Posted on 06/19/2010 10:47:20 PM PDT by Cincinna
Sweden hosted the biggest European royal wedding since that of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, when Crown Princess Victoria married commoner Daniel Westling.
The marriage, a love match that has weathered the disapproval of the bride's father, King Carl XVI Gustaf, who was initially horrified that his heir was marrying her former fitness trainer, and growing indifference from the Swedish public, who have increasingly questioned the monarchy's modern relevance, took place in Stockholm's Storkyrkan Cathedral late on Saturday afternoon.
Determined to mark the day with a majestic ceremony the Swedish Royal Family had invited several crowned heads of Europe for their daughter's marriage to Mr Westling, 36, who now becomes HRH Prince Daniel, Duke of Vastergotland.
As the couple stood at the Cathedral altar at 3.30 yesterday - co incidently the same church in which the Crown Princess's parents, King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, were married and on the date of their 34th wedding anniversary - Victoria looked regal and demure in an ivory silk, short-sleeved, off-the-shoulder gown, designed by Par Engsheden.
The newly created Prince appeared confident and immaculately groomed: a far cry from the long-haired, rather scruffy young man who was first pictured in the Swedish newspapers eight years ago when the news broke that the Crown Princess was dating him.
As he uttered an enthusiastic ''ja'' during his wedding vows, his eyes filled with tears as he turned to smile at his new wife.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Yes, but I’m talking about the dress. It was modest, elegant and regal.
You mean the same Grace Kelly that slept with half of Hollywood before becoming “monarchy”?
Striking mother/daughter resemblance. The daughter seems to have inherited her father’s mouth, but everything else is from her mom.
***I thought I would never find someone who shared this opinion! And we’re already FRiends — what could be better! ***
I’m a female and I agree with you. Poor Diana was swathed in so many yards of heavy silk that you could hardly tell there was a woman inside it.
No burka? There will be riots.
I think the groom should have ditched the glasses and gone a little easy on the hair gel. She looks beautiful, though.
He looks like what my husband looked like 30 years ago! Oh my!
Thanks for the ping/post. Good news! Good pics! Good thread! Good Humor!
Congratulations to the happy couple!
Thanks, Mila, for the beautiful photo of Queen Silvia wearing the Cameo tiara at her wedding to King Carl Gustav.
Victoria looks exactly like her Mom!
You're very welcome. I thought the resemblance was quite incredible too.
lovely!
Please add me to your ping list?
Your husband must be quite a cutie! I always thought that the Swedish prince, now king, was very attractive.
I hate to beat a dead horse, but I really think that tiara is hideous. And the lacy headpiece is bad too. Unfortunately, they are wearing her—not the other way around. They don’t match the modern style of the dress. Speaking of the dress, it fits her like a glove and is very tasteful (no bare back or cleavage, thank goodness).
You can hardly blame the guys, IMO.
Thanks for the ping. Stunning dress and I love the simplicity of it. I hope, with the 8 years of turmoil this couple has gone through, their marriage will be a happy one.
Their children are going to have huge jaws.
Wearing a wedding crown is a Swedish tradition for all brides, as is wearing a crown of myrtle leaves and candles at Christmas. A comment at this site says:
One older Swedish wedding tradition is for the bride to weir a small golden crown with her veil. In fact, when I was married (in the US), my mother "borrowed/rented" a real golden crown from a Swedish jeweler and brought it here for my wedding. Pretty corny, but then again - gotta' love those traditions!
As for this wedding crown, the cameos appear to be silhouette portraits of past queens. It is one of their nation's high honors to be eligible to wear it, as she is Sweden's future queen, not an ordinary bride. So it will only be worn by one to three women in the lifetime of the average Swede, i.e. her mother, herself and possibly a daughter.
Many of us in America have never seen a genuine cameo, which is a work of art hand-carved into the layers of a sea shell. Along with the pearls in her wedding crown, seashell is a nod to the large coastline and seafaring history of Sweden. When a shell cameo is worn on the neck, it is opaque; but in this crown, light would shine through the cameos from the back and would make it quite luminous to the guests in the room. Here is a typical European shell cameo: 
If her crown appears to be "wearing her", it is fitting that she is willing to bow to the duties of her position. Wearing it is an acknowledgment of her people and their history, not merely a focus on stylin' or self. We have seen what train wrecks Princess Diana and Michelle Obama have been in putting fashion ahead of the discretion expected of national leaders.
Fashions come and go, but crown jewels last for centuries, as does the royal custom of hand-made lace wedding veils that take scores of women (traditionally nuns) a year to make. Again, a nod to the artisans and Swedish heritage.
I agree with you about the lovely dress and how artfully it is made. With the dress, she says she is also a contemporary woman, but a tasteful one!
By the way, as her personal trainer, he certainly did a great job on her body!
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