As Luxembourg is set to have a new Grand Duke, we look at the wedding of the country’s future monarch to a Belgian countess.
The engagement of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and Belgian Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy took place in April 2012. Their wedding was set for October of the same year.
The wedding took place on 19 and 20 October 2012 in Luxembourg with both a civil and religious ceremony.
The small civil ceremony took place on 19 September with Luxembourg City Mayor Xavier Bettel officiating. The couple then greeted the crowds outside City Hall following their nuptials.
A white tie dinner took place in the evening at the Grand Ducal Palace.
The couple after their civil wedding. By Denis Probst – Own work, archive Denis Probst, CC BY-SA 3.0 lu, Wikimedia Commons
On the morning of 20 September, the religious ceremony took place at Notre Dame Cathedral.
The Catholic wedding was officiated by Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Luxembourg, with many foreign royals in attendance. Besides the Grand Ducal Family, the Belgian Royal Family, who are closely related to the Luxembourg royals, were in the congregation. They were joined by royals from Jordan, Denmark, Liechtenstein, Morocco, Japan, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, among others.
After the wedding, the couple travelled to the Grand Ducal Palace, where they appeared on the balcony to greet the people. Following the precedent set by many other royal weddings, the couple kissed on the balcony in front of the crowd. They were later joined on the balcony by the Grand Ducal Family to greet the people on the streets.
By Denis Probst – Own work, archive Denis Probst, CC BY-SA 3.0 lu, Wikimedia Commons
The new Hereditary Grand Duchess of Luxembourg wore a bespoke wedding gown by Elie Saab. The ivory lace gown included a silk tulle veil that was held in place by the Lannoy family tiara.
Princess Alexandra of Luxembourg, the groom’s sister, and Prince Gabriel of Nassau, the groom’s nephew, served in the bridal party alongside the nieces and nephew of the bride.
In the evening, Prince Guillaume and Princess Stéphanie watched celebratory fireworks from the Dräi Eechelen.
Ahead of her wedding, Princess Stéphanie was granted Luxembourgish citizenship and renounced her Belgian citizenship.
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