19 June 2010

Princesses Aplenty: The Swedish Royal Wedding Pics

Today's gorgeous and moving royal wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and her longtime love, Daniel Westling, was beautifully broadcast online by SVT (http://svt.se). Here's a quick view of some of the stunning princesses (and their tiaras!) at the event.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. She was a single mother with connections to the drug culture when he married her. Now she is the well-respected mother of the future Queen of Norway, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, who was one of the bridesmaids.

Haakon's sister, Princess Martha Louise, and her commoner husband, Ari Behn, who, unlike today's groom, did not become a prince when he married his princess. Like Victoria, Martha Louise is the oldest child with a younger brother. When Victoria was a toddler Sweden changed the law so that royal daughters had equal rights with brothers so that the oldest child, whatever its gender, is the heir. Norway didn't change its similar law until Martha Louise and Haakon were already grown, so to prevent depriving Haakon of his expected crown, the law was made to apply only to children born after the law passed.

The Prince and Princess of Orange. Princess Maxima was born in Argentina and she met her prince, the future King of the Netherlands, in Spain. Her own parents, however, weren't invited to her wedding because of her father's ties to an Argentinian junta. Maxima has three beautiful girls; the oldest, Princess Catharina Amalia (center), was a bridesmaid.

Crown Princess Mary and Crown Prince Fredrik of Denmark. He met his Australian bride in a bar during the Sydney Olympics. Their son, Prince Christian, was in the bridal party.

The Prince and Princess of the Asturias. Felipe had a whirlwind romance with Letizia, a former television journalist. Many people were stunned when they announced their engagement because there had been no hint of a royal romance.

The Duke and Duchess of Brabant, future King and Queen of Belgium. Mathilde was a speech therapist from a noble Belgian family but her engagement was also a bit of a surprise because he was nearly 40 and people had thought he would never marry. They now have four children.

The Earl and Countess of Wessex. For some reason, the higher members of the British royal family doesn't attend these types of events the way the other royal families do. Instead, they dispatched the Prince Edward (#7 in the succession) and his wife, Sophie. These two actually met while he was officially on duty for a charitable event--she was a public relations agent involved in the event.

The bride's mother and sister. Half-Brazilian, half-German Queen Silvia met the king at the Munich Olympics in 1972. Princess Madeleine has been taking a break from the spotlight during the last several weeks following the breakup of her own engagement. (Her fiancee was revealed to be cheating on this gorgeous girl!) Nevertheless, Madeleine's pride and love for her sister were apparent all day.

The little bridal attendants. Prince Christian of Denmark is the smaller boy in the back. In front of him, holding hands with each other, are Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway (darker hair) and Princess Catharina Amalia of the Netherlands.

The royal bridal couple. Upon the marriage, he became His Royal Highness Prince Daniel, the Duke of Vastergotland. He also received his first knighthood, the Royal of Order of the Seraphim. After the newlyweds walked up the aisle but before they left the church, he put on the light blue sash and bejewelled star of the order.

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