Wedding roundup

I was occupied most of the Labor Day weekend -- the last gasp of summer!  Nationals games on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.  Ran a few errands on Monday, but spent most of the three days at the pool.  I bought a nice salad from Panera yesterday, had lunch at the pool, relaxed, swam, and floated on my floatie, using up the sunscreen.  No more pool until Memorial Day! 

Catching up on the news.  Three weddings this weekend. 

 

@ Princely Palais, Monaco

Andrea Casiraghi, eldest son of the Princess Caroline of Monaco, and the late Stefano Casiraghi married his longtime companion, Tatiana Santo Domingo, the mother of his five-month-old son Sacha.   The civil wedding took place, according to press reports, near the marina in Monaco.  The reception was held outside on the Princely Palace grounds.

Although Andrea is technically second in line to the Monaco throne, he is not in the same position as the Duke of Cambridge.  William is a direct heir, a member of the British Royal family.  Andrea is the nephew of the Prince of Monaco, but he is not a member of the princely family.  Caroline is a member of the Princely family but is not the Hereditary Princess (confirmed to me by the Palace.)

@ Princely Palais, Monaco

The Duke of Cambridge needed his grandmother's permission to marry.  Andrea Casiraghi did not need permission to marry.   His position is dependent on the Monaco constitution. 

"In the absence of direct legitimate issue. the succession passes to the brothers and sisters of the reigning prince and their direct legitimate descendants, by order of primogeniture with priority given to males within the same degree of kinship.

If the heir, who would have acceded by virtue of the preceding paragraphs is deceased or renounced the Throne before the succession became open, the succession passes to His own direct legitimate descendants by order of primogeniture with priority given to males within the same degree of kinship."

This will only happen if Princess Charlene does not have children.  If she does have children, the legitimate descendants of Caroline and Stephanie become superfluous.  When Albert's child succeeds as Sovereign Prince (or Princess if Charlene does not give birth to a son), Caroline and Stephanie and their legitimate descendants cease to have rights. 

Princess Caroline's children have been raised as largely private citizens without the burden of actually succeeding.  In the case of Andrea, this may prove to be a foolhardy decision, especially if Charlene does not present the nation with an heir within the next two years.  

Because the Casiraghi children do not carry out official duties, the press office does not typically issue press releases on their comings and goings.  On the other hand, Princess Caroline's office released the details of Andrea's engagement and the birth of Sacha.   The Palace's website provides few details about the Prince's nieces and nephews because they are not Grimaldis, and members of the Princely family.  They are members of Prince Albert's family.

The Princely Palace's office did send out the photos from Andrea's wedding because the wedding took place in Monaco and the Prince and Princess of Monaco were present for the event.

Tatiana wore a white Missoni gown for her civil ceremony, which I thought a bit much.  But Tatiana, who celebrates boho chic, is known for her unconventional style.  The civil wedding is the legal wedding in Monaco, which means Sacha is legitimated, and now eligible to succeed, according to Monaco's constitution.

A religious wedding (most likely a Roman Catholic ceremony) is rumored to be on the calendar for Gstaad in Switzerland.

The weddings would have been very different IF Andrea was acknowledged as the future Sovereign Prince.  There is no doubt that this wedding would have been more traditional.  The civil wedding would have taken place in the Palace, with Tatiana wearing a suit.  This would have been followed by the church wedding ... in Monaco.

Sacha would have been born before the wedding and the birth would have taken place in Monaco, not London, again an acknowledgment of Andrea's position.  

Andrea also would be included in more events in Monaco, taking part in government and business meetings, and hands-on training for a future Sovereign.  This has not happened.   He has no real responsibility apart from being the Prince's eldest nephew.  Andrea is immensely wealthy, and his new bride is the daughter of the late Julio Mario Santo Domingo Braga, whose father, Julio Mario, is the second richest man in Colombia.   Tatiana was born in New York City in November 1983 but was raised in Switzerland.  Her mother, Vera Rechulski, is a Brazilian socialite. 

Tatiana attended the International School of Geneva, and then transferred to a boarding school in Fontainebleau, France, where she first met Andrea. 

She studied the History of Art at the American University of London.

Because Andrea does not have an official position, he is not considered a member of the Princely family.  He does have a nice uncle who allowed him to use the family home to host his reception.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/monaco/10278139/Andrea-Casiraghi-second-in-line-to-Monacos-throne-weds-Colombian-heiress.html

The second (and a grander) wedding on Saturday was the marriage between Prince Rahim Aga Khan, eldest son of the Aga Khan, and his first wife, Princess Salimah, the former Sarah Crocker Poole.

@The Ismalii/Gary Otte

The 42-year-old Prince Rahim married Seattle-born Kendra Spears, 24, a model, who is the "face of Escada."   The Muslim ceremony took place at Bellerive Castle on the shore of Lake Geneva in Switzerland.  (One assumes they also were wed in a civil ceremony.)

This is the first marriage for both Prince Rahim and the former Miss Spears.

The couple was first introduced by another model, Naomi Campbell.  The bride, who converted to Islam before the wedding, wore a gorgeous sari designed by Manav Gangwani.

Kendra, who is now known as Princess Salwah Aga Khan, is a graduate of Portland State University.

It appears that the reports are true about the marriage between Rahim's younger brother, Prince Hussein Aga Khan, and his American wife, Kristin White (who took the name Khaliyah at the time of the marriage) are no longer together, perhaps even divorced by now.  Princess Zahra, the Aga Khan's eldest child, is divorced from her husband, Briton Mark Boyden.

Kristin White was not a model.

I did not see Princess Salimah, the mother of the groom, in the group photo released by the Aga Khan's office.  It was confirmed that Salimah was present at the wedding.  The Begum Aga Khan, the former Gabriele Homey nee Thysssen, nee Prinzessin zu Leingen,  didn't attend the wedding.  She and the Aga Khan have been estranged since 2004.  They were married in 1998, following the newly styled Inaara's divorce from Prince Karl Emich zu Leiningen.   In March 2000, Inaara gave birth to the Aga Khan's son, Prince Aly Muhammed. 



 http://www.vogue.com.au/brides/news/kendra+spears+the+princess+bride,26998

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/columns/olivia-bergin/TMG10280018/Kendra-Spears-marries-Prince-Rahim-Aga-Khan.html

http://www.theismaili.org/imagedetail/5008


[For some reason, there are a lot of searches for Rahim Aga Khan's divorce ... Rahim got married on Saturday.  It is his brother, Hussein, who is divorced.]

The third wedding on Saturday had royal connections. Gustaf Magnuson, the eldest son of Princess Christina and the youngest of King Carl XVI Gustaf's older sister, was married on Saturday to Vicky Andrien. 

The wedding took place in the chapel at Ulrikedalsvägen Castle.  

King Carl XVI Gustaf, Queen Silvia, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, and Prince Carl Philip were present at the wedding.  Carl Philip was accompanied by his girlfriend, Sofie Hellquist. 

Princess Madeleine and her husband, Christopher O'Neill are in the United States and were unable to attend the wedding.

Queen Sonja of Norway, who is one of Gustaf's godparents, also attended the wedding.

The groom's younger brothers, Oscar and Victor, served as his best men.

http://www.expressen.se/nyheter/kungligheterna-och-kandiselit-pa-brollop/


Princess Christina has been married since 1974 to Tord Magnuson. The King's sisters and their descendants do not have dynastic rights to the Swedish throne. 

The wedding was according to the rites of the Swedish Lutheran church.


Princess Alexandra Galitzine, daughter of Prince Piotr Galitzine and Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, and Belgian Thibault Lancksweert, were scheduled to marry in Houston on September 1.  Their engagement was announced last November.  The engagement ended several months ago.

http://lux-arazzi.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-galitzine-wedding-that-wasnt.html