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Showing posts with label EJ Wedding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label EJ Wedding. Show all posts
We've got more goodies from the wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank!

Alex Bramall/Royal Family
The first is a picture of the happy couple heading to the private evening dinner held at Royal Lodge, the Yorks' home in Windsor. Here's what the press release has to say about the bride's dress:
"Princess Eugenie's evening dress was designed by Zac Posen. Mr Posen was inspired by the beauty of Windsor and the surrounding countryside. The choice of colour reflects the blush of an English rose. Mr Posen took his inspiration from the White Rose of York.

The pin-tucked plissé is cut on the bias and mixed with signature drapes. The White Rose of York is subtlety embroidered on both the shoulder and back which hold together the cape. The silk for the gown comes from Biddle Sawyer Silk."
Zac Posen is a friend of Princess Eugenie's and was one of the wedding guests. This is a very Zac Posen design and it seems supremely swishy and fun. I hope she got to twirl the night away with her handsome hubby.

Posen put a picture of what appears to be the embroidery on Instagram:
Instagram

The embroidery also hints at the bigger news here (if you're, say, someone who happens to also run a site about the Queen's jewels, for example): the jewelry. Eugenie wore her wedding earrings again, emerald and diamond drops that were a wedding gift from Jack. And even though you can't see it, she also had a sparkling hair ornament that the palace press release was kind enough to mention:
"Princess Eugenie also wore a hair slide belonging to Her Majesty The Queen. Queen Victoria’s Wheat-Ear Brooches were originally commissioned by William IV in 1830 for Queen Adelaide. They were passed down to Queen Victoria in 1837, and eventually to The Queen in 1952. Her Majesty has worn them as both hair slides and brooches."
One of Queen Victoria's Wheat-Ear Brooches is a BIG loan from Granny! These brooches (six in total) are heirlooms of the Crown and are some of the older pieces the Queen uses. I believe this is the first time she's loaned them out. The Queen has also worn the brooches in her hair. You can read more about them here. I wish we could see it in the picture, but I'm delighted they told us anyway.


Three official photographs from the wedding were also released, all by Alex Bramall:

Alex Bramall/Royal Family
"Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank are pictured in the White Drawing Room, Windsor Castle with (left-to-right):

Back row: Mr Thomas Brooksbank; Mrs Nicola Brooksbank; Mr George Brooksbank; Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice of York; Sarah, Duchess of York; His Royal Highness The Duke of York

Middle row: His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge; Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge; Her Majesty The Queen; His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh; Miss Maud Windsor; Master Louis De Givenchy;

Front row: Miss Theodora Williams; Miss Mia Tindall; Miss Isla Phillips; Miss Savannah Phillips"


Alex Bramall/Royal Family
"Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank are pictured in the White Drawing Room, Windsor Castle with (left-to-right)

Back row: His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge; Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge; Miss Theodora Williams; Miss Isla Phillips; Master Louis De Givenchy

Front row: Miss Mia Tindall; Miss Savannah Phillips; Miss Maud Windsor"


Alex Bramall/Royal Family
"Princess Eugenie and Mr Brooksbank are pictured in the Scottish State Coach, upon its return to Windsor Castle following the Carriage Procession."

Cute! You can check out the rest of our wedding coverage here.
October 13, 2018
© MOD Crown copyright 2018

Thanks to all who tuned in this weekend to enjoy the wedding festivities of Princess Eugenie of York and Mr. Jack Brooksbank! Make sure you didn't miss anything right here. (I did continue adding to the Guest Fashion post, so that's worth a check back.)


Including the mother and sister of the bride

The Evening Dinner and Official Photos
The bride's dress for the private evening dinner 

Princess Eugenie's big tiara surprise for the day

Hats and outfits that survived the windy walk to the church

Chatting while watching the wedding live


Another note: I know the commenting system has been having some issues these past couple days (what convenient timing!). If you've been unable to access the comments, try clearing your cache/cookies and then restarting your browser, or trying a different browser. You can also try switching up how you access the comments, either by the "X Comments" link at the bottom of the post or by the title of the post. Hopefully things will resolve themselves in a bit, and I appreciate your patience!
October 13, 2018
We’ve covered the bride and her bridal party (including sister and mother of the bride). We’ve taken on the tiara. So that leaves us with the guests, and I’m not sure this collective whole is really flipping my skirt up.

Part of that is not the guests’ fault, mind you, because their skirts were literally being flipped up by strong winds. The same wind that was simultaneously turning their hats into a game of fetch and flinging small children up the steps. How are they supposed to show us their lovely outfits while dealing with such chaos? Mother Nature’s got some nerve.

We shall investigate one family group at a time.


This Main Lot
Royal Family screencap
The Duuuuuuke! So delighted to see the Duke of Edinburgh turn up at his usual dapper best. (Seriously, other than the groom, he wins Best Dressed Dude.) The Queen’s aiming for quite a sophisticated color palette in blue, peach, and gold – just overshooting it slightly with those super shiny gold buttons. Speaking of super shiny: the Cullinan V Brooch, baby.

Royal Family screencap
This is another old-but-new Alexander McQueen for the Duchess of Cambridge: same style she wore for Trooping the Colour 2017, just ordered in a darker pink and paired with a Philip Treacy hat and the Diamond Pendant Earrings on loan from the Queen (which she also wore in 2017). This is an improvement in color from the other version. Thing is, though, the amount of interest I have in endless same-style-different-color bespoke McQueens is not an infinite resource. I’m all out.

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The Duchess of Sussex wore a navy Givenchy coat and dress with a hat by Noel Stewart. Perfectly lovely and appropriate and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Sorry, fell asleep there.

The Duchess of Cornwall was unable to attend due to a previously scheduled engagement. A shame, really, because we could have used one of her feather ferris wheel hats to spice this up.


Anne’s Crew
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The potential topic of this conversation is the most interesting thing happening here. The Princess Royal has clearly pulled this repeat to the top of the rotation in order to jump on the green bandwagon, because if there’s one word to describe Anne, it’s TRENDY.

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Here’s that wind in action, trying to turn Anne’s kids into human bowling pins. Autumn Phillips and Zara Tindall are certainly on point for the wedding’s green and blue theme, Autumn in a dress by Suzannah with an Edwina Ibbotson hat and Zara in Claire Mischevani Couture with a Juliette Botterill hat. Autumn’s making my favorites list.


The Wessex Bunch
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I’m so glad I saw the Countess of Wessex arrive on video, because this Azzedine Alaïa navy dress had a sparkle in the sunshine that doesn’t come across in pictures. Fits like a dream. Don’t mind the Jane Taylor hat, either. Throw her on the faves list too. (Lady Louise was covered in our bridal party post.)


Let's Play Spot the Kent
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That back row is largely the Kent branch of the family, including Princess Michael in a cape and feather hat combo I think we’ve seen a bazillion times. (You can also play Spot the Greek Royal in the front row, we’ll get to them in a sec.)

Royal Family screencap
A simple coat (this one by Catherine Walker) plus a froofy hat is a bit of a special occasion routine for Lady Frederick Windsor, whose daughter was among the bridesmaids. Lady Helen Taylor sported a Temperley dress I had my eye on for royal or red carpet use, so that’s satisfying.

Lady Gabriella Windsor – arriving with her new fiancé – turned up with some serious easy elegance. She wore a custom Claire Mischevani Italian crepe Raglan dress with a Philip Treacy hat.

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Can you spot her? A turquoise dress and deep blue hat is a surprising combo that is turning out to be my jam today. Fab turquoise color earrings, too. Let’s put her on top of that faves list.


Hey, Some Color Surprises
Royal Family screencap
I would have thought the Duchess of Gloucester would be first in line for the blue theme, owning several navy or light blue options (and being tremendously fond of repeats). Likewise, Lady Sarah Chatto operates in her own color coordinated world where things are only either white, gray, or blue. And yet here they are to brighten our horizons in red and purple with yellow. I welcome all surprises, ladies.

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Although the Countess of Snowdon certainly proves that one can take a color surprise too far. The teal tights really throw this into the HUH?! pile.


Also, Some Foreign Royal Representation
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Here we have Prince Christian of Hanover and Princess Alessandra, mixing the green trend with purple like a girl after my own heart. (Their wedding was earlier this year in Peru; the York sisters attended.) The blond in front with the bird about to take flight is Princess Ekaterina, who attended with Prince Ernst August, and let's get a front view of THAT:

Honestly, I think she should get a standing ovation just for getting that hat through the wind in one piece. Camilla would be proud.

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The Greek royals were there: Crown Prince Pavlos, Princess Marie-Chantal, Princess Maria-Olympia (in Dolce & Gabbana), and Prince Philippos. This feels very tame for our friend M-C. Do I want to add her to my faves list anyway? I think I do.

Did I just add enough people to my favorites list that I have to take back my non-skirt-flippy-up statement? Maaaaayyyyyyybe.

Who made your faves list?
October 12, 2018

We’ve done a deep dive on the tiara surprise at Princess Eugenie’s wedding to Jack Brooksbank; click here for all of the posts on this wedding.

The Bride
© MOD Crown copyright 2018
Princess Eugenie revealed in a pre-wedding interview that she was using a British-based designer for her wedding gown. British-based rather than just British set off a guessing game that was heavy on Erdem and very light on the actual correct answer: Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, founders of the British-based label Peter Pilotto. (Pilotto is Austrian and Italian; De Vos is Belgian and Peruvian.)

Royal Family screencap
I associate Peter Pilotto with innovative use of prints in intriguing silhouettes, something brought to life in royal wedding gown format through complicated construction and a custom jacquard fabric. The fabric was designed by Pilotto and De Vos to include several meaningful motifs: thistles for Scotland because the couple is fond of Balmoral, shamrocks for Ireland as a nod to the Ferguson family, York roses, and ivy since the couple live in Ivy Cottage at Kensington Palace. Those symbols were crafted into “a garland of rope like motifs, woven into a jacquard of silk, cotton and viscose blend.” The design was then translated into a jacquard weave in Italy.

© MOD Crown copyright 2018
The silhouette was identified after the designers researched previous dresses worn by members of the royal family, with close involvement from Princess Eugenie. The dress is constructed in multiple layers, including a corset, a complex underskirt, a fitted bodice, and a full pleated skirt.

© MOD Crown copyright 2018
The neckline folds around the shoulders and dips into a low back. Eugenie specifically requested a low back because she wanted the scar from her scoliosis surgery at age 12 to be on full display. "I think you can change the way beauty is, and you can show people your scars and I think it's really special to stand up for that," she said in an interview before the wedding. She’s been very open about her battle with scoliosis; she’s patron of the hospital where she had her surgery. It’s a powerful statement. Quite a beautiful one as well.

Royal Family screencap
She went without a veil; a veil would have covered up the scar – and probably would have turned into a logistical nightmare, given the wind was snatching hats left and right today. The veil-free choice was all the better to display the best part of the gown: the full-length train. The back view was simply stunning, perfect for standing at the altar and walking down an aisle as grand as St. George’s Chapel. I didn’t love the neckline, but whatever it took to get to that low back is worth it.

Royal Family screencap
The wedding was the first time we’ve seen Princess Eugenie in a tiara and she certainly made a splash: the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara was a mystery before the wedding and hadn’t been previously worn by a member of the royal family. We’ve covered it in depth here. She paired the tiara with diamond and emerald earrings which were a gift from her new husband. Her wedding shoes were satin peep-toe heels by Charlotte Olympia.

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The bouquet was created by Patrice Van Helden Oakes, sister of Rob Van Helden, the main floral designer for the wedding. It included Lily of the Valley, Stephanotis pips, hints of baby blue thistles, white spray roses and trailing ivy, in addition to the traditional sprigs of myrtle from Osbourne House. That tradition goes back to Queen Victoria.


The Bridesmaids, Page Boys, and Special Attendant
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Blue and green were the big colors in this wedding, something emphasized by the outfits of the bridesmaids and page boys. These were designed by Amaia Arrieta of Amaia Kids. The colorful sashes around their waists are patterned with the same Mark Bradford artwork included in the Order of Service. A playful detail in action that I assume is also of some meaning to the couple.

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Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor was a special attendant in the bridal party, a.k.a. the designated wrangler of all the young ones. Unfortunately it's a bit difficult to find a decent pic of her (at the time I'm writing this), but she hit a nice note between grown up guest and color-coordinated bridal party member with her Claudie Pierlot dress Emily London hat.


The Maid of Honor and Mother of the Bride
© MOD Crown copyright 2018
Princess Beatrice was named Maid of Honor. Rather than the position of train-wrangler in a matching gown you might have expected, it seems to have been more of a special designation for someone close to the bride. Beatrice wore a royal blue outfit from Ralph and Russo and a hat by Sarah Cant, plus a diamond buggy brooch on her side. Can we get MORE RALPH AND RUSSO for her, uh, right now?! She looked very sharp indeed.

Royal Family screencap
Sarah, Duchess of York was also quite sharp, I thought, in her green outfit by Emma Louise Design and a statement hat from Jess Collett Hats. She also had a meaningful touch in her outfit: her vintage Manolo Blahnik bag was carried by her own mother, the late Susan Barrantes, at Sarah and Andrew’s wedding in 1986. Sweet touches all over, just how it should be.
October 12, 2018

Click here for all posts on this wedding!

I assumed that Princess Eugenie would wear her mother’s tiara, the York Diamond Tiara, when she married Jack Brooksbank; I’m happy to say I was completely wrong. The tiara that we got instead is sort of a deep cut from the royal vaults – one probably only known to those who dig deep into the unworn pieces of the Queen’s jewel collection. This tiara was suspected to be in the royal vaults, but since it hasn't been worn since it came into royal hands (just, oh, 76 years ago or so), you really couldn't be sure.

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The Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara was made by Boucheron for the Hon. Mrs. Ronald Greville in 1919 and was bequeathed by Mrs. Greville to Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother, in 1942. Mrs. Greville was a social climber regarded as a snob and a gossip by many ("a galumphing, greedy, snobbish old toad who watered her chops at the sight of royalty and the Prince of Wales’s set, and did nothing for anybody except the rich," in the eloquently savage words of Cecil Beaton) - but to the royals whose company she sought, she was a good friend.

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She was also a tremendous collector of jewelry and a frequent patron of Boucheron and Cartier. The extraordinary collection inherited by Queen Elizabeth is reported to have included over 60 pieces, many of which we still can’t identify today. The Greville bequest is such an important part of the jewelry collection of the Queen Mother (and now of the Queen's collection, since she inherited all her mother’s jewelry), I wrote a two-part series on it at the Jewel Vault: check out Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

The Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara
Boucheron
But back to the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara. An archival photo from Boucheron was included in Boucheron: The Secret Archives by Vincent Meylan, which includes excellent information on the Greville pieces thanks to the Boucheron archives. However, the tiara itself hadn’t been seen on any member of the royal family since it was inherited, casting doubt on whether it still existed. (Mrs. Greville was fond of changing her jewels.) We can now obviously confirm that it was in the bequest the entire time. The Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara was presumably inherited by the Queen on her mother’s death in 2002. The Queen loaned it to Princess Eugenie for her wedding to Jack Brooksbank.

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It’s a striking piece, isn’t it? Designed in the kokoshnik style popularized at the Russian imperial court, the tiara includes brilliant and rose cut diamonds pavé-set in platinum with a central emerald and emeralds on either side (the official press release lists six emeralds on either side; only four or five to a side are visible). According to Boucheron: The Secret Archives, the oval central emerald is a whopping 93.70 carats. (Worth noting: the same book, drawing from Boucheron’s own archives, states the piece was bought by Mrs. Greville in 1921.)

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It’s hard to imagine how such a piece could go unworn for more than 75 years. Things did tend to remain tucked away in the Queen Mother’s collection, though; she had her favorite pieces and rarely strayed from those. (She did wear other emerald pieces that were reportedly part of the bequest, such as the magnificent Greville Emerald Necklace.)

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As a wedding tiara, it went perfectly with the color scheme and with the diamond and emerald earrings the bride received from the groom. And of course with Princess Eugenie’s overall look, which we covered here.
October 12, 2018
Royal Family
Hello hello, welcome to your open post for the wedding of Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank! Please be sure to read the notes at the bottom of the post.


Floral decorations outside St. George's Chapel. The floral design for the wedding includes foliage and flowering branches from Windsor Great Park combined with roses, spray roses, hydrangeas, dahlias and berries.
The Duke of York Twitter

Bridal Party:
  • Best Man: Thomas Brooksbank, brother of the groom
  • Maid of Honor: Princess Beatrice of York, sister of the bride
  • Bridesmaids:
    • Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte of Cambridge (aged 3)
    • Miss Savannah Phillips (aged 7 – daughter of Mrs Autumn Phillips and Mr Peter Phillips)
    • Miss Isla Phillips (aged 6 - daughter of Mrs Autumn Phillips and Mr Peter Phillips)
    • Miss Mia Tindall (aged 4 – daughter of Mrs Zara Tindall and Mr Mike Tindall)
    • Miss Maud Windsor (aged 5 - goddaughter of Princess Eugenie, daughter of Lady Frederick Windsor and Lord Frederick Windsor)
    • Miss Theodora Williams (aged 6 – daughter of Ms Ayda Field and Mr Robbie Williams) 
  • Page Boys:
    • His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge (aged 5)
    • Mr Louis de Givenchy (aged 6 – son of Mrs Zoe De Givenchy and Mr Olivier De Givenchy)
  • Special Attendants:
    • The Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor (aged 14)
    • Viscount Severn (aged 10) 

The steps at St. George's Chapel
The Duke of York Twitter

Please note the following:
  1. Repeating what was said earlier in the week: For weeks, whether or not Princess Eugenie should have a televised wedding with this much "to-do" has been a topic of discussion in the comments. That issue is no longer up for discussion on this blog. Unfortunately, it has turned into a dumping ground for those who don't care for the people in this branch of the family - and those sorts of comments are against our comment policy.
  2. Please take a moment to read (or re-read) that commenting policy.
  3. Don't feed the trolls! Just flag objectionable comments for me and move on to better discussions.
  4. Comments that go into moderation on this open post will not be approved. This is because moderation doesn't happen instantly, and comments come in so fast on open posts that the wait time means they get lost in the fray. Including an active link in your comment is the most likely cause of moderation. You can resubmit without the link, etc., so that you can be part of the discussion in real time.

Enjoy! Our wedding posts will be up later on.
October 12, 2018