Religious Wedding
of
Hereditary Prince Heinrich DONATUS of Hesse
and
Countess Floria-Franziska von Faber-Castell
at the Johanneskirche
in Kronberg/Taunus
on May 17th 2003
at 12 a.m.
I have been there together with Netty and Jan-Dierk and
I HAVE SEEN THE FOLLOWING GUESTS:
- Prince Ernst August of Hanover and his wife Princess Caroline
- Princess Benedikte of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg with her 3 children and her son-in-law
- Fürstin Gloria von Thurn und Taxis with her 2 daughters
- Prince Maximilian of Liechtenstein and his wife Angela
- Hereditary Prince Alexander zu Schaumburg-Lippe accompained by Jette Joop
- Duke Philipp of Wuerttemberg and his wife Marie Caroline (born Herzogin in Bayern)
- Hereditary Prince Bernhard of Baden with his wife Stephanie and his younger brothers Leopold and Michael
- Duchess Tatjana of Oldenburg
- Princess Maria zur Lippe (cousin of Prince Donatus) with husband Prince Stefan
- Count Gustav zu Solms-Laubach and his wife Nicola (born Hipp)
- Princess Alexandra of Hanover (aunt of Prince Ernst August)
- Fürstin Metternich
- Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell with his wife Mary and his children Charles and Katharina (?)
- Jil Sander (German fashion designer)
Netty has also seen Hereditary Prince Heinrich of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Sayn and his fiancee Priscilla.
I think I have seen Princess Maria Gabriella of Italy, but I am not sure.
On a photo we might have seen Clemens von Guggenberg and his wife Marie-Christine (born Archduchess of Habsburg) and Hereditary Count Ignanz von Toerring-Jettenbach. Hereditary Prince Alexander of Schönurg-Glauchau and his mother-in-law and brother-in-law were also present.
And of course I have seen the groom's parents Landgraf Moritz and Princess Tatjana and the bride's parents. I think I also saw Princess Mafalda and her husband but they were hard to recognize because I haven't seen any new photos of them during the past years. Prince Donatus' godmother was also there (I don't know her name).
There should have been more German nobility but I didn't recognized more persons!
MY IMPRESSION OF THE WEDDING:
Although there have been more than 300 guests it was a very small wedding. Everything was easy, relaxed and peaceful. I saw only one policeman on his motorbike. It was possible for the people to stand very close to the church. There were no fances and after the wedding all the guests went along the small street to get on the busses. They were not escorted by any (visible) security men and just passed us.
The bride is a sympathic woman. She smiled a lot and her tiara was glittering so that I couldn't take my eyes of it and I had to take one pic after the other (it was the first time in my life that I saw a tiara live and that close!). I am sure that Prince Donatus' sister Mafalda wore the same tiara at her first wedding in 1989 and I think that his mother also wore it on her wedding day. Floria-Franziska's dress was nothing special but the train was very impressive and extremely beautiful (glittering with all the floral ornaments in bronze color).
Prince Ernst August of Hanover was in a good mood and I have seen his beautiful wife Princess Caroline who has a lot of grace. Duchess Tatjana of Oldenburg is a very nice person. I was impressed by her aura. Princess Angela of Liechtenstein has a really dark teint and she also seems to be a very nice person (she was flirting with a baby). I was also impressed by the rose dress of Princess Alexandra of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg. But I didn't like the hats of Fürstin Gloria and her daughter Maria Theresia. At least they were the most extravagant guests. But there were other women who had better hats and dresses. Unfortunately I didn't know who they were.
Princess Benedikte and Princess Nathalie of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Princess Alexandra of Hannover and Princess Maria zur Lippe wore pale blue dresses. Princess Stephanie of Baden and Duchess Tatjana had rose dresses. Duchess Marie Caroline's dress was creme and Princess Caroline's something like light green. Princess Mafalda wore dark blue and Jette Joop something green (the hat was nice!). Princess Angela had a grey costume and was wearing no hat.
All together it was a colorful event although the sun wasn't shining. There seems to be a lot of rain in the area around Kronberg but we were lucky: it wasn't raining when the guests entered the church and when they left. It was only raining when we were waiting for the guests, during the religious ceremony and in the afternoon and evening (and of course during the night and the next morning).
I was excited to see Princess Caroline (I hoped she would come and she did not disappoint me!) and it was a nice surprise to see Princess Angela but I was disappointed that I have not seen more royals from reigning houses. I definetely missed a member of the royal house of Bulgaria because former King Simeon is a first cousin of Landgraf Moritz! What a shame for me,I would have loved to see them! And it's a pitty that Prince Edward and his wife Sophie couldn't come because of her pregnancy (I guess). But all together I had a great day - colorful and exciting.
SPECIAL THANKS TO
Netty
who asked me to join her and who had organized everything.
Without her this beautiful day wouldn't have been possible!
Photos of the wedding guests
My pics of the wedding (new 31.05.03)
After I have seen my wedding pics I would say that Princess Maria zur Lippe is expecting her 5th child in about 4 more months! And Princess Maria Gabriella of Italy was definetely there.
According to the television report on German channel HR 3 Princess Floria-Franziska wore the train of Princess Mafalda of Italy. And what I said about the tiara is right.
Thanks to Alex for the pics! And thanks to a lot of people who told me that the English word for "Schleppe" is train!
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Created May 18th 2003. Updated May 31st 2003.
