Belgium is braced for another royal wedding and now we know more about who’s invited and how the day will unfold for Princess Maria Laura, eldest daughter of Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz, and her groom William Isvy.
For the civil wedding ceremony at Brussels City Hall, only close family members will be present. This is likely to include only Princess Astrid, Prince Lorenz, and Maria Laura’s immediate family in terms of royal guests.
Princesses Maria Luisa and Maria Laetitia, Maria Laura’s younger sisters, will act as their sister’s witnesses.
For the religious ceremony, which will take place at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula, over 500 guests have been invited. Hervé Verhoosel, a spokesperson for Princess Astrid and her family, confirmed that the religious wedding ceremony will include the entire Belgian Royal Family as guests.
This means King Philippe and Queen Mathilde and their children Princess Elisabeth, Prince Gabriel, Prince Emmanuel, and Princess Eléonore; Prince Laurent and Princess Claire and their children Princess Louise, Prince Aymeric and Prince Nicolas; and King Albert II and Queen Paola, the bride’s maternal grandparents.
Princess Delphine, half-sister to Princess Astrid, is also expected to attend her first royal wedding with her partner James and children Princess Joséphine and Prince Oscar since being officially recognised as a child of King Albert.
From the bride’s parental family, members of the House of Austria-Este are likely to be in attendance as well, as Prince Lorenz has several siblings and nieces and nephews.
In terms of foreign royal guests, none have been announced ahead of time. The Scandinavian royal families have already been confirmed to attend Queen Margrethe’s Golden Jubilee celebrations that same weekend, so attendance from Denmark, Norway and Sweden is unlikely.
The bride’s parents held a press conference the week before the nuptials to confirm many aspects of the wedding and their thoughts of the bride and groom.
Princess Astrid revealed the decision to marry in Brussels, despite the couple living in London, was a personal one for Maria Laura: “It was important for Laura to get married in Brussels because she was born and raised here. She loves her city.”
Of Isvy, Princess Astrid said, “He is like a son to us. He is very brave, works very hard, has a lot of humor, is sporty. He also has many similarities with her father. And my daughter has always had a lot of admiration for her father.”
