally Posted by Saschana

As far as I know, they first met in 1976 when they started to attend University in Switzerland. Of course I don't know when they staretd to be romantically involved.

It seems that, overall, the Luxembourg royals are the embodiment of the air of mystery surrounding royalty! Whether they foster this or it is simply due to less media coverage, I don't know.

Winter does seem like a strange choice for a wedding of more senior royals as, I would think, smaller crowds would gather...it would be more low key where the public is concerned.

And thanks to those who provided information about Tessy's wedding.