Royal wedding fever spreads to Luxembourg
Princess Stephanie of Luxembourg and Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg emerge from the Cathedral following their wedding ceremony at the Cathedral of our Lady of Luxembourg on October 20, 2012 in Luxembourg, Luxembourg. The 30-year-old hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg is the last hereditary Prince in Europe to get married, marrying his 28-year old Belgian Countess bride in a lavish 2-day ceremony.
Royal wedding fever is not reserved exclusively for the British (sorry, Will and Kate): This weekend, Prince Guillaume of Luxembourg is celebrating his marriage to Belgian Countess Stephanie de Lannoy in the region's first royal wedding in decades.
However, 30-year-old Prince Guillaume is not striving to live up to that, ahem, other royal couple.
"The atmosphere at our wedding will be different to those held in Monaco or London," Prince Guillaume told Agence France Presse, while his 28-year-old bride chimed in, calling the nuptials "a totally normal marriage between Guillaume and I."
Luxembourg, the world's only grand duchy and a country tinier than Rhode Island, is treating its half-a-million citizens to a two-day affair.
The Prince and Countess were married in a civil wedding Friday, and their religious ceremony was held on Saturday morning, the Associated Press reported. The festivities will also feature fireworks, pop concerts, and a gala dinner at the grand ducal palace — naturally.
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Luxembourg City Tourist Office has even put together a three-day wedding-themed tour for royal lovers, BBC News reported. The wedding bill for Luxembourg's taxpayers? $650,000, according to AFP.
The celebration is also bringing a royalty-studded guest list to Luxembourg, including Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel of Sweden, Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan, Prince Carl Philip of Sweden, and Princess Astrid and Prince Lorenz of Belgium, to name just a few, according to the Examiner.
The royal couple, who share a love for cooking, started dating when they were reunited at a party in 2009, according to the BBC. They were engaged in 2011.
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