PROFILE OF THE MONTH
In lieu of our usual Royal of the Month and in the spirit of love, we’re bringing you a special on how royal couples met, fell in love and those glittering weddings that have (mostly) led to happily ever after.
Love needed no translation when King Carl Gustav XVI spied Silvia Sommerlath at the 1972 Munich Olympic games, where the Brazilian-born future Queen was working as a translator for VIP guests. Their engagement was announced 12 March 1976 and they were married 19 June at Stockholm Cathedral. They are the parents to three children, Victoria, Carl Phillip and Madeleine.
Pre-Wedding Ball:
King Carl Gustaf & Silvia Sommerlath's Pre-Wedding Ball in 1976
Wedding:
King Carl Gustaf & Silvia Sommerlath - June 19th 1976
It was in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympic games that love took the center podium for Infanta Cristina and Iñaki Urdangarin, the Duke and Duchess of Palma Mallorca. Cristina, an avid sports fan herself, attended the Atlanta Games to support the Spanish athletes, including Inaki who played for Spain’s handball team (and helped the team to win bronze medals). Their engagement was announced 3 May 1997, followed by their 4 October wedding at Barcelona Basilica. They are the parents of Juan, Pablo, Miguel and are expecting their fourth child this summer.
Engagement:
Infanta Cristina To Marry Iñaki Urdangarin
Pre-Wedding Dinner:
Infanta Cristina & Iñaki Urdangarin: Pre-Wedding Reception, Oct. 1997
Wedding:
Infanta Cristina of Spain & Iñaki Urdangarin / October 4, 1997
Cheering on the Danish athletes at the 2000 Sydney Olympic games wasn’t the only thing Crown Prince Frederik did during his visit Down Under. He also fell in love with Sydney real estate agent Mary Donaldson, whom he met at a pub one evening. After a rather public relationship, Frederik and Mary’s engagement was announced in October 2003, followed by a glamorous spring wedding on 14 May 2004 at Copenhagen Cathedral.
Engagement:
Engagement of Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson, 8 October 2003
Gala Dinner to Celebrate Engagement:
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...?t=1008&page=1
Pre-Wedding Festivities:
Frederik and Mary's Pre-Wedding Festivities: May 2004
Wedding:
Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark & Mary Donaldson 2004
Although they had met at a birthday party when she was only 5, it was when they met up again 15 years later that King George VI knew he had found his future wife in Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon. It was the third proposal, on a walk through the woods, that was the charm. George and Elizabeth’s engagement was announced January 1923 followed by their 26 April wedding at Westminister Abbey. They had two daughters, Elizabeth II and Margaret, six grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.
Wedding:
Prince Albert, Duke of York and Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon - 1923
Persistence ultimately paid off for Crown Prince Naruhito who proposed three times before Crown Princess Masako would accept his request to become his wife. The couple met in 1986 at a string quartet recital but Masako, a Harvard-educated, multi-linguist focused on her career was hesitant to become a member of one of the oldest and most restrictive monarchies in the world. On 9 June 1993, in festivities that combined both Eastern and Western traditions, Naruhito and Masako, he in an 11-century court attire and she in a 30-pound wedding kimono, were married in a Shinto shrine. They have one daughter, Aiko.
Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia, Prince and Princess of Asturias, met in the fall of 2002 at a dinner party with journalists hosted by Pedro Erquicia, director of the TVE show Documentos TV. While Felipe and Letizia enjoyed each other’s company that evening and occasionally re-encountered each other at various events – most notably during the Prestige disaster when Felipe went to visit the site and Letizia was covering the disaster in November 2002, it wasn’t until early spring of 2003 that Felipe made a fateful phone call asking Letizia out to dinner at a restaurant in Madrid. Their engagement was announced 1 November 2003, with the couple making their first official public appearance together on 3 November, followed by their 22 May 2004 wedding at Almudena Cathedral in Madrid.
Pre-Wedding Dinner:
http://www.theroyalforums.com/forums...?t=2361&page=1
Wedding:
Felipe, Prince of Asturias & Letizia Ortiz, 22 May 2004
At a party organized by mutual friends in Spain, Crown Prince Willem-Alexander met Argentinian-born Maxima Zorreguieta. Instantly entranced by the gregarious economist, Willem-Alexander visited Maxima in New York City where she was working at the time a month later. Their engagement was announced March 2001 followed by their 2 February 2002 wedding. The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Orange have one daughter, Catharina-Amalia and are expecting their second child this summer.
Engagement:
Prince Willem-Alexander & Maxima Zorreguieta To Marry
Pre-Wedding Dinner:
Willem-Alexander & Maxima Pre-Wedding Dinner
Wedding:
Crown Prince Willem-Alexander & Máxima Zorreguieta: 2-2-2002
Tidying up after a Brussels dinner party hosted by mutual friends, Claire Coombs encountered Prince Laurent cleaning up and offered to help. On 19 December 2002, the engagement of Laurent and Claire was announced; they were married on 12 April 2003 at Saints Michael in Brussels. Prince Laurent and Princess Claire have one daughter, Louise.
Engagement:
Prince Laurent of Belgium To Marry Claire Coombs
Pre-Wedding Concert:
The Concert Before Prince Laurent Wedding
Wedding:
Prince Laurent of Belgium & Claire Coombs 2003
Love struck the (then) Princess Elizabeth of Great Britain at a young age. It was in 1939, at the age of 13, while on a visit to the Royal Naval College with her parents that the future Queen Elizabeth II met her future husband, an 18-year-old cadet named Phillip Mountbatten of Greece. After Phillip returned from his World War II services in 1945, he and Elizabeth began to spend increasingly more time together. They became engaged in 1945 but it wasn’t until 1946 that they informed her parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth I, who granted their approval for the marriage. Their wedding took place 20 November 1947 at Westminister Abbey. In 1997, back at Westminister Abbey, Elizabeth and Phillip celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They are the parents to Anne, Charles, Andrew and Edward and have seven grandchildren.
Wedding:
Princess Elizabeth & the Duke of Edinburgh 1947