Princess Maria Laura of Belgium and William Isvy: 10 Sept 2022


If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
:previous: That's all??That isn't even close to being the recent longest.

If memory serves Stephanie de Lannoy's was between 15-17 feet but seemed much shorter than ML's, probably due to the difference in design.
 
Last edited:
I honestly think this wedding confirms the fact that couturiers who are not famous for the craftsmanship and quality of their dress do fail in the realization of royal wedding dresses. The expertise of the seamstresses, the knowledge of how fabrics flow and and stay, how they reflect the light, how they wrinkle (if they do), it’s justo so much more than the mere dress.
Royal wedding dresses require a ton more quality and thoughtfulness than a celebrity red-carpet dress. The more I look at Maria Laura’s train as she walks down the aisle, the more it reminds me of a duvet. Very sad because I think she spent a lot of money on it.
But anyway she looks glad and satisfied.

To be fair: in essence Maria Laura just is a totally normal and unknown person with a title. My guess is that an overwhelming number of Belgians would not even recognize Maria Laura, when seated next to them in a café.

I am not sure why a wedding dress for Maria Laura should "require a ton more quality and thoughtfulness than a celebrity red-carpet dress". She is not even a celebrity, so to speak...
 
It was sucha pity about the weather but hope that still had a wonderful day!
 
To be fair: in essence Maria Laura just is a totally normal and unknown person with a title. My guess is that an overwhelming number of Belgians would not even recognize Maria Laura, when seated next to them in a café.



I am not sure why a wedding dress for Maria Laura should "require a ton more quality and thoughtfulness than a celebrity red-carpet dress". She is not even a celebrity, so to speak...



That’s for sure, I agree. But if you, a Princess, decide to wear a very long and large train and marry in a cathedral, you’re setting the atmosphere as royal and high pomp somehow. Even if she is a private person at the end of the day. Maybe it’s clearer now. Anyway she looks happy and lovely overall. Maybe royalty cares for dresses less than we do, who knows.
 
We had in Belgium a Princess who married saturday.
We don't know Maria Laura , we saw her only on family pictures. She studied and lives abroad.
Wonderful happy Wedding with some pictures .
But I am frustrated , her Wedding was for her Family and their friends.
Some Belgians were there in the wind and the rain , but so far away that they could see nothing. I suppose the departures of 500 guests needed a lot of place.
I am sad !
 
We had in Belgium a Princess who married saturday.
We don't know Maria Laura , we saw her only on family pictures. She studied and lives abroad.
Wonderful happy Wedding with some pictures .
But I am frustrated , her Wedding was for her Family and their friends.
Some Belgians were there in the wind and the rain , but so far away that they could see nothing. I suppose the departures of 500 guests needed a lot of place.
I am sad !

To have a big, BIG wedding, you have to wait till the one of the Duchess of Brabant comes ;)
 
I think, because of the bride's ancestry, there were some expectations for this wedding.
IMO none have been fulfilled and in retrospect, also because of what maria-olivia said about Belgians being there in less than pleasant weather conditions and seeing nothing, it may have been better to have had the wedding elsewhere. Even though her reasoning for marrying in Brussels has been elaborately explained by her mother.
 
I am not quite sure what the expectations were but I can't see what was wrong with the wedding TBH. The whole thing would not be broadcasted, as we knew. The guestlist was mostly family and friends, as most expected. We knew there would be no military pump either, no guard d'honneur etc. And a large group of spectators was not expected either. I agree with Duc: most Belgians would not recognise Maria Laura if they sat next to her in a restaurant.

It was comparable to the wedding of her brother, though instead of in Rome this was done in Brussels. The only thing that surprised me was that they did not settle for the Sablon church but for the cathedral. Considering that cathedral is used for most events related to the Belgian RF perhaps that was not so extrordinary either.
 
Last edited:
The spectators was something they could perhaps have taken into account. Princess Astrid herself said that they really had not expected the amount of interest shown in Maria Laura following the engagement announcement.
I suppose they were truly taken aback - which led to what maria-olivia posted about Belgians standing there in less than pleasant weather conditions and not seeing anything. Although, of course, the weather was not the bridal couple's fault.

I think I have now said all I had to say about this wedding, so I'll leave the thread.

Happy posting to the others :flowers:
 
Last edited:
That is true, that was a pity indeed. They could have been surprised that people were there and had to improvise. Logistics may have gotten in the way too: I assume the guests were transported to wherever the party was in busses afterwards. And these busses would have to be able to move in and out of the square. As we saw with Fabiola's funeral, when guests had to wait for an eternity for their transportation, planning can be tricky.
 
I also think that the weather was a considerabel reason the spectators did not see much after the wedding. As they had to hold umbrella's over the bridal Couple to protect them from the rain.
 
Princes Astrid,Archduchess of Este was beaming throughout the day and there were wonderful photos of her embracing her daughter afterwards.
 
Maybe Aurora and Eulalia Peters are nieces of William? I think I read somewhere that he has a sister, so if she is married and has children, they most likely won't be called Isvy.

Update:

Aurora Alberica Peters (b.2016) and Eulalia Dorothea (b.2017) Peters are daughters of the bride maternal second cousin Maria Alberica San Martino d'Aglie (b.1989) & her husband Jan-Christoph Peters (b.1977).

Father of Maria Alberica Peters, nee San Martino d'Aglie is Nicolo San Martino d'Aglie, Marchese di Fontanetto con San Germano (b.1948), maternal first cousin of Princess Astrid; his mother was late eldest sister of Queen Paola, Donna Maria-Cristina Ruffo di Calabria (1920-2003) who married Casimiro San Martino d'Aglie, Marchese di Fontanetto con San Germano (1903-1988) when Paola was only 3 years old ;)
Nicolo's eldest sister Emanuela is just four years younger than Paola ;)

http://heinbruins.nl/Rignon.html
 
Last edited:
Princess de Ligne, Dona Eleonora de Orleans e Bragança, and Prince Michel, 14th Prince de Ligne, accompanied by their daughter and son-in-law, Princess Alix de Ligne and Count Guillaume de Dampierre, were guests at the wedding ceremony of Archduchess Maria Laura from Austria-Este and Mr. William Isvy.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjBdXS3pu_U/
 
The description before the wedding occurred: Catholic celebration with Jewish influences
What were the Jewish influences?
 
Where did the couple go on honeymoon?
 
For some strange reason the King chose not to acknowledge his niece's wedding in the official agenda on monarchie.be. There were entries there for Prince Amedeo's engagement and wedding, and Princess Maria Laura's engagement.

I wonder if he was offended at Princess Astrid's family issuing their own announcements about the wedding.


The description before the wedding occurred: Catholic celebration with Jewish influences
What were the Jewish influences?

According to the pre-wedding press conference the Jewish influence would be heard in the songs sung at the wedding (a mix of Jewish and Catholic songs). See this post for links and details:

https://www.theroyalforums.com/foru...am-isvy-10-sept-2022-a-49496.html#post2484562


Princess de Ligne, Dona Eleonora de Orleans e Bragança, and Prince Michel, 14th Prince de Ligne, accompanied by their daughter and son-in-law, Princess Alix de Ligne and Count Guillaume de Dampierre, were guests at the wedding ceremony of Archduchess Maria Laura from Austria-Este and Mr. William Isvy.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CjBdXS3pu_U/

Her Royal Highness Princess Maria Laura d'Autriche-Este (Habsbourg-Lorraine), Princess of Belgium, specifically stated she wanted to highlight her Belgian-ness with this wedding:

Additional quotes from the September 2 press conference with the parents of Princess Maria Laura:

HRH Princess Astrid: "I have a feeling I'm going to be very moved. But I would like to say that Laura and William's wedding is an enormous occasion for us. As it was with Amedeo's wedding. But that didn't take place in Belgium. Which adds a whole other dimension this time. But Laura wanted to emphasize her Belgianness. She wanted to marry in Brussels where she was born and educated. She loves her city!"
 
Back
Top Bottom