On This Day: Wedding of Archduke Otto and Princess Regina

Sixty-five years ago royal Europe gathered on May 10th 1951 in Nancy, France, to witness the wedding of Archduke Otto of Austria, head of the imperial family, to Princess Regina of Saxe-Meiningen. The couple married in the Franciscan church of The Cordeliers, where 20 generations of the dukes of Lorraine, anscestors of Archduke Otto, are burried.

The bride was wearing an ivory-white dress by the Parisian designer Jean Desses. The train of her dress was six meters. She also carried the Habsburg family tiara, which was also worn by Empress Zita on her wedding day. The flowers in the church were especially flown over from Austria. The veil was made from lace that supposedly had belonged to Empress Maria Theresia.

Among those present were twenty-four princes and princesses, a Grand Duke, thirteen Archdukes, nine Archduchesses, two Dukes and an Empress: the groom’s mother, Empress Zita of Austria. The Hungarian honorary guard was led by the Fürst Esterházy de Gálantha. Two thousand monarchists from Austria had travelled to Nancy to see the happy couple while a total of fiveteen thousend people lined up the streets and squares. Otto and Regina received an apostolic blessing from the pope and congratulatory telegrams from among others Queen Mary of Great Britain, King Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, King Leopold of Belgium, ex-King Umberto II of Italy and Sir Winston Churchill.

Sources: newspapers De Tijd and Het Algemeen Handelsblad, 11 May 1951

Some photos:

 

Filed under Austria-Hungary
Tagged Anniversary, Archduke Otto of Austria, House of Habsburg, House of Saxe-Meiningen, Regina of Saxe-Meiningen, Wedding.