Royal Wedding Outfits: Stephanie of Luxembourg

Royal Wedding Outfits: Stephanie of Luxembourg

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What's better than a royal wedding dress? Why, two royal wedding dresses of course. While more than one recent royal bride has gone through both a religious and civil ceremony to marry, not all of them get to do the double dress whammy. But Stephanie de Lannoy wasn't going to say 'I do' in just one frock. The future Grand Duchess of Luxembourg gave us two regal wedding looks for her two ceremonies five years ago this week. On the anniversary of her civil marriage to Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg, here's a look back at what Stephanie wore to say 'I do' first time round.


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The civil marriage of Stephanie Marie Claudine Christine de Lannoy and Guillaume Jean Joseph Marie de Luxembourg took place at the Hotel de Ville in Luxembourg City on October 19th 2012. The then mayor of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel, was in charge of proceedings - he, of course, is now the country's Prime Minister.

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The royal wedding of Stephanie and Guillaume was a huge affair and attracted a lot of global coverage, not least because the groom was the last heir to the throne of his generation to get married. But while the guest list for the religious marriage on October 20th included royalty from just about every corner of Europe and beyond, the civil wedding was for family only and rather low key. Apart from the huge crowds, endless flags and mammoth walkabout that came with it.

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For this first foray into the royal wedding spotlight, Stephanie chose a Chanel suit in dark cream with some rather slinky silver highlights. It is pure Chanel from its tweed texture to skirt and jacket shaping and it's really rather elegant.

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But as this is a wedding, and a royal one at that, there had to be a bit of bling. We all know that Luxembourg's royals can outglitter the best and rest of them without even blinking and Belgian born Stephanie showed she was more than with her husband's family on that, adding a silver bag and shoes  (Chanel, natch, as you can see from the soles) to her first wedding outfit and all without looking like a Christmas tree. They, in turn, welcomed her into the sparkly fold by all choosing outfits in muted metallic shades - yep, even Grand Duchess Maria Teresa kept it low key in burnished gold for her first born's big day. Elegance everywhere.

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It all works rather well together and while all brides are beautiful, Stephanie really did shimmer and shine on the first of her big days. The girl's a trooper, too. You can see her main wedding dress here tomorrow but before then pop back for a reminder of the rather lovely gala gown she wore on the night of October 19th for the glittering dinner sandwiched between her two weddings. Anyone who can entertain royalty just after one marriage and just before another is a duchess on a grand scale. Oh, and she rewore the Chanel at the end of wedding two for a fireworks performance. Stephanie of Luxembourg had being a royal bride down to a tee.

Royal Wedding Dresses: Infanta Cristina of Spain

Royal Wedding Dresses: Infanta Cristina of Spain

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It was a glittering wedding that seemed to put the seal on what then seemed a triumph of a monarchy. Spain's Royal Family was about as popular as could be in October 1997 and the huge outpouring of public support as Infanta Cristina wed Inaki Urdangarin in Barcelona only underlined that. What a difference two decades can make. As Spain's royals languish in yet another crisis, the memories of a sunny day when the world seemed to be at their feet remain. At the heart of the fairytale was a modern bride with her own sense of style who took well loved to new levels. Here's a look back at the royal wedding dress of Infanta Cristina of Spain...the princess bride who could seemingly do no wrong.



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This royal bride was a mix of modern and traditional. Her dress was designed by Lorenzo Caprile, now better known as a go to designer for Queen Letizia, the sister in law with whom Cristina is said to enjoy less than friendly relations.

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The most striking feature is the off the shoulder neckline. A major surprise at the time, it suited the bride down to the ground but raised some eyebrows as royal wedding dresses usually go the full covered up route. The gown is made of off white silk and features full length sleeves, a sculpted bodice effect around the waist and a full skirt which fans out gently into a bell shape.

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If you go really close to the screen and squint you can just make out the rather delicate embroidery sitting at the waistline but overall this gown is very simple and all the better for it. Cristina was the darling of the Spanish monarchy then, seen as down to earth and full of life and this classic creation let the bride wear it rather than the other way round.

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There is a train (compulsory at royal weddings, Meghan Markle take note) and it extended a full three metres behind the bride as she smiled her way into Barcelona Cathedral. Covering it is a lace veil once worn by Cristina's great grandmother, Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain. Made in the 19th century, it was restored for Cristina to wear. A nod to the past by a modern bride who at the time seemed to carry so many of the hopes of the Spanish monarchy for the future.

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We all know that this fairytale has some rather dark twists in it. The couple were the golden hope of the Borbons for several years with four beautiful children cementing the image. But the financial scandal which engulfed them changed everything. Earlier this year, Cristina was acquitted of tax fraud while her husband was found guilty of embezzlement and is currently appealing against a six year prison sentence. It was just another blow for the Spanish monarchy which has struggled in recent years and now faces another crisis as King Felipe VI's speech to his country following the Catalan referendum divides opinion while the region plans to declare independence. It's all a long way from that sunny day in Catalonia twenty years ago when Spain's monarchy was the unifying factor in a day of celebration that the world watched with a smile. The dress remains beautiful even if the dream is fading for good.

Royal Wedding Dresses: Mette-Marit of Norway

Royal Wedding Dresses: Mette-Marit of Norway

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Norway's unexpected royal bride gave us an unexpected royal wedding dress and the gown, just like the princess who wore it, turned out to be a big success that stood the test of time. Mette-Marit Tjessem Hoiby said 'I do' to Crown Prince Haakon Magnus of Norway on August 25th 2001 in a dream of a dress that became an instant classic and remains one of the best loved royal wedding gowns of her generation. Here's a look back at the royal wedding dress of Norway's Crown Princess.





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There was a lot of speculation about Mette-Marit's wedding gown in the run up to her marriage in Oslo Cathedral. OK, she was a royal bride which means gown chatter is compulsory but Mette-Marit's regal love story turned this one into a frock frenzy.  The bride already had a son from a previous relationship and before her marriage she'd given a tearful interview apologising for some of her past associations - she had enjoyed some serious partying before her romance with Haakon Magnus. What does a really modern royal bride wear for her big day?

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There was also the added pressure of this being the first major royal wedding of the 21st century with the groom a future king to boot. Mette-Marit's own sense of style also sat at odds with what was expected from a regal bride but no one need have worried. The woman who walked up the aisle on the arm of her handsome prince had the whole royal wedding dress thing sorted.

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Mette-Marit chose a beautifully fitted deep cream dress of crepe and tulle designed by Ove Harder Finseth. It was an effortlessly simple creation made in an elegantly complicated way. The square cut top with fitted sleeves gave way to a bodice that flowed into a slightly flared skirt. Everything about it moved as one. It was understated and knock 'em out all in one go.

There was a train - there is always a train at royal weddings, it's compulsory - but this one flowed elegantly from the skirt into a pool of fabric that followed the bride rather than having her drag it up the aisle. Perhaps the most ethereal and beautiful part of the whole look was the way that the tulle veil  - all 20 or so feet of it - just kept on going once the train had finished.

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Mette-Marit really did keep things simple. Her wedding tiara was a bandeau made of diamond daisies, given to her by her new parents in law while the rest of her jewellery was low key. It didn't matter. There was so much elegance about this simple look which suited the bride to perfection that it was almost a statement of intent. Mette-Marit, now Crown Princess of Norway, would adapt to her new role but in her own way. She looked like a picture perfect princess but one who had grown up in the 20th century.

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Sixteen years on, it's still a classic and the princess who wore it has been a huge success in her role. Mette-Marit hasn't shied away from taking on big challenges in her royal role - championing causes including literacy and working with charities promoting HIV/ AIDS awareness. She's become popular and well respected and is now part of a royal family so valued that it's approval ratings hit 90% during jubilee celebrations in 2016.  That's about the popular vote for this dress whenever it's held up to scrutiny. Norway's unexpected princess really did give us an unexpected classic of a royal wedding dress.

Royal Wedding Dresses: Lady Diana Spencer

Royal Wedding Dresses: Lady Diana Spencer

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It's about as famous as royal wedding dresses come. The Emanuel design worn by Lady Diana Spencer as she married the Prince of Wales on July 29th 1981 remains an icon of modern royal fashion. We know the bows, the frills and the creases like the backs of our own hands but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy them one more time. Thirty six years on from the wedding of the century, here's a look back at Diana's wedding dress.

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The commission for the dress everyone wanted to make was given to designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel who had been favourites of Diana before her engagement was announced. They became overnight superstars and the dress was world famous before it was even made.

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The final design has been called romantic more times than any of us have had hot dinners. It really was the stuff of which fairytales were made with huge sleeves, huge skirt and a huge bow surrounded by endless sparkles and lace trims. Diana was already the subject of endless projections before she had even said 'I do' and this dress is one of them. She was the perfect princess in the making and was dressed as everyone expected a princess to look.

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Ask anyone about Diana's wedding dress and perhaps the first thing they will say is that it was creased. As the bride got out of the Glass Coach at St Paul's Cathedral that huge skirt made a protest at having been crammed into a vintage carriage and came out crumpled. It came into its own as Diana walked down the aisle but that creased first look is the stuff of royal legend.

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Let's get down to basics. The dress was made of silk, taffeta and antique lace and featured over 10,000 pearls and sequins. Every royal wedding dress needs a train and the frock at the marriage of the century didn't disappoint. Just the twenty five feet of fabric followed Diana up the aisle attached at the waist of the dress. The train features a scalloped edge and was completely covered by her light veil.

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Diana's wedding dress was an instant icon and was copied the world over. For years after her marriage, puff sleeves and huge skirts were popular choices for brides. The gown itself has been displayed several times but now belongs to Prince William and Prince Harry - they inherited it when they both reached the age of 30. Whether the dress will be seen in public again isn't known. But this royal wedding gown has a place in history all of its own as the stuff of which royal fairytales were (briefly) made.