A Cinderella moment and a wet bride: Princess Maria Laura marries in Brussels

Princess Maria Laura of Belgium and Mr William Isvy celebrated both their civil and her religious weddings on Saturday, 10th September, in Brussels. 

The civil ceremony took place in the morning, at Brussels’ City Hall. The entire Belgian Royal Family was in attendance. 

The bride was wearing a pale pink Gucci dress which fell to just above her knees. The front portion of the frock was pleated, and the dress had short sleeves. The Princess wore pendant earrings with a pearl at the end, the same pieces her sister in law Lili Rosboch wore on her own wedding day to Maria Laura’s older brother Prince Amedeo, and her hair up in a big bun. 

And speaking of hair, one of the photographers present captured a sweet moment in which, shortly before they entered the ceremony room, Princess Maria Laura is seen fixing the groom’s front lock of hair, both of them smiling broadly. 

The religious ceremony took place in the early afternoon at St Michel and Gudula Cathedral, the same place where, among others, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde got married in 1999. 

Arriving at the Cathedral were some notable guests, including Princess Delphine with her family (husband Jim O’Hare and their two children Josephine and Oscar) and all of the King and Queen’s children: Princess Elisabeth, who came back from Oxford was there as well as Prince Gabriel, who just last week had to miss the wedding of his uncle Charles-Henri d’Udekem d’Acoz because of military training. 

For the religious ceremony, the bride changed into a Vivienne Westwood Couture custom gown, inspired by “fashionable women of the 18th century” and “Greek statues”, according to the press release published by the maison. For the reception, it was revealed that the skirt with the 4-metres train will detach, leaving the bride with a simple sculpted gown.

On her head, she wore the Savoy-Aosta tiara, a piece that comes from her father’s side of the family and has also been worn many times by Princess Astrid.

Upon the arrival of the bridal party, a small incident kept it real: one of the pageboys, Prince Maximilian, lost his shoe, and had to be helped by his grandfather, Prince Lorenz, and his aunt, Princess Luisa, to put it back on.

At the end of the ceremony, the bride and groom came out of the church in the pouring rain, and were shielded by green umbrellas to the vintage car, a Porsche 356, that the groom drove to a secret location for the reception. The rain was an element that seems recurring in the family’s weddings; Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz’s ceremony was also tainted by rain, a fact that Princess Astrid remembered in her recent interview prior to the wedding. She added “Wet bride, lucky bride”, remembering a traditional saying.

The press was allowed outside of the church, but, because the couple wanted a more familiar feeling for the wedding, the ceremony itself was kept private. It was revealed earlier this week that the couple would observe a moment of prayer in honour of the late Queen Elizabeth II. 

To keep in line with the familiar feeling, the couple, who currently resides in London, tasked Princess Astrid, the bride’s mother, with planning the wedding in Brussels. They also selected mostly family members to act in their wedding party. 

The bride’s younger sister, Princess Luisa Maria, acted as the Maid of Honour, while Princess Astrid of Liechtenstein, Princess Olympia Napoléon and Archduchess Lili of Austria Este were bridesmaids. The bridal party was made up of the Princess’s niece, Princess Anna Astrid, and nephew, Prince Maximilian, as well as Maria-Thereza Droste zu Vischering von Nesselrode, Alvaro de Orleans-Borbon, Aurora and Eulalia Peters. Mr Isvy’s brother and Prince Joachim, Princes Maria Laura’s younger brother, served as ushers, and the latter was seen helping his grandfather, King Albert II, climb the steep stairs to reach the Cathedral. 

This wedding was carried out despite the mourning for the late Queen Elizabeth, in part because it was considered a private affair; as mentioned before, it was however revealed beforehand that the couple was very saddened by the death of Her Majesty and that they would dedicate a moment of their religious ceremony to remember her and pray.