It was the second son of King Giorgio V and he would never have had to be crowned king, so when Prince Alberto, Duke of York (the future King Giorgio VI) married Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on April 26, 1923 (after asking her three times to become his wife), the ceremony was more sober than those of the future monarchs of the past. The year before, also for the wedding of the younger sister of “Bertie”, Princess Mary, the streets of London had been decorated with public funds.
However, the ceremony took place in the Westminster Abbey, on a typical spring day characterized by intermittent only and downpour. Among the 1,800 guests were real from all over Europe, many of which are related to Windsor, including King Alfonso XIII and Queen Ena of Spain, King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway and Queen Maria of Romania.
The crowd made the streets to witness the arrival of the spouses, while to accompany Bertie was the older brother, the prince of Wales (and future king Edoardo VIII), who would have witnessed him. The bride, on the other hand, arrived with her father and eight bridesmaids, whose noblewoman and relatives of both sides of the family: Lady Mary Cambridge, Lady May Cambridge, Lady Mary Thynn, Lady Katharine Hamilton, Diamond Hardinge, Cecilia Bowes-Lyon, Mary Elizabeth Elphinstone and Betty Cathor.
Madame Handley-Seymour (seamstress of Queen Maria, her future mother-in-law) made the bride’s dress), who seems to have drawn inspiration from a model by Jeanne Lanvin. Inspired by an Italian medieval dress, the elegant model was characterized by a low -waisted silhouette and a very discreet chain, it was embroidered with pearls and silver threads and included a lace insert that was a family memorabilia. The bride broke the tradition by choosing not to wear the tiara, while the veil was lent to her by Queen Maria.
Two real wedding traditions originate from these wedding. The first is that the wedding rings are made of gold of Clogau, while the second is that the royal brides leave their bouquet to the tomb of the unknown milite. The latter was an improvised gesture of the new Duchess of York, who left his ceremony in honor of his brother Fergus, who died in the First World War.
Despite the newborn British Broadcasting Company could not wait to transmit the ceremony to the radio, the idea was rejected. Since both spouses were popular, marriage was interpreted as an act of modernization for the royal family, given that at the time it was unusual that a prince did not marry a princess.
The Duke and the Duchess of York had two daughters, Princess Elizabeth (the future queen Elizabeth II) and Princess Margaret, respectively in 1926 and 1930. In 1936 King Giorgio V died, and Edoardo briefly reigned with the name of Edoardo VIII before abdicating his brother in order to marry Wallis Simpson, the US divorce of in love.
King Giorgio was married to his wife Elizabeth until his death, which took place in 1952. He succeeded his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II, while his wife became known with the name of Regina Elizabeth, the Queen Madre.
Source: Vanity Fair
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