Monday, October 14, 2013

Connaught -Fife wedding tomorrow

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 October 14, 1913

Prince Arthur of Connaught will marry the Duchess of Fife tomorrow in a ceremony of "remarkable simplicity," reports the Chicago Daily Tribune.

The wedding ceremony will take place at noon in the Chapel Royal, St. James's Palace.  Due to the death last year of the duchess' father, the Duke of Fife, the wedding will be "a family affair," and "devoid of all processions and military style, which was the case when Wilhelm II's daughter, Princess Viktoria Luise, married Prince Ernst Augustus of Hanover earlier this year.

King George V will not be conferring a dukedom on his first cousin, who is already the heir apparent to the Connaught dukedom.  However, Prince Arthur has been created a Knight of the Thistle and was "promoted from a captain to a major of his regiment."

A large group of foreign royals, including the kings and queens of Denmark and Norway, Prince Henry of Prussia, the Dowager Empress Marie of Russia, and the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Sweden, who is the groom's older sister.

This is not a state occasion, and the royal guests are attending "as relatives" of the bride and groom.

The Duchess, who is also Princess Alexandra, will be given away by her uncle, King George V. Her mother, the Princess Royal "will also support her at the altar."  Prince Arthur's supporters will be his father, the Duke of Connaught, and the Prince of Wales.

The wedding will be conducted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who will be assisted by the Bishop of London and Canon Edgar Sheppard, the dean and sub-dean of the Chapel Royal.

The Duchess of Fife's bridesmaids will be Princess Mary, the only daughter of King George and Queen Mary, Princess Maud, the only sister of the bride, Princesses Victoria and Helena of Teck, daughters of the Duke and Duchess of Teck, and Princess May of Teck, only daughter of Prince and Princess Alexander of Teck.

The bride's trousseau is "British made and of British materials, so far as is possible."  The register will be signed in the "historic picture gallery" in St. James's Palace, which will be followed by a reception.

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