On this day 60 years ago: a Kent bride married her soulmate

On 24 April 1963, Princess Alexandra of Kent married Angus Ogilvy, the son of the 12th Earl of Airlie, at Westminster Abbey.

The couple had first met at a ball at Alexandra’s cousin Lady Zia Wernher’s home in Bedfordshire. Their engagement was announced on 19 November 1962 at Kensington Palace by Alexandra’s mother, Princess Marina. A month later, Queen Elizabeth II gave her consent to the union.

Two days before the wedding, Queen Elizabeth hosted a white-tie ball at Windsor Castle for 2,000 guests, where Alexandra debuted a new tiara her fiance had made for her from a set of diamond and turquoise flowers she wore in her youth.

The wedding ceremony, televised to more than 200 million people, took place at noon on 24 April and was conducted by the Dean of Westminster, Reverend Eric Abbott and Archbishop of Canterbury, Reverend Michael Ramsey. Princess Alexandra was escorted down the aisle by her older brother, the Duke of Kent, as their father died in a 1942 plane crash.

The bride wore a custom-made gown by John Cavanagh; the Valenciennes lace on the dress was made in France and included a special piece of lace from her grandmother, Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark. She also wore the veil of the former Princess Patricia of Connaught. The tiara chosen for the day belonged to her mother, which the City of London gifted to Princess Marina as a wedding gift in 1934.

The bridesmaids at the wedding were Princess Anne, Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, the Hon. Doune Ogilvy, Georgina Butter and  Emma Tennant. The pageboys consisted of the Hon. David Ogilvy and Simon Hay. The Hon. Peregrine Fairfax served as Best Man.

After the ceremony, the couple rode in a glass coach to St James’s Palace for a wedding breakfast reception.

Aside from the British Royal Family, European royals like Queen Ingrid of Denmark, King Olav of Norway, Queen Louise of Sweden, Queen Mother Helen of Romania and Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain attended alongside British politicians.

Alexandra and Angus honeymooned in Scotland at Birkhall on the Balmoral estate. They were married until Mr Ogilvy’s death on 26 December 2004 after battling cancer.

Together, they had two children: James and Marina. They also have four grandchildren.