November 1, 1928
Princess Zenaida Milhailovna Cantacuzene, a great-granddaughter of President Ulysses S. Grant, was married today in Washington, D.C., to John Colbrooke Hanbury-Williams, reports the Chicago Tribube
The ceremony took place at noon at St. John's Church.
The guests at the wedding included President and Mrs. Coolidge, Secretary of State Frank Billings Kellogg and Mrs. Kellogg, Chief Justice Taft and Mrs. Taft. the British Ambassador and Lady Isabella Howard and Mrs Woodrow Wilson.
The bride is the younger daughter of Prince Michael Cantacuzene, a former general in Emperor Nicholas II's army, who was "wounded four times in battle," and his wife, Julia Dent Grant, daughter of the late General Frederick Dent Grant, and granddaughter of President Ulysses S. Grant.
The bridegroom is the son of Maj.Gen. Sir John Hanbury-Williams. Sir John formerly was the head of the "British military mission with the headquarters of the Russian army and now is marshal of the diplomatic corps at the court of St. James.
Sir John, who lives at Windsor Castle, served as his son's best man, Lady Hanbury-Williams was unable to make the trip across the Atlantic due to poor health.
Princess Zenaida's matron of honor was her sister, Mrs. Bruce Smith of Louisville, Kentucky. Her bridesmaids were her cousins, Misses Edith, Clara, Frances and Julia Grant, daughters of Col. Ulyssses S. Grant III; Misses Bertha and Pauline Potter, daughters of Potter Palmer of Chicago; Miss Eleanor Preston, daughter of Ord Preston, and Miss Francesca Stewart, both of Washington.
The flower girl was the bride's niece, Princess Irina Cantacuzene, the three-year-old daughter of Prince Michael Cantacuzene of Chicago. The little girl "made an adorable picture with her picturesque frock and quaint, self-possessed manners."
The bride wore "white satin, made with a close fitting, very plain, long waisted bodice, with full skirt which reached her ankles in front and on the sides and trailing between three and four yards at the back, the train being a part of the gown, and discs of embroidery in white chenille over the train." Her tulle veil was worn over her face when she entered the church and "lay much longer upon the floor than her satin train." The veil was held in place by a "lacework of pearls forming a close fitting cap." Princess Zenaida carried a "arm bouquet of gardenias, jasmine and heather" brought from England by Sir John Hanbury-Williams.
It was an all-white wedding as the bride's attendants were wearing "similar frocks of fluffy white tulle, made in tiers of six inch flounces over crinolined skirts of white silk, the silk hanging far below the knees and the tulle falling to the ankles."
The words "obey" and "with all my worldly goods I thee endow" were omitted from the simple ceremony.
A breakfast and reception immediately followed the wedding at the home of the bride's grandmother, Mrs. Grant, at her home at 1711 New Hampshire Avenue, NW.
Mr. and Mrs. Hanbury- Williams will sail for England on Saturday, and will reside in London, where they have already taken a house.
Most interesting. U.S. Grant, apart from his qualities as general, was a remarkably good writer. Of Frederick Dent Grant I have heard only that he was a most indifferent student at West Point: that he married into the Russian nobility is news to me, or would be if my information about him were less sketchy.
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