Churches Where Royals Married

[An Ard Ri]

Isabella II and Francis, Duke of Cádiz were married at the Palacio Real in Madrid



Alfonso XII married his 1st wife Maria de la Mercedes d'Orléans at the Basilica of Atocha and following her death he married Maria Christina of Austria also at the Basilica of Atocha in Madrid.

Alfonso XIII and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg were married at the Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo in Madrid.

 

[Pranter]

Thanks for the heads up Rudolph, I had no idea! Is this a change in policy or has it always been so?

My understanding is even Charles/Camilla could of married in the Church but they chose not to due to the situation. So it must not be a new policy.



LaRae

 

[MaiaMia_53]

who on earth is looking for "hole and corner nuptials" for harry? yes of course he is the future Kings second son. Of course when he marries he'l be married in a reasonably big ceremony, probably at Westminster abbey. much the same as P Andrew was.
But he's nto as important as Charles or WIlliam.. that's a fact. He is extremely unlikely to get near the throne. Probably when Charles is king, George or Charlotte will be married during his reign and Harry will slide further down. he's not goig to be King and his marriage ceremony will reflect that lack of importance.
Anyway I thnk it is moot since I don't believe that Harry will marry for several more years. Maybe when h's 40...

Questions of royal line of succession aside, I doubt any of Harry's close relatives feel he's "not as important as Charles or William."

In several more years, Harry will be 35 (and most likely married with at least one child).

 

[An Ard Ri]

Lets keep this thread on topic - Churches where royals got married is the title thread

 

[Curryong]

Prince George of Hanover, later Elector and later still King George I of Great Britain, married in November 1682, Sophia, daughter of the Duke of Brunswick-Luneberg-Celle, at Celle Castle Chapel Germany, Celle Castle being her family's ancestral home. He was 21, she was 16.
The marriage was miserably unhappy and Sophia was kept imprisoned for over thirty years at the Castle of Ahlden in Hanover. The Renaissance Chapel where the couple were married looks very pretty, however.

http://www.celle.travel/celle-palace/palace-chapel.html

 

[episcogal]

One of the most romantic weddings of all time...

King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola of the Belgians
Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula
Brussels, Belgium

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxLYizuTe9g

 

[Curryong]

It was indeed a magnifent and joyful ceremony. I read somewhere however that Princess Margaret and her husband being sent as representatives of the Queen to that wedding was a tit for tat thing because the Belgian royal family had been a bit snippy about Margaret marrying a photographer and a commoner.

 

[VictoriaB]

I prefer Westminster Abbey as a venue. It is way older than St Paul's Cathedral and "more English". The architecture of St Paul's could not have mismatched in any Italian city.

I agree with your comments about Westminster Abbey but, to my mind, it's dark and the rood screen separates the majority of the congregation from the High Altar where the marriage is taking place.

If I remember correctly, when Prince Edward and Sophie married they had the first part of the service in front of the rood screen at St George's Chapel and then went to the High Altar for the marriage itself.

St Paul's is much lighter and more inclusive. While I appreciate that, because of its size, those at the back probably have no better view than those at the back of the Abbey, at least there's no physical barrier between them and the bride and groom.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

The most beautiful wedding ever was the one of Doña Elena de Borbón y Grecia, Infanta de España with Don Jaime de Marichalar y Sáenz de Tejada, son of the Conde de Ripalda.

It took place in the magnificent Catedral de Santa María de la Sede, there was a processional ride in a carriage through festive Sevilla. Wonderful. Pictures.

 

[An Ard Ri]

The most beautiful wedding ever was the one of Doña Elena de Borbón y Grecia, Infanta de España with Don Jaime de Marichalar y Sáenz de Tejada, son of the Conde de Ripalda.

It took place in the magnificent Catedral de Santa María de la Sede, there was a processional ride in a carriage through festive Sevilla. Wonderful. Pictures.

Yes that was a really magnificent setting ,the Cathedral was a splendid setting as was the ceremony.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A07h0BxJkc

 

[ANNIE_S]

Seville is such a GORGEOUS city. The CP's wedding in Madrid almost looked poor by comparison

 

[An Ard Ri]

Seville is such a GORGEOUS city. The CP's wedding in Madrid almost looked poor by comparison

The wedding of Infanta Elena was the 1st Royal Wedding in Spain in a long,long time and the Royal House went all out to celebrate that fact,the wedding of Felipe and Letizia was a bit of a let down compared to Elena's.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

One of the most romantic weddings of all time...

King Baudouin and Queen Fabiola of the Belgians
Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula
Brussels, Belgium

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxLYizuTe9g

Totally. My favorite winter Royal wedding. It was straight out of a fairy tale from top to bottom, made me wish I'd been around for it!

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

The wedding of Infanta Elena was the 1st Royal Wedding in Spain in a long,long time and the Royal House went all out to celebrate that fact,the wedding of Felipe and Letizia was a bit of a let down compared to Elena's.

Yes, the weddings of Doña Elena (Sevilla) and Doña Cristina (Barcelona) were so much more grand and sumptuous. The chosen venue for the wedding of Don Felipe (the modern Almudena) did not help either. The weather was awful and the mood was down since Madrid was faced with massive terrorist attacks two months earlier, which took 191 lives.

 

[Anfisa]

I hope Harry and Megan get married in Westminster Abbey. I would love for it to be St Pauls, but I dont think thats realistic.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Why not, for a change, in another city than London? See Spain: Elena in Sevilla, Cristina in Barcelona, Felipe in Madrid. See Norway: Märtha Louise in Trondheim, Haakon in Oslo. See the Netherlands: Constantijn in The Hague, Willem-Alexander in Amsterdam, Friso in Delft. The United Kingdom has so many counties and cities. Why not have a royal wedding in York, in Edinburgh, in Lincoln, whatever?

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg married Prince Felix of Bourbon Parma at the Cathedrale Notre-Dame in Luxembourg on November 6, 1919.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

In the Cathedral Saint-Andre de Bordeaux (Bordeaux Cathedral) of Bordeaux, France, 13 year old Eleanor of Aquitaine married the future Louis VIII of France, a few months before she became Queen.

 

[An Ard Ri]

The headstrong Eleanor was not at all popular with her domineering mother in law Adélaïde de Savoie

 

[CyrilVladisla]

The headstrong Eleanor was not at all popular with her domineering mother in law Adélaïde de Savoie

What did Eleanor do that Adelaide de Savoie did not approve of?

 

[Countessmeout]

What did Eleanor do that Adelaide de Savoie did not approve of?

Adelaide thought her flighty and a bad influence on her son. She was thought to be immodest in her language and dress, by both Adelaide and the church.

It is said she reminded them of Constance of Arles, the great-great grandmother of her husband. Constance was detested because she tried to impose her Provencal ways on France.

 

[An Ard Ri]

Adelaide de Savoie was also a powerful queen and queen mother,Eleanor no doubt learned something from her formidable mother in law.

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

On the 8th of July 1551 Willem of Nassau, Prince of Orange married Anne of Egmont, Countess van Buren. The bride was the single child and heiress of the wealthiest couple of the Low Countries (Maximilian of Egmont and Françoise de Lannoy).

Despite the immense wealth, the wedding was simply held in the then Roman Catholic village church of Buren, the Saint Lambert. Not in more posh Brussels or Breda, where the Prince had great courts. That village church is still there but is in no way comparable, qua interior, to the Roman-Catholic church it was back in 1551.

The Saint Lambert in Buren: picture

Statue of the Prince and Princess of Orange and their children Philips Willem and Maria: picture

The (now protestant) interior of the Saint Lambert: picture

The (now protestant) pulpit of the Saint Lambert: picture

Princess Maria was born in Buren, she is also interred in the same church: picture

Princess Maria constructed this building in Buren, which later served as royal orphanage: picture

 

[An Ard Ri]

Isn't King Willem-Alexander also Count of Buren?

 

[Duc_et_Pair]

Isn't King Willem-Alexander also Count of Buren?

Yes and no. When the so-called "Bataafsche Republiek" was vested in 1795, all lordships, baronies, viscounties, counties, marquessates, duchies, principalities, but also all ecclesiastical territories, cities' rights, etc. were declared null and void to establish a central and unitary government.

The Orange-Nassaus however continued the use of their forty-something titles in the so-called Intitulé (the Etc. Etc. Etc. in "Willem-Alexander, by the grace of God, King of the Netherlands, Prince of Orange-Nassau, Etc. Etc. Etc."). Their argument was that the Bataafsche Republiek had no jurisdiction on titles which were not their Fons Honorum. For an example: the title Count of Buren was created by the Holy Roman Empire in 1492.

In 2002, during the reading of the modernized Royal House Act, the government stressed that these titles became not extinct in 1962 when Queen Wilhelmina, the last male-line Orange-Nassau, passed away. The Government argued that these titles are connected with the kingship and that therefore it passed from Wilhelmina on Juliana on Beatrix.

So yes: the titles are still there. And no: the titles are not used anymore in real life.

Duke of Limburg
Created 1839
Fons Honorum: by Treaty of London
In the Royal House since 1839 (by creation)

Marquess of Veere and of Flushing
Created 1551
Fons Honorum: the Holy Roman Emperor
In the Royal House since 1582 (by abjuration of Philips II of Spain)

Count of Katzenelnbogen
Created 1066
Fons Honorum: the Archbishop of Cologne
In the Royal House since 1500 (by testament)

Count of Vianden
Created 1090
Fons Honorum: the Abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of Prüm
In the Royal House since 1417 (by testament)

Count of Diez
Created 1073
Fons Honorum: the Abbot of the Stift Sankt Viktor in Mainz
In the Royal House since 1388 (by testament)

Count of Spiegelberg
Created 1200
Fons Honorum: the Holy Roman Emperor
In the Royal House since 1631 (by testament)

Count van Buren and of Leerdam
Created 1492
Fons Honorum: the Holy Roman Emperor
In the Royal House since 1558 (by testament)

Count of Culemborg
Created 1500
Fons Honorum: the Holy Roman Emperor
In the Royal House since 1748 (by donation)

Viscount of Antwerp
Created 1106
Fons Honorum: the Holy Roman Emperor
In the Royal House since 1521 (by testament)

Etc Etc Etc

 

[An Ard Ri]

Catherine de Foix,later Queen Regnant of Navarre married Jean d'Albret,Comte de Perrigord & Viscomte de Limoges at Notre Dâme de Lescar Cathedral in 1484.

Their son, Henri II d'Albret ,king of Navarre married the sister of Francois I,Marguerite d'Angoulême at the chapel of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

Princess Theodora Sayn-Wittgenstein married Earl Nikolaus Bethlen de Bethlen in a church wedding in Bad Laasphe, Germany in 2018. The church was the Church of Amerdingen.

 

[CyrilVladisla]

On September 4, 2021 Princess Maria Anunciata of Liechtenstein and Emanuele Musini were married at the Kirche Unsere Liebe Frau zu den Schotten (Schottenkirche) in Vienna, Austria.

 

[Moonmaiden23]

That church was breathtaking....

 

[CyrilVladisla]

That church was breathtaking....

Schottenkirche is impressive beyond words. Its beauty in written descriptions would take volumes and volumes of books.