Those Bridesmaid Dresses

Photos: Getty Images / Best Image

When the bridesmaids of Princess Claire stepped out in a pale blue chiffon and lace gown which bore striking resemblance to a dress worn by the Duchess of Cambridge last year, everyone was quick to assume that they were wearing a dress by Jenny Packham as the dress worn by the Duchess had been confirmed to be by that designer. Some even went as far as saying that Princess Alexandra had taken fashion inspiration from the British royal as it was clearly her who chose all the bridesmaids' dresses and it seems unimaginable to some that not everyone follows Kate's every step and fashion choices.

It was, however, quickly confirmed by the cour grand-ducale that the dress featuring a belt with a hand-beaded inset on the waist as well as lace inserts on the sweetheart neckline, bodice sides and cap sleeves was indeed made by Tadashi Shoji. The Japanese-born American designer is known for his quality work without the premium prices that so many other designers have. While Jenny Packham's 'Aspen' gown from the Spring 2012 collection will easily cost you a few thousand bucks, the Shoji dress is available for less than US$500.

Photos: Jenny Packham / Getty Images / Tadashi Shoji / Pronovias

On our quest to find more about the two dresses, we also came across a Pronovias dress with similar features, especially from the front. Upon closer inspection of the backs of the gowns, there are, however, a few distinct features that let you tell the dresses apart (in addition to the slightly different necklince from the front).

While the Duchess of Cambridge's bespoke Jenny Packham dress (which is also available as a wedding gown) features Swarovski crystals on the lace as well as buttons and a bow on the back; the Tadashi dress is a bit more simple with a center back zipper and no additional ornamentation. Instead, some kind of a bra-like strap shimmers through the lace. With its plunging back in addition to the lace, the Pronovias dress tells an entirely different story when you look at its backside. Interestingly it seems that the Tadashi Shoji gown is indeed the oldest of the three.

By the way, Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg was actually the first royal to wear a variation of this dress to a public event. She first wore a red variation of it to her aunt Queen Margarethe of Denmark's ruby jubilee celebrations in January last year and then repeated it for the pre-wedding gala of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie in October. If, at all, I much rather think that Princess Claire's inspiration for her choice came from this princess and not the British one.

Wine News

The Grand Duke's cousin Prince Robert is once again travelling the world to promote his wines as he is the chairman and chief executive officer of Domaine Clarence Dillon which he inherited from his mother's side of the family. (For more information, check this out.) This time Prince Robert will be visiting Hong Kong and also recently gave an interview to CNBC.

The reason for the prince's interview is an auction taking place in a couple of days in the Chinese city. On October 4, the Domaine will have a sale at Sotheby's to auction off more than 500 lots of wines from its various estates. It will be the first time they will be having such an auction in Asia. For more information why they are doing it and all kinds of other interesting things, have a look at this article by Bloomberg.

Sources: Bloomberg

Luxarazzi 101: Golden Carriage of Prince Joseph Wenzel

Photo: Palais Liechtenstein GmbH

The Golden Carriage of Prince Joseph Wenzel is one of the most impressive pieces of the Princely Collections of the House of Liechtenstein. Made in 1738, it is now exhibited in the Sala Terrena of the Gartenpalais, one of the Viennese palaces owned by the Princely Family.

The history of this work of art starts on December 23, 1737 when Prince Joseph Wenzel (1696-1772) was appointed as the Austrian imperial ambassador to the French court by Emperor Karl VI. Soon after, the prince commissioned the famous French carver and ornamental designer Nicolas Pineau to build five grand carriages. The task was finished within a year so that the carriages, alongside some 50 others, could be used during the festive entry of the ambassador into Paris on December 21, 1738 and two days later in Versailles.

Prince Joseph Wenzel

Besides this Berline, a travelling carriage, another one of the same kind was built but did not survive to this day. In addition, two state coaches and an open state coach were manufactured by Pineau. The panels of the Golden Carriage with its putti depicting the four seasons and the four elements were most likely created by Rococo painter François Boucher. The chosen motives were rather uncommon during the time as typically the virtues of a ruler were depicted.

Measuring 6.1 metres in height, 2.13 metres in width and 3.19 metres in depth, the carriage is made out of wood, steel, paint, gilt, bronze gilt, leather, crystal, velvet with gold embroidery and brocade.

Even though the carriage looks fit for a king, it was not even used by Prince Joseph Wenzel but by his staff during the entry into Paris. While the prince's secretary and the master of his household were seated in the Golden Carriage, the new imperial ambassador drove in the personal carriage of King Louis XV. Like the other 50 coaches in the procession, the Golden Carriage was pulled by horses from the Princely stud in Eisgrub/Lednice.

About twenty years later, the Golden Carriage got another major outing when Prince Joseph Wenzel obtained the prestigious order by Empress Maria Theresia to travel to Parma in order to pick up Princess Isabella of Bourbon-Parma, the bride of the future Emperor Joseph II, and accompany her to Vienna. In advance to the event, the carriage was refurbished by the saddlery of the imperial court.

Painting by Martin van Meytens

On October 6, the day of the joyous entry of Princess Isabelle, Prince Joseph Wenzel, who was seated in his Golden Carriage, drove directly behind the future Archduchess in a massive procession of about 100 coaches which is depicted in the painting "The Arrival of Isabella of Parma on the Occasion of Her Wedding to Joseph II" by Martin van Meytens. The painting also shows that only slight changes have been made to the carriage since 1760, a rarity especially because only very few Parisian carriages survived the turmoil of the French Revolution.

Even though the coach is generally known as the Golden Carriage of Prince Joseph Wenzel and we used this name like a duck takes to the water, it wasn't known as such during the 18th century. Instead it is believed that the name originates from the second half of the 19th century when golden carriages weren't as common anymore. Before, the carriage was simply known as the fourth ambassador coach as it was the fourth vehicle in the 1738 procession into Paris.

It isn't known, or at least I couldn't find out, what happened to the Golden Carriage during the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Most likely it stayed in that period of time's equivalent to today's garage. At some point in time, probably towards the end of World War II, it was brought to Liechtenstein just like the rest of the Princely Collections. In 1956, however, the Golden Carriage got another grand appearance when it was brought out for the 150th anniversary of the sovereignty of Liechtenstein in 1956.

The carriage in 1956 (Photos: Historischer Verein)

As the carriage hadn't been used for decades, it wasn't clear whether it would actually be roadworthy. Another question was if the carriage, which was more than 200 years old at the time, would survive such an adventure. Thus, Dr. Erwin M. Auer, an expert for carriages and former director of the imperial carriage museum in Vienna was invited to Liechtenstein in order to furnish an opinion about how to make the carriage fit for driving and how it should be restored and kept up in the future. Auer described the Golden Carriage as "one of the most interesting Baroque carriage monuments". 

Thanks to his plans, the Golden Carriage made it out onto the street for the aforementioned 150th anniversary of the sovereignty of Liechtenstein on September 8 and 9, 1956. On a sidenote, wasn't Prince Philipp a perfect gentleman the way he helped his sister Princess Nora with her cute white gloves out of the coach!?

Since the 1950's, the carriage has been continously kept up. The last restoration works were performed in 2010. Already since the early 2000's, it has been exhibited at the Gartenpalais in Vienna.

About Stradivarius and More

Photo: AMADEUS International School Vienna

Already on September 8, the newly founded AMADEUS Chamber Orchestra of the AMADEUS International School gave their first ever concert at the Stadtpalais in Vienna which is owned by the Princely Family. The concert also included an exhibition of Stradivarius violins. As the event was also sponsored by the LGT Group, Prince Philipp was on hand to witness the occasion and give a little speech saying, "Stradivarius violins have been producing the same distinctive sound for centuries and have even risen in value over time. Cultivating and preserving assets over generations has always been our family’s aim – as entrepreneurs, as art collectors and as bankers." More pictures of the event are located on the website if the music school.

On a similar note... Also missed this summer due to me always forgetting to check their website were two events by Prince Guillaume for the Mérite Jeunesse in Dommeldange and Echternach as well as Prince Nikolaus attending an event by the Europäischer Kartellverband of which he is president. (By the way, those are with a probability bordering on certainty not the only things we missed, just those we caught...)

Source: EKV, Mérite Jeunesse, AMADEUS International School Vienna

Back in Luxembourg

Photo: Gerry Huberty / Luxemburger Wort / Wort.lu

Returning from the Provençal wedding adventures to their normal schedule of work, Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and the seriously lovely looking Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie attended a gala dinner in favour of the Fondation Kräizbierg earlier tonight. The Hereditary Grand Duke has been long involved with the foundation that helps to integrate people with handicaps into society and the job market. He became the Fondation Kräizbierg's honorary president in in March 2011 after serving as its actual president for more than ten years.

Wort has more pictures of tonight's event that took place in Mondorf-les-Bains.

Source: Wort

Last Night in Paris

Photo: Getty Images

 
Fresh of their nephew's Provençal wedding, Prince Jean and his wife Countess Diane attended the IFRAD Gala at the Cirque D'Hiver in Paris last night. IFRAD is the acronym for Fondation pour la Recherche sur Alzheimer (in case you don't know any French, it's Foundation for the Research of Alzheimer's Disease and a very worthy cause I might add). 

A few more pictures of Prince Jean and Countess Diane are located at Getty Images.

Turning 18 in Liechtenstein

Photo: Pd / Liechtensteiner Vaterland / Vaterland.li

Alright ladies and gentlemen, get your binoculars ready as for today's post there is some spotting ability required... Although we are not 100% sure ourselves, we do think that it is quite likely that you can see Prince Wenzel, oldest son of Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie, in the last row in the picture above. (Yes, I know that his full name is Joseph Wenzel but he has simply been refered to as Wenzel by the media since he was about three years old.)

Like some other German-speaking countries, Liechtenstein has the tradition of Jungbürgerfeiern, which literally translates to young citizens celebration and means that all the people turning 18 during a year are invited for a get-together with their local politicians. While it seems to be a more formal thing in Austria and Switzerland, it seems to be a more fun-filled occasion in the Principality. Together with the mayor of Vaduz, those inhabitants of Vaduz turning 18 this year, which includes Prince Wenzel, were invited to a drink at the town hall, bowling, dinner at a Italian restaurant and a rock concert -- not to shabby, eh!?

Source: Vaterland

Introducing... Princess Claire AND Princess Tessy

I'm sure it doesn't come as a shock to anyone that the website of the cour is now updated to reflect the marriage of Prince Félix and Princess Claire. With their approved marriage Princess Claire became a member of  the Grand Ducal House and the Grand Ducal Family. The biographical section on the newest member of the family contains a few unknown tidbits reflecting her work history and personal hobbies.

What may come as a shock is that Princess Tessy is now also included with her own section. Perhaps this was a 7th anniversary present. Maybe it was just impossible not to include Tessy after seven years of impeccable behavior despite 'only' being a member of the Grand Ducal Family due to the issue of marital consent (and renunciation). Possibly it just seemed the natural thing to do after including the spouses of Prince Guillaume and Prince Félix. Whatever the reason, we here at Luxarazzi are delighted (seriously, we're excited) to see Princess Tessy progress from a faint mention in Louis' section to a link at the bottom of his section to finally having her own section! A big Merci! to the cour for making our day.

Be sure to check out the updated website of the cour. Also, be sure to check the blog tomorrow afternoon when we'll explain all about the new (2012) distinctions between being a member of the Grand Ducal Line, the Grand Ducal House and the Grand Ducal Family, for those who don't read the FAQ often.

One Less Mystery and Some Speculation

Earlier today I was browsing through the Royal Jewels of the World Message Board when I saw a photo that nearly made me dance with joy.

You see, in 1963 Grand Duchess Charlotte paid a state visit to the United States at the invitation of President John F. Kennedy. She wore one of the few "mystery tiaras" - and often dubbed the White House Tiara - that have been puzzling royal jewel lovers for decades. Charlotte wore a jewel that we had long theorized to be one of the jewels that Charlotte's aunt Grand Duchess Hilda of Baden (née Princess of Nassau) had left to her Luxembourgish family upon her death. As Hilda and her husband had no children of their own, they generously bequeathed jewelry and estates among their nieces and nephews.

We searched high and low for better photos of the 1963 state visit to confirm our theory. Unfortunately, while we did learn some interesting things about Grand Duchess Charlotte and Prince Felix during our search (we'll save those for another post on another day...) we had been unable to locate photos clear enough to significantly connect the two pieces. When RJWMB user Tamara posted a wonderfully clear photo of Charlotte during the state visit we were overjoyed to finally be able to say with conviction that these two pieces are indeed one and the same.

Photos: AFP / Christian Aschman / Cour grand-ducale / Getty Images

This brings us to a few other theories we have related to the many pieces of floralesque jewels in the Luxembourg collection. It is possible that Hilda included this tiara with the personal jewels that she bequeathed to Charlotte (or the family trust) because it may have originated with her mother Grand Duchess Adelheid-Marie (née Princess of Anhalt-Dessau). Almost all of the floralesque jewelry in the collection is from the 19th century. Adelheid married (Grand) Duke Adolph in 1851. Many of these pieces are known to have entered the family during her tenure as wife of the head of the House, first as Duchess of Nassau and later as Grand Duchess of Luxembourg.

This was a time when it was normal for a royal woman to be given many fabulous pieces of jewelry for her wedding and later by her husband, if he could afford it. Adolph could definitely afford to give his bride jewels. It was also not uncommon for royal women to give each other jewelry already in their possession instead of purchasing new items to gift. For example, a valuable brooch given to Grand Duchess Josephine Charlotte, then Princess of Belgium, as a wedding gift had already passed through the ownership of three different royal women by respective purchase, gift, and inheritance. She owned many gems with history that trailed between different royal women in different countries. Most families have pieces with similar stories.

Photos: PPE / Tom Wagner / Eduard Kutter

The Adelaide Tiara was created between 1865 and 1870 and so it was certainly given to or created for Adelheid, who was its first known wearer. (By the way, Adelaide is simply the French version of her name Adelheid.) The Diamond Vine Leaves Tiara also entered the collection around this time; according to the information provided this week. The Diamond Rose Brooches, parts of which can also be worn as a tiara, are recorded as part of an inventory of the Ducal Collection in 1859 but not the inventory of 1829. This was also a time when floral jewelry was common. Floralesque jewels were not commonly crafted after the 19th century. 

While we don't know the exact date that the Small Floral Tiara entered the collection it is not difficult to imagine that it was among the floral jewels collected by Adelheid. This is especially so since we know that the collection was large enough to merit periodic inventory even before the Dukes of Nassau became Grand Dukes of Luxembourg. Many pieces of jewelry that are now worn by Grand Duchess Maria Teresa can be identified in early photos of Duchess Adelheid. Despite originating during or before Adelheid's marriage to Adolph many of these pieces were not worn often, if at all, before Maria Teresa dusted them off decades later.

Aside from the common theme and time frame, all of these pieces share remarkably similar craftsmanship. Each piece is made of diamonds set in gold and silver with convertible elements. Upon careful examination, the setting of the diamonds in the leaves and flowers and the prong style setting of the berries are so much alike that they may have been created by the same jeweler. The similarities are very remarkable.

Grand Duchess Hilda was first photographed wearing her flower tiara after her wedding in an era when it would have been considered shocking if a princess didn't receive a tiara as a wedding present from her wealthy parents. Her mother's love of flowers was known not only by her apparent preference for floral jewelry but also by the fact that she was a gifted painter whose preferred subject was flowers. It is not out of line to suggest that Duchess Adelheid of Nassau, as she was then, called upon her favorite jeweler to create yet another floral tiara so that it could be given to her daughter. Nor is it out of the question to consider that Duchess Adelheid may have simply given her daughter a tiara that she already owned. 

Watch Claire and Félix's Entire Wedding

I love the people of Belgian royalty show 'Place Royale' and so should you: They have uploaded an almost hour-long video of Saturday's wedding of Prince Félix and Princess Claire! That's the most we will ever get to see of it and so much better than all those little reports. (In case the embedded video doesn't work, here's the direct link.) -- RTL also has an even longer version now!

And now, indulge in the splendour of a Grand Ducal Wedding! The religious ceremony was largely conducted in English with a few French and German interspersals. Also interesting are the intercessions which include one by Princess Alexandra in Spanish and another one by Princess Tessy in Luxembourgish.

By the way, our guest list of those guests we've seen at the wedding has also been updated as to reflect those others we have spotted by now.

Hereditary Princess Abducted

Photo: Liechtensteiner Vaterland / Vaterland.li

Don't worry, not really. Hereditary Princess Sophie is alive and well but the scouts of Mauren-Schaanwald performed a play entitled "On His Serene Highnesses Service" on Saturday and its content is simply too good not to share as the main protagonists are members of the Princely Family, namely Prince Hans Adam II, Hereditary Prince Alois and Hereditary Princess Sophie.

When the Hereditary Princess (played by Aline Kaiser) gets abducted, both her husband (Livio Kaiser) and her father-in-law (Benjamin Matt) are deeply worried and try to figure out who can help them. The police, the US marines and a few others are considered but in the end the job of saving the princess goes to the scouts as "the best of the best are needed". I assume that in the end the Hereditary Princess is saved and the brave scouts knighted or something along those lines. To find out why the play was written, check out Vaterland which has the answer for you. (Spoiler: To show the strong ties between the scouts and the Princely Family.)

In actual news, Prince Hans-Adam II and Princess Marie visited Schellenberg over the weekend to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the existence of the local parish church. More information on who else was there and more visuals are located at Vaterland.

Sources: Vaterland

The Flower Girls and Page Boys

Photo: Guy Wolff / Cour grand-ducale

Prince Félix and Princess Claire chose their nephews Prince Gabriel and birthday boy Prince Noah, sons of Prince Louis and Princess Tessy, as their page boys. Twin sisters Flora and Katarina Frankopan, daughters of Don Peter Frankopan and his wife Jessica (née Sainsbury), served as their flower girls. The party of four was dressed in bespoke outfits by French designer Stephanie Staub of Little Eglantine.

For Gabriel and Noah, Princess Claire chose military jackets over a double breasted shirt with officer's collar and a pair of knickerbockers with a big cummerbund made out of a beautiful white linen-cotton fabric and a pale blue taffeta to make the pipings, the brandebourgs and the covered buttons of the shirt. Half-ball silvery buttons – traditionally used on military uniforms - completed the jackets.

Flora and Katarina wore knee length dresses made of the same white linen-cotton fabric with embellishments of pale blue taffeta piping all along their lovely boat neck. Delicate flounce sleeves completed the look. The buttons, covered with the same pale blue taffeta, matched the little princes' outfits. Each child had their name embroidered inside their garment.

"Creating the bridal party outfits for Miss Claire Lademacher has been a real pleasure; she is so sweet and kind", said Stephanie Staub, the designer who worked closely with Claire for three months on the outfits. "Claire wished for simple children outfits in soft shades." 

"I feel very honored to have had the opportunity of creating the children outfits for the royal wedding", Stephanie said. "I hope that the children enjoyed wearing their garments as much as I enjoyed making them for them."

A very special thank you to designer Stephanie Staub for giving us this information about the lovely outfits of the bridal party. The outfits are some of my personal favourites, if I may say so!

The Cousins at the Wedding Vol. 2

Seeing how continuously popular our last post presenting the cousins at the wedding is -- Nah, I don't blame you, I like looking at them, too! -- we thought we do such a post again with the cousins who attended the wedding of Prince Félix to give you some eye candy to ease into a new week...

Photos: Getty Images

First up are who we like to call the Habsburg cousins, the children of Princess Marie-Astrid and her husband Archduke Carl-Christian of Austria. It seems like their recent wedding boom did some wonders in the degree of familiarity to photographers. From left to right we have Archduchess Marie-Christine and Archduchess Kathleen - accompanied by their respective husbands', Count Rodolphe de Limburg-Stirum and Archduke Imre - reminding us just how wonderful pregnancy glow can be. Also in attendance were Archduke Christoph, his wife Archduchess Adelaide, the last bride of the family, and Princess Marie-Astrid's youngest children, Archduke Alexander and Archduchess Gabriella.

Photos: DDP / Newscom

Meanwhile, we aren't as photographicly blessed with visuals of the children of Prince Jean but we found all of them nonetheless. Prince Constantin, Prince Wenceslas and Prince Carl (as well as his awesome crazy hair that was sadly slicked back a little) of Nassau kindly posed for a picture with their maman, Hélène Vestur. In difference, big sister Princess Marie-Gabrielle made the unfortunate (for us) choice of leaving the church directly behind Pierre Casiraghi and his better half Beatrice Borromeo who soaked up all the photographers' attention so that we are left with only some blurry pictures of her.

Photos: Newscom

Sadly, Marie-Gabrielle's choice was echoed by her hunky cousin Prince Josef of Liechtenstein (who actually walked next to her) so there aren't any good pictures of him rocking some glasses either. (As a side note... Hi there half cut-off Princess Tatiana Galitzine in the blue dress and sunglasses!) Even though they did not walk behind the nephew of the Prince of Monaco, the pictures of Josef's older sisters, Princesses Marie-Astrid in a yellow Maje dress and Maria-Anunciata in some interesting golden number, aren't much better. (Actually, there is a better one of the go bold or go home-sisters right here.) 

Photo: Daylife

In fact, I have decided (My blog, my rules.) that the three Liechtenstein royals are functioning as some kind of double entries as their are both considered to be members of the Luxembourg family through their mother Princess Margaretha and the Liechtenstein family through their father Prince Nikolaus. So that together with Prince Paul-Louis, who was sadly the only of Prince Guillaume and Princess Sibilla's children to attend, we still got to see 21 grandchildren of Grand Duke Jean. (Three missing, three double entries = same number.)

Photo: Getty Images

Well, we did if my assumption was right that you already saw these guys and they are very well familiar to you?! If not -- Welcome to the blog! -- those are Prince Sébastien, Princess Tessy, Prince Louis, Princess Alexandra, Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie and Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume.

Vienna Masters

Photo: Manfred Leitgeb

Back from our little wedding craze to the regular scheduled news... For quite some time now, the LGT Group has sponsored equestrian events as "horse breeding and riding represent a cultural heritage which goes back thousands of years, yet which at the same time is modern" - The Princely Family were avid horsebreeders already in the 17th century when Prince Karl Eusebius founded the Eisgrub (Lednice) stud farm. - and so it is no surprise to see members of the family turn up at those sponsored events.

Just like earlier this month, it was once again time for Princess Marie to hand out a few prinzes at such a sponsored event. For the second year in a row, the Vienna Masters, a international 5-star tournament, and events surrounding it took place in front of the town hall of the Austrian capital and was sponsored by the LGT. The show jumping competition was won by Ben Maher of the United Kingdom on Urico Z who were handed over their trophy by the wife of Prince Constantin.

Source: LGT Group, Reitsportnews

Luxarazzi 101: Diamond Vine Leaves Tiara

Not only did a dream come true for the former Claire Lademacher yesterday when she married her hunky prince in a lovely ceremony in the south of France but also for all of us tiara lovers out there as it meant that we would get more information about one of the most lovely but also most mysterious tiaras in the Grand Ducal Collection. Unfortunately it seems that not even the Grand Ducal Family knows a whole lot about it provenance, however, we are simply going to roll with the information we have.

Princess Alix, Princess Marie-Gabrielle, Princess Elisabeth, Princess Marie-Adelaide, Princess Claire

Often simply described as the bigger one of the two floral tiaras of the Grand Ducal Family, we have come to refer to it as the 'Diamond Leaves and Berries Tiara' for the obvious reason that it features exactly that, diamonds set in a leaf motif with occasional single diamond berries set inbetween.

The cour grand-ducale decided to refer to it as the 'Vine Leaves Tiara' which is totally fine with us as, upon closer inspection, it turns out that the leaves are indeed those of vine. (How fitting as Princess Claire is the future manager of a vine estate!) While all kind of tiaras featuring different variations of leafy motives were made during the centuries, the vine leaf motif is rather uncommon sight which makes this tiara all the more special. The only stone used in this tiara are diamonds which are set in yellow gold and silver in the aforementioned vine leaf motif interspersed with more single diamonds.

Princess Claire, Grand Duchess Maria Teresa and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie

While neither its creator nor the exact time of creation are known, the tiara seems to date to the middle of the 19th century and is owned by the family foundation which means that in difference to those pieces brought into the family by Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte, this sparkler cannot be sold or willed off to children. Parts of the tiara could either be worn as brooches or a necklace in the past though it seems that the tiara has been permanently fixed into its current setting.

Even though the tiara has been in the family for a long time, it didn't get many outings until rather recently. While Grand Duchess Charlotte never wore the tiara, her four daughters, princesses Alix, Marie-Gabrielle, Elisabeth and Marie-Adelaide, wore the tiara on their respective wedding days thus giving it the sobriquet of a wedding tiara. According to the cour, Grand Duchess Joséphine-Charlotte only ever wore the tiara once while her daughter-in-law Grand Duchess Maria Teresa seems to have taken a liking to it as she regularly gets Diamond Vine Leaves Tiara out of the vaults for a spin at events that require some sparkle.

But not only was this tiara as wedding tiara during the 1950's, it also adorned the head of another new Luxembourg princess rather recently. The former Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy either chose or was offered this tiara to wear on the eve of her wedding to Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume as her first ever Grand Ducal tiara - a nice tie in with other brides of the family.

Photos: PPE / Guy Wolff / Cour grand-ducale / Getty Images / AFP Photos

The Guest List So Far ****

After wading and wading through tons of pictures of the wedding of Prince Félix and his now also religiously wedded wife née Claire Lademacher and possibly getting a Pierre Casiraghi overdose, we have come up with a guest list. Sadly, the cour hasn't provided one so it was up to us to spy all the royals and nobles in attendance. (A special thanks goes to those who helped by finding pictures!) Despite our best efforts, we have missed many guests though I daresay that's rather the photographers fault for not snapping pictures of the people in question. Apologies if there are any misidentifications.

It's entirely possible that more pictures will surface in the days to come. Whenever we spy a new guest, we will make sure to update this list. If you find out about the attendance of an previously unmentioned guest, please let us know, it is much appreciated!

Family of the groom

Grand Duke Henri

Grand Duchess Maria Teresa

Prince Louis, Princess Tessy,
HGD Guillaume and HGDss Stéphanie
(Photo: Getty Images)

Grand Duke Jean

Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume

Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie

Prince Louis

Princess Tessy

Prince Gabriel

Prince Noah

Princess Alexandra

Prince Sébastien

Archduke Carl-Christian of Austria

Archduchess Marie-Astrid of Austria, née Princess of Luxembourg

Count Rodolphe of Limburg-Stirum

Countess Marie-Christine of Limburg-Stirum, née Archduchess of Austria

Archduchess Marie-Christine
and Count Rodolphe
(Photo: Getty Images)

Archduke Imre of Austria

Archduchess Kathleen of Austria

Archduke Christoph of Austria

Archduchess Adélaïde of Austria

Archduke Alexander of Austria

Archduchess Gabriella of Austria

Prince Jean of Luxembourg

Countess Diane of Nassau

Princess Marie-Gabrielle of Nassau

Prince Constantin of Nassau

Prince Wenceslas of Nassau

Prince Carl of Nassau

Prince Guillaume and Princess
Sibilla with their son
Prince Paul-Louis
(Photo: Getty Images)

Prince Nikolaus von und zu Liechtenstein

Princess Margaretha von und zu Liechtenstein, née Princess of Luxembourg

Princess Maria-Anunciata von und zu Liechtenstein

Princess Marie-Astrid von und zu Liechtenstein

Prince Josef von und zu Liechtenstein

Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg

Princess Sibilla of Luxembourg

Prince Paul-Louis of Nassau

Antonio Mestre, brother of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa

Cataline Esteve, sister of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa

Katarina Esteve

The Grand Ducal Couple with
Gabriele and Hartmut Lademacher
(Photo: Getty Images)

Victoria Esteve

Natalia Esteve 

Luis Mestre, brother of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa

Nicole Mestre

Luis Mestre

Maike Mestre

Victor Batista, uncle of Grand Duchess Maria Teresa

Family of the bride

Hartmut Lademacher

Gabriele Lademacher

Felix Lademacher

Princess Alexandra
and Felix Lademacher
(Photo: Getty Images)

Volkmar Schneider, brother of Gabriele Lademacher
Neda Schneider

Joachim Schneider, brother of Gabriele Lademacher
Verena Schneider

Eberhard Czempiel
Siegrid Czempiel, sister of Hartmut Lademacher

Cousins of Princess Claire

Witnesses

Patricia Caspar

Peter Cauro

The witnesses (from left to right):
Richard, Alexandra, Sébastien, Felix,
Patricia, Lola, Xavier, Maria, Anna,
Peter, Lola and Lawrence)
(Photo: DDP)

Xavier Cauro

Don Lawrence Doimi de Frankopan

Anna-Maria Pamin

Maria Sanchez

Richard Thistlethwaite

Lola Toscani 

Other guests

Count Riprand von und zu Arco-Zinneberg
Countess Maria-Beatrice von und zu Arco-Zinneberg, née Archduchess of Austria-Este

Countess Anna von und zu Arco-Zinneberg

Archduchess Anna-Gabriele
and grandson Prince Dimitri
(Photo: Getty Images)

Countess Olympia von und zu Arco-Zinneberg

Archduke Rudolf of Austria

Archduchess Hélène of Austria, née de Villenfagne de Vogelsanck

Archduke Carl-Christian of Austria
Archduchess Estelle of Austria

Archduchess Priscilla of Austria

Archduchess Anna-Gabriele of Austria, née Princess of Wrede

Archduke Karl-Peter of Austria

Archduchess Alexandra of Austria, née Princess of Wrede

Archduke Michael of Austria

Archduchess Christiana of Austria, née Princess of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg

Prince Laurent of Belgium

Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este

Prince Amedeo and Prince
Joachim of Belgium
(Photo: Getty Images)

Princess Maria-Laura of Belgium, Archduchess of Austria-Este

Prince Joachim of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este

Donna Beatrice Borromeo

Pierre Casiraghi

Duke Rudolf of Croÿ

Duchess Alexandra of Croÿ, née Miloradovich

Don Diego Fernández de Córdova y Cerveró

Éleonore de Potesta

Don Peter Doimi de Frankopan
Donna Jessica Doimi de Frankopan
Katarina Doimi de Frankopan
Flora Doimi de Frankopan

Jean Fruchaud
Tatiana Fruchaud, née Princess Radziwiłł

The Potesta family (Photo: Getty Images)

Prince Piotr Galitzine

Princess Maria-Anna Galitzine, née Archduchess of Austria

Princess Tatiana Galitzine

Princess Alexandra Galitzine

Princess Maria Galitzine

Prince Dimitri Galitzine

Prince Ioann Galitzine

Laurent Mosar, president of the Chamber of Deputies

Prince Philipp von und zu Liechtenstein

Princess Isabelle von und zu Liechtenstein

Prince Wenzeslaus von und zu Liechtenstein

Princess Isabelle and
Prince Wenzeslaus
(Photo: Getty Images)

Prince Rudolf von und zu Liechtenstein
Princess Tılsım von und zu Liechtenstein

Prince Michel de Ligne

Princess Eleonora de Ligne, née Princess de Orléans e Bragança

Princess Alix de Ligne

Prince Henri de Ligne

Prince Peter of Lobkowicz

Princess Anna of Lobkowicz

Luna de Medina y Orléans e Bragança

Prince Charles-Adrien de Mérode

Princess Marguerite de Mérode

Prince Lelio Orsini d'Aragona

The Prince and Princess of Ligne
and their children (Photo: DDP)

Princess Luisa Orsini d'Aragona

Princess Dorothea Orsini d'Aragona

Count Philippe d'Oultremont

Baron Jean-Louis de Potesta

Baroness Sophie de Potesta, née Princess of Hohenberg

Charles-Louis de Potesta

Elisabeth de Potesta

Olivier de Quelen (?)
Hedwig de Quelen, née Princess von und zu Liechtenstein

Nicolò San Martino d’Agliè, Marquess di San Germano
Anna Maria San Martino d' Aglie, Marchesa di San Germano

Raimondo San Martino d’Agliè di San Germano

Maria Alberica San Martino d’Agliè di San Germano

Prince Alexander zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn

Hélène Vestur with her sons Constantin,
Wenceslas and Carl (Photo: DDP)

Princess Gabriela zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn, née Countess of Schönborn-Wiesentheid

Princess Alia al-Senussi

Eduardo Verástegui, Mexican actor and friend of the couple

Jaime Hernández
Daniela Verástegui

Hélène Vestur, former wife of Prince Jean

Lord Nicholas Windsor
Lady Nicholas Windsor, née Donna Paola Doimi de Frankopan

The Religious Wedding in Videos ***

Photo: Guy Wolff / Cour grand-ducale

As it was hardly to miss on this blog, Prince Félix and Princess Claire got religiously hitched today. While we could only provide pictures thus far, videos have now become available. This post is going to be updated in the hours and days to come with more moving pictures.

RTL has a report about the wedding from their evening news. In addition, they also offer a montage the most important moments of today as well as an interview with the bridal couple and a little portrait about Prince Félix. They have more during one of their programmes on Monday. (Update: Here you go!)

Wort also has a short video report about the nuptials including videos with curious onlookers.

A longer report by Dutch royalty magazine Blauw Bloed can be found here. It starts in the beginning but if you do not wish to watch the reports inbetween, just skip ahead to 22:00 and 32:18 respectively.

Royalty show Place Royale by Belgian Channel RTL TVI also has a lengthy report about the wedding.

Two short videos of the religious ceremony and Prince Félix and Princess Claire leaving the church are available via Var Matin.

Ch-ch-check this out for the entire wedding ceremony"

Official Wedding Pictures

After the semi-official ones, here are the official official wedding pictures of Prince Félix, Princess Claire and their families. All pictures were taken by Guy Wolff for the Cour grand-ducale, click on them to enlarge.

(Semi-) Official Pictures

Don't ask me whether these are actual official wedding pictures or just screencaps from videos but they were posted by the lovely peeps of Place Royale on their Twitter. As we are happy with everything we get today -- Almost at least, Anunciata, Astrid, Josef and Marie-Gabrielle, where art thou? -- here they are the shots showing Princess Claire's gown in all its glory and also Grand Duke Jean, always nice to see you out and about, Sir!

Photo: Place Royale

Photo: Place Royale

Photo: Place Royale

The Religious Ceremony *

Photo: Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP Photo

After their civil wedding on Tuesday, it was time for Prince Félix and Princess Claire's religious wedding today. The couple had chosen the Basilique Saint Marie-Madeleine in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume as the place to be and their families and (royal) friends had heard their call and came in multitudes.

We are going to publish a list of all the wedding guests sometime later tonight or tomorrow, depending if we will get new pictures to wade through. I can assure you that all of Prince Félix's maternal and paternal aunts and uncles were in attendance and brought along some of their offspring. Also spotted were Prince Philipp, Princess Isabelle, Prince Rudolf, Princess Tılsım and Prince Wenzeslaus of Liechtenstein.

Photo: Anne-Christine
Poujoulat / AFP Photo

The wedding started at 11am this morning. The guests started to arrive about 45 minutes earlier. Naturally, the immediate family of the bridal couple were the last ones to arrive. While Prince Félix was accompanied by his mother Grand Duchess Maria Teresa on his way into church, Grand Duke Henri walked together with Gabriele Lademacher, Claire's mother. At almost exactly 11am, Claire stepped out of a 2006 Rolls Royce Phantom to reveal her stunning Elie Saab wedding gown. (For details on the dress, her tiara as well as the earrings, have a look at our earlier post.) Her make-up was done by Lisa Eldridge and her hair by Berlin-based hairdresser Shan Rahimkhan who revealed that they had planned for a totally different hairdo until a week before the wedding but upon seeing the dress changed in completely.

Unfortunately, not many details about the wedding itself are not as of yet. We know, however, that the couple said 'I do' at exactly 11:47am. Just like Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie did last year, Prince Félix and Princess Claire chose to do so bilingually. While Guillaume and Stéphanie had opted for Luxembourgish and French, Claire and Felix went with French and German.

The vows went as following...

Félix (in German): "Claire, do you want to be my wife?"

Claire (in French): "Yes, I do. And you Félix, do you want to be my husband?"

Félix (in German): "Yes, I do."

Claire (in French): "Félix, I take you as my husband and give myself to you."

Félix (in German): "Claire, I take you as my wife and give myself to you."

The mass was celebrated by Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg, Archbishop Nicolas Thévenin, Apostolic Nuncio of Guatemala and Monseigneur Dominique Rey, Bishop of Fréjus-Toulon. One of the songs played during today's service was composed by Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume for the occasion. After the end of the ceremony, Prince Félix and Princess Claire smilingly emerged from the basilica and made their way to the nearby Couvent Royal where a reception was hosted for their guests.

While it isn't known (yet) what designers the other members of the Grand Ducal Family sported, we can say that all the females witnesses wore the same light blue grey dress by Jenny Peckham. And no, I do not think that the dresses were chosen because the Duchess of Cambridge wore the same one a while ago. If it all, I think it has to do with Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg who sported the same design at the Luxembourgish pre-wedding gala last year. 

Or so we all thought... According to a press release by the cour, the dresses of the witnesses, including Princess Alexandra, were by Tadashi Shoji. Grand Duchess Maria Teresa wore a fuchsia Armani number while Hereditary Grand Duchess Stéphanie opted for Stéphanie Le Grelle and Princess Tessy for Calvin Klein as well as a hat by Jane Taylor. The mother of the bride wore Dior and a hat by Fiona Benett. The outfits for the flower girls and page boys were designed by Stephanie Staub.

For more visuals check out the following links! Dutch Photo Press, Getty Images, APA, Daylife, DDP and basically any other photo agency.