Who designed the wedding dress?

[Principessa]

Prince Ferfried of Hohenzollern (German: Ferfried Maximilian Pius Meinrad Maria Hubert Michael Justinus Prinz von Hohenzollern) (14 April 1943) is a member of the princely House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Ferfried is the youngest child and fourth son of Frederick, Prince of Hohenzollern and his wife Margarete Karola, daughter of the last Saxon king, Frederick Augustus III. He is the younger brother of Prince Johan, who was married to Princess Birgitta of Sweden.

His first marriage, on 21 September 1968, was to Angela von Morgen (11 November 1942-11 January 2019), daughter of Ernst von Morgen and Countess Margarethe von Schlitz gen. von Görtz. They were divorced in 1973, having had two daughters. Angela would remarry to German actor Fritz Wepper (who is best known for his role as Inspector Harry Klein in the long-running crime series Derrick (1974-1998)).

It is unknown to me who designed Angela's wedding dress.




His second marriage, on 7 April 1977, was to Eliane Etter (4 May 1947), daughter of Dr. Hans Etter and Irmgard Zosso. They were divorced in 1987, having had two children.


I wasn't able to find even pictures of this wedding.


In 1999 he married Maja Synke Meinert (8 October 1971). They were divorced in early March 2007.

Again I wasn't able to even find pictures of the wedding.

Or it should be this one:




Ferfried's three marriages were morganatic, although the first marriage to Angela von Morgen in 1968 (sister of Erika von Morgen, wife of Carl-Philip, Prince of Salm-Salm) was to a member of Germany's historical nobility, albeit untitled.



Beginning 8 May 2006 the reality programme Tatjana & Foffi – Cinderella Becomes A Princess was broadcast on television, focusing on Ferfried's former relationship with Tatjana Gsell. He appeared on TV Gusto’s Royal Dinner, co-hosting alongside Birte Karalus.

[Principessa]

Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infanta of Spain and Countess of Barcelona (Spanish: Doña María de las Mercedes Cristina Genara Isabel Luisa Carolina Victoria y Todos los Santos de Borbón y Orléans )(23 December 1910 – 2 January 2000)  daughter of Prince Carlos of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, Infante of Spain, a grandson of King Ferdinand II of the Two Sicilies, and his second wife, Princess Louise of Orléans, daughter of Prince Philippe, Count of Paris, a pretender to the French throne. She was granted, at birth, the rank and precedence of an infanta of Spain, although not the actual use of the title, her own being Princess of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.


Infante Juan of Spain, Count of Barcelona (Juan Carlos Teresa Silverio Alfonso de Borbón y Battenberg)(20 June 1913 – 1 April 1993), also known as Don Juan and as Juan III as a claimant to the Spanish throne, was the third son and designated heir of King Alfonso XIII of Spain and Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg.


The couple met at a party hosted by Victor Emmanuel III of Italy on the day before Juan's sister (Infanta Beatriz) was to be married. Juan married Princess María de las Mercedes of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1910–2000), known in Spain as Doña María de las Mercedes de Borbón Dos-Sicilias y Orleans, in Rome on 12 October 1935.


The bride wore a designer suit by Worth in silver lamé with antique lace and a long and splendid  chiffon veil, supported by a diadem  of orange blossom.




They had four children, among others the later King Juan Carlos I of Spain.

[Principessa]

Victoria Eugenie Julia Ena of Battenberg (24 October 1887 – 15 April 1969) Her father was Prince Henry of Battenberg, the fourth child and third son of Prince Alexander of Hesse and by Rhine by his morganatic wife Countess Julia von Haucke, and her mother was Princess Beatrice, the fifth daughter of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. Her mother, as the youngest child of the lonely queen, was kept "at home" with the court, which happened to be at Balmoral when she went into labour. Victoria Eugenie was the last grandchild of a British monarch to be born in Scotland until Princess Margaret was born at Glamis Castle in Angus in 1930.


Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Spanish Second Republic was proclaimed. Alfonso XIII was born at Royal Palace of Madrid in Madrid on 17 May 1886. He was the posthumous son of Alfonso XII of Spain (28 November 1857 – 25 November 1885), who had died in November 1885, and became King of Spain upon his birth. His mother was Archduchess Maria Christina of Austria (Spanish: María Cristina de Habsburgo)( 21 July 1858 – 6 February 1929).


In 1905, King Alfonso XIII of Spain made an official state visit to the United Kingdom. Victoria Eugenie's uncle, King Edward VII, hosted a dinner in Buckingham Palace, in honour of the Spanish king. Alfonso was seated between Queen Alexandra and Princess Helena, King Edward's sister. He noticed Victoria Eugenie and asked who the dinner guest with almost white hair was. Everybody knew that King Alfonso was looking for a suitable bride and one of the strongest candidates was Princess Patricia of Connaught, another niece of King Edward. As Princess Patricia seemed not to be impressed by the Spanish monarch, Alfonso indulged his interest in Victoria Eugenie, and so the courtship began.


There were obstacles to the marriage. Victoria was a Protestant, and would have to become a Catholic. Victoria's brother Leopold was a haemophiliac, so there was a 50 percent chance that Victoria was a carrier of the trait. Finally, Alfonso's mother Maria Christina wanted him to marry a member of her family, the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, or some other Catholic princess, as she considered the Battenbergs to be non-dynastic. Victoria was willing to change her religion, and her being a haemophilia carrier was only a possibility. Maria Christina was eventually persuaded to drop her opposition.


Alfonso and Victoria were married at the Royal Monastery of San Jerónimo in Madrid on 31 May 1906, with British royalty in attendance, including Victoria's cousins the Prince and Princess of Wales (later King George V and Queen Mary). The wedding was marked by an assassination attempt on Alfonso and Victoria by Catalan anarchist Mateu Morral. As the wedding procession returned to the palace, he threw a bomb from a window which killed 30 bystanders and members of the procession, while 100 others were wounded


Alfonso and his wife Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg (Ena) had seven children, of which some were haemopiliacs.

Ena's wedding dress was made by the Madrid dressmaker L. Heroe, who submitted several designs to Alfonso and Ena for their approval. The fabric was white duchesse satin which was embroidered by hand. In addition, point d'aiguille Brussels lace was used on the dress, veil and train. The bodice and skirt were embroidered with intertwined wreaths of silver roses and orange blossoms, bordered with fleur-de-lys, a symbol of the House of Bourbon. To support the enormous train there was a court mantle, also of white satin and with the same decorations as the dress.

Ena wore a tiara resting on a wreath of orange blossoms. The impressive tiara, a wedding gift from Alfonso and known as the "Fleur-de-lys tiara" is still in the possession of the Spanish royal family and is nicknamed "La Buena" (= "the Good one"). Set in platinum, the tiara features  three large fleur-de-lys motifs, each  filled with large round diamonds, and connected by swirls and scrolls of larger sized diamonds. The tiara is part of the jewelry that is passed down to Queens of Spain.






Sources:
http://www.unofficialroya...ia-eugenie-of-battenberg/
Wikipedia

[Principessa]

Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia (9 May 1909 – 8 September 1967) was the second daughter of Grand Duke Kirill Vladimirovich of Russia (12 October [O.S. 30 September] 1876 – 12 October 1938) and Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (25 November 1876 – 2 March 1936).


Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (German: Louis Ferdinand Victor Eduard Adalbert Michael Hubertus Prinz von Preußen)( 9 November 1907 – 26 September 1994) was a member of the princely House of Hohenzollern. He was the second child and second son of German Crown Prince Wilhelm (6 May 1882 – 20 July 1951) and Duchess Cecilie Auguste Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (20 September 1886 – 6 May 1954)


Grand Duchess Kira had some difficulty finding a suitable husband. She was interested in the hemophiliac Alfonso of Spain, Prince of Asturias, son of Alfonso XIII of Spain, but was disappointed when the prince showed more interest in one of the daughters of Prince Nicholas of Greece. Later, she was fond of Prince Constantine "Teddy" Soutzo, a Romanian aristocrat. Her cousin Carol II of Romania refused to permit the match for political reasons.Finally, Kira married Louis Ferdinand of Prussia in 1938. They raised a family of four sons and three daughters.



Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia's 1938 Essay About Her Wedding Gown:

https://eurohistoryjourna...s-kira-kirillovna-of.html

[Principessa]

Donata Emma Gräfin zu Castell-Rüdenhausen (21 juni 1950 —  5 september 2015) a daughter of Prince Siegfried of Castell-Rüdenhausen (1916-2007) and Countess Irene of Solms-Laubach (1925-2006).

Louis Ferdinand Oscar Christiaan (August 25, 1944 – July 11, 1977), was the second youngest son of Louis Ferdinand of Prussia and Kira Kirillovna of Russia. At home he was nicknamed Lulu.

On May 23, 1975, Louis Ferdinand married  Donata, they had two children.

In May 1977, Louis Ferdinand was involved in a serious accident during a military exercise. He became trapped between two vehicles, suffered internal bleeding and died two months later.

On February 9, 1991 Donata remarried to Frederik August of Oldenburg (1936-2017), a son of Hereditary Grand Duke Nicolaas van Oldenburg and Helena van Waldeck-Pyrmont. Frederik August had divorced Marie-Cécile of Prussia two years earlier, an older sister of Donata's first husband. This led to a quarrel and a rift within the family.

On September 5, 2015, Donata van Castell-Rüdenhausen passed away after a long illness in Traunstein in Bavaria. She is interred in the mausoleum of the von Oldenburg family.


I wasn't able to figure out the designer of Donata's dress, when she married Louis Ferdinand:






At her wedding to Frederik August of Oldenburg:

[Principessa]

Duke Friedrich August of Oldenburg (11 January 1936 – 9 July 2017) was a member of the House of Holstein-Gottorp. He is a son of Nikolaus, Hereditary Grand Duke of Oldenburg and Princess Helena of Waldeck and Pyrmont.


Princess Marie Cécile of Prussia (28 May 1942) daughter of Grand Duchess Kira Kirillovna of Russia (9 May 1909 – 8 September 1967) and Louis Ferdinand, Prince of Prussia (9 November 1907 – 26 September 1994)


Friedrich August and  Marie Cécile married in Berlin in a civil ceremony on 3 December 1965 and a religious ceremony the following day. The ceremony was the first Hohenzollern marriage in Berlin since 1913. The couple were divorced on 23 November 1989. They have three children.


On 9 February 1991, Friedrich August was remarried to Donata Countess of Castell-Rüdenhausen (21 juni 1950 —  5 september 2015) in Rüdenhausen, Germany. She was the widow of Marie-Cécile's deceased brother, Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia.

Yet again the designer of Marie Cécile's wedding dress is unknown to me (for now)

[Principessa]

Willem III (Dutch: Willem Alexander Paul Frederik Lodewijk; English: William Alexander Paul Frederick Louis)( 19 February 1817 – 23 November 1890) was King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg from 1849 until his death in 1890. He was also the Duke of Limburg from 1849 until the abolition of the duchy in 1866. Willem was the oldest son of King Willem II and Anna Pavlovna of Russia. On the abdication of his grandfather Willem I in 1840, he became the Prince of Orange. On the death of his father in 1849, he succeeded as king of the Netherlands. Firstly Willem married his cousin Princess Sophie of Württemberg in 1839 and they had three sons, Willem, Maurice, and Alexander, all of whom predeceased him. Sophie died in 1877. Secondly Willem maried Princess  Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont in 1879 and they had 1 daughter, the later Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands.



Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont (Adelheid Emma Wilhelmina Theresia)(2 August 1858 – 20 March 1934), was the fourth daughter of Georg Viktor, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, and Princess Helena of Nassau-Weilburg. Her brother, Friedrich, was the last reigning prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont. Her maternal grandfather was Willhelm, Duke of Nassau, a grandson of Princess Carolina of Orange-Nassau, through which she inherited a place in the line of succession to the Dutch Crown until 1887. Princess Emma married the elderly King Willem III in Arolsen on 7 January 1879, two years after the death of his first wife, Sophie of Württemberg.


Emma's wedding dress was made of cream and apricot-colored satin duchesse, white tulle and velvet. The flowers and leaf motifs embroidered from silver thread and decorated with pearls, the Parisian fashion house A.Corbay made it.


The top had a deep cleavage, a privilege reserved for noble and princely ladies, with a very modern "Queue de Paris" that ended in a fanned train.An ermine cloak covered the shoulder and neckline, the lace veil was held by the Waldecker house diadem made of diamonds, which her sister Helene also wore on the occasion of the wedding with the Duke of Albany. It is customary for the bride to wear a tiara from her own family at the wedding, as the last time, then she wears the man's tiaras or one of the jewelry she received for the wedding.

Unfortunately, no photo of the ceremony or the bride and groom is known. The wedding dress above can be seen on the occasion of an exhibition in 2008 in Arolsen Castle.

The couple arrived in the Netherlands on January 10th, and on April 21st, 1879, the young Dutch queen was received in Amsterdam and presented with a precious set of jewels. The nation's wedding present was a large diamond brooch with 214 brilliant-cut diamonds and diamonds and a brilliant necklace with 34 brilliant-cut diamonds.

[Principessa]

Wilhelmina (Wilhelmina Helena Pauline Maria)(31 August 1880 – 28 November 1962) was Queen of the Netherlands from 1890 until her abdication in 1948. She reigned for nearly 58 years, longer than any other Dutch monarch. The only child of King Willem III of the Netherlands and his 2nd wife Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont.


Duke Henry of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (German: Heinrich Wladimir Albrecht Ernst; Dutch: Hendrik Vladimir Albrecht Ernst)(19 April 1876 – 3 July 1934) was prince consort of the Netherlands as the husband of Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands. He was the longest-serving consort of the Netherlands. He was the youngest son of Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and his third wife, Princess Marie of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. He was inaugurated as Prince of the Netherlands on 6 February 1901


Wilhelmina and Hendrik married on 7 February 1901, in The Hague.


Queen Wilhelmina’s wedding dress was designed by Madame Nicaud of Paris, and had a train of two yards and thirteen inches. The material had been woven expressly for Her Majesty and was of white satin brocaded with fine silver thread. The bodice had a square neck demi-decolette, edged with pearls, and the front of the dress from the opening at the neck was filled in with white Chantilly lace. The skirt was of white taffeta and decorated with embroidered bands designed to emulate a garland of orange blossoms joined by its leaves and a knotted ribbon. Queen Wilhelmina’s jewelry was simple, comprising only of pearls. Queen Wilhelmina's bridal cape was silver cloth lined with white satin and an overlining of soft puffs of white chiffon. It was cut in one piece with a high Medicis collar and came halfway to the knees. A big bow of tulle, exactly like the wedding veil, was tied at the throat, with long ends reaching to the bottom.

[Principessa]

Victoria, Princess Royal (Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa)(21 November 1840 – 5 August 1901), was the eldest child of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and was created Princess Royal in 1841.


Frederick III (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl)(18 October 1831 – 15 June 1888) was German Emperor and King of Prussia between March and June 1888, during the Year of the Three Emperors. Known informally as "Fritz". He was a scion of the House of Hohenzollern, rulers of Prussia, then the most powerful of the German states. Frederick's father, Prince William, was the second son of King Frederick William III. His mother was Princess Augusta Marie Luise Katharina of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (30 September 1811 – 7 January 1890)


Royal marriages of the 19th century were arranged to secure alliances and to maintain blood ties among the European nations. As early as 1851, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her German-born husband, Prince Albert, were making plans to marry their eldest daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal, to Frederick. The royal dynasty in Britain was predominantly German; there was little British blood in Queen Victoria, and none in her husband. They desired to maintain their family's blood ties to Germany, and Prince Albert further hoped that the marriage would lead to the liberalization and modernization of Prussia. King Leopold I of Belgium, uncle of both Victoria and Albert, also favoured this pairing; he had long treasured Baron Stockmar's idea of a marriage alliance between Britain and Prussia.Frederick's father, Prince William, had no interest in the arrangement, hoping instead for a Russian grand duchess as his daughter-in-law. However, Princess Augusta was greatly in favour of a match for her son that would bring closer connections with Britain. Frederick proposed to Victoria in 1855, when she was 14 years old. The betrothal of the young couple was announced on May 19, 1857, at Buckingham Palace and the Prussian Court, and their marriage took place on 25 January 1858 in the Chapel Royal of St. James's Palace, London.


The dress was composed of a rich robe of white moire antique ornamented with three flounces of Honiton lace. The design of the lace consisted of bouquets in open work of the rose, shamrock, and thistle in three medallions. At the top of each flounce on the front of the dress were wreaths of orange and myrtle blossoms, the latter being the bridal flower of Germany. Every wreath ended with bouquets of the same flowers and the length of each being so graduated as to give the appearance of a robe hemmed with flowers. The apex of this floral pyramid was formed by a large bouquet worn on the girdle. The train, which was of an unusual length of more than three yards, was of white moire antique, trimmed with two rows of Honiton lace surmounted by wreaths similar to those on the flounces of the dress with bouquets at short intervals.


It is unknown who designed the dress





Source
Wikipedia

[Principessa]

Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia)( 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) Her father was Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg and her mother was Princess Louise of Hesse-Kassel. "Alix", as her immediate family knew her. Alexandra's family had been relatively obscure until 1852, when her father, Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, was chosen with the consent of the major European powers to succeed his second cousin Frederick VII as king of Denmark. At the age of sixteen Alexandra was chosen as the future wife of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, the heir apparent of Queen Victoria. The couple married eighteen months later in 1863, the year in which her father became king of Denmark as Christian IX and her brother was appointed king of Greece as George I.


Edward VII (Albert Edward)(9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The eldest son and 2nd child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and nicknamed "Bertie", Edward was related to royalty throughout Europe.



The wedding dress of Alexandra  was made by London dressmaker Mrs James of Belgravia.


The dress was made of white silk satin (the silk was woven at Spitalfields) trimmed with orange blossoms, myrtle, puffs of tulle and Honiton lace. It had a similarly trimmed 21-foot (6.4 m) silver moiré train, which was carried by eight young ladies aged 15 to 20. The four lace flounces were designed by Miss Tucker and executed by Messrs. John Tucker and Co. of Branscombe, near Sidmouth. A matching lace veil, train trimming and handkerchief were also made. The pattern of the lace depicted cornucopias filled with English roses, Irish shamrocks and Scottish thistles


Princess Alexandra wore a wreath of orange blossoms and myrtle and carried a bouquet of orange blossoms, white rosebuds, lily of the valley, orchids, and myrtle. Her jewelry consisted of a pearl necklace, earrings and brooch given to her by the Prince of Wales, an opal and diamond bracelet from Queen Victoria, a diamond bracelet given by the ladies of Leeds, and an opal and diamond bracelet from the ladies of Manchester

[Principessa]

Princess Alice of the United Kingdom VA CI (Alice Maud Mary)(25 April 1843 – 14 December 1878) She was the third child and second daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.Alice was the first of Queen Victoria's nine children to die, and one of three to be outlived by their mother, who died in 1901. Her life had been enwrapped in tragedy since her father's death in 1861.


Louis IV (German: Ludwig IV)(12 September 1837 – 13 March 1892) was the Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, reigning from 13 June 1877 until his death. The first son and child of Prince Charles of Hesse and by Rhine (23 April 1809 – 20 March 1877) and Princess Elisabeth of Prussia (18 June 1815 – 21 March 1885). As his father's elder brother Louis III (1806-1877), the reigning Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine, had been married to his first wife since 1833 without legitimate children and from 1868 was married morganatically, Prince Louis was from birth second-in-line to the grand ducal throne, after his father. His 1st marriage was to princess Alice, with whom he had 6 children. Grand Duchess Alice having died in 1878, Louis IV contracted a morganatic marriage on 30 April 1884 in Darmstadt (on the eve of the wedding of his eldest daughter, for which Queen Victoria and other relatives of his first wife were gathered in the Hessian capital) with Countess Alexandrine Hutten-Czapska (3 September 1854 – 8 May 1941), daughter of Count Adam Hutten-Czapski and Countess Marianna Rzewuska. She was the former wife of Aleksander von Kolemin, the Russian chargé d'affaires in Darmstadt. But the couple, facing objections from the Grand Duke's in-laws, separated within a week and the marriage was annulled within three months. As a compensation, she received the title Countess von Romrod on 31 May 1884 and a financial compensation. Alexandrine later married for the third time to Basil von Bacheracht.


Alice's matrimonial plans were begun in 1860 by her mother. Queen Victoria had expressed her wish that her children should marry for love, but this did not mean that her choice of suitors would necessarily be extended to anybody outside the royal houses of Europe. Raising a British subject to royalty, however high their rank, was politically objectionable, and also wasted any opportunity for a useful foreign alliance.The Queen instructed her daughter Victoria, recently married to Prince Frederick of Prussia, to produce a list of eligible princes in Europe. Her search produced only two suitable candidates: the Prince of Orange; and Prince Albert of Prussia, cousin to Victoria's husband Frederick. The Prince of Orange was soon discounted. He journeyed to Windsor Castle so that Queen Victoria could look him over in person, but he proved unpalatable to Alice. he prince too showed little interest in Alice, despite strong pressure from his pro-British mother, Queen Sophie of the Netherlands. Prince Albert, too, was spurned, with Prince Frederick of Prussia remarking that his cousin would not do for "one who deserves the very best".With both of the leading candidates now discounted, Princess Victoria suggested Prince Louis of Hesse, a minor German royal, the nephew of the Grand Duke of Hesse. Princess Victoria had gone to the court of Hesse to inspect Louis's sister, Princess Anna, as a potential bride for her brother, the Prince of Wales. Although not favorably impressed with Princess Anna, she was impressed with Louis and his brother Prince Henry. Both were invited to Windsor Castle in 1860, ostensibly so they could watch the Ascot Races in the company of the royal family, but in reality, the visit was a chance for the Queen to inspect her potential son-in-law. The Queen admired both Louis and Henry, but noted how well Louis and Alice got along together. When the Hessian family departed, Louis requested Alice's photograph, and Alice made it clear that she was attracted to him.


On 1 July 1862, Louis married Alice, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. On the day of the wedding, the Queen issued a royal warrant granting her new son-in-law the style of Royal Highness in the United Kingdom. The Queen also subsequently made Prince Louis a knight of the Order of the Garter.


The wedding dress of Princess Alice of the United Kingdom was worn during a period of court mourning for the death of her father. From "The Royal Wedding Dresses" by Nigel Arch and Joanna Marschner (p.58): "She wore a 'half-high dress with a deep flounce of Honiton lace, a veil of the same and a wreath of orange blossom and myrtle'."[1] It was a simple style and not embellished with a court train. Queen Victoria later confided to her daughter, the Princess Royal (Vicky), that the wedding of 'poor Alice' had been "more like a funeral."

[Principessa]

Alfred (Alfred Ernest Albert)( 6 August 1844 – 30 July 1900) was the sovereign duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 1893 to 1900. He was the second son and fourth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He was known as the Duke of Edinburgh from 1866 until he succeeded his paternal uncle Ernest II as the reigning Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in the German Empire.


Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia (Russian: Мария Александровна)( 17 October [O.S. 5 October] 1853 – 24 October 1920)was the sixth child and only surviving daughter among the eight children of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and his first wife Empress Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, née Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine.


Prince Alfred became engaged to Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, daughter of Russian Emperor Alexander II on 11 July 1873. His mother had misgivings about the match, which she wrote about in her diary. The marriage took place, at the Winter Palace in St Petersburg on 23 January 1874, and directly united the British and Russian royal families for the first time. Queen Victoria was unable to attend the celebrations, and remained at Osborne House, but clearly felt the day was important.


The Grand Duchess, who became the Duchess of Edinburgh, wore a silver and gem-set sarafan, a traditional dress worn by all Russian imperial brides for their wedding, paired with the traditional kokoshnik headdress.

[Principessa]

Princess Helena of the United Kingdom VA CI GBE RRC (Helena Augusta Victoria)(25 May 1846 – 9 June 1923), later Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, was the third daughter and fifth child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.


Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein KG GCVO PC ADC (Frederick Christian Charles Augustus)(22 January 1831 – 28 October 1917) was a minor Danish-born German prince. He was the second son of Christian August II, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg and his wife, Countess Louise Sophie of Danneskiold-Samsøe.


Princess Helena began an early flirtation with her father's former librarian, Carl Ruland, following his appointment to the Royal Household on the recommendation of Baron Stockmar in 1859. He was trusted enough to teach German to Helena's brother, the young Prince of Wales, and was described by the Queen as "useful and able".When the Queen discovered that Helena had grown romantically attached to a royal servant, he was promptly dismissed back to his native Germany, and he never lost the Queen's hostility. Following Ruland's departure in 1863, the Queen looked for a husband for Helena. However, as a middle child, the prospect of a powerful alliance with a European royal house was low. Her appearance was also a concern, as by the age of fifteen she was described by her biographer as chunky, dowdy and double-chinned.Furthermore, Victoria insisted that Helena's future husband had to be prepared to live near the Queen, thus keeping her daughter nearby. Her choice eventually fell on Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein; however, the match was politically awkward, and caused a severe breach within the royal family. Schleswig and Holstein were two territories fought over between Prussia and Denmark during the First and Second Schleswig Wars. In the latter, Prussia and Austria defeated Denmark, but the duchies were claimed by Austria for Prince Christian's family. However, following the Austro-Prussian War, in which Prussia invaded and occupied the duchies, they became Prussian, but the title Duke of Schleswig-Holstein was still claimed by Prince Christian's family. The marriage, therefore, horrified King Christian IX of Denmark's daughter, Alexandra, Princess of Wales, who exclaimed: "The Duchies belong to Papa.". Alexandra found support in her husband, his brother Prince Alfred, and his second sister, Princess Alice, who openly accused her mother of sacrificing Helena's happiness for the Queen's convenience.Despite the political controversies and their age difference—he was fifteen years her senior—Helena was happy with Christian and was determined to marry him. As a younger son of a non-reigning duke, the absence of any foreign commitments allowed him to remain permanently in Britain—the Queen's primary concern—and she declared the marriage would go ahead. Helena and Christian were actually third cousins in descent from Frederick, Prince of Wales. Relations between Helena and Alexandra remained strained, and Alexandra was unprepared to accept Christian (who was also a third cousin to Alexandra in descent from King Frederick V of Denmark) as either a cousin or brother-in-law.


The engagement was declared on 5 December 1865, and despite the Prince of Wales's initial refusal to attend, Princess Alice intervened, and the wedding was a happy occasionThe Queen allowed the ceremony to take place at Windsor Castle, albeit in the Private Chapel rather than the grander St George's Chapel on 5 July 1866. The Queen relieved her black mourning dress with a white mourning cap which draped over her back.


Princess Helena, the fifth child and third daughter of Queen Victoria, wore a dress of white satin featuring deep flounces of Honiton lace, the design of which featured roses, ivy, and myrtle, for her marriage to Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein on 5 July 1866 at Windsor Castle, Windsor, Berkshire, England. Her headpiece was composed of orange blossom and myrtle, and the veil was also made of Honiton lace. She also wore a necklace, earrings, and brooch of opals and diamonds, a wedding gift from the Queen. Along with bracelets set with miniatures, Helena also wore the Order of Victoria and Albert

[Principessa]

Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, VA, CI, GCVO, GBE, RRC (Louisa Caroline Alberta)(18 March 1848 – 3 December 1939) was the sixth child and fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. In her public life, she was a strong proponent of the arts and higher education and of the feminist cause.


John George Edward Henry Douglas Sutherland Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, KG, KT, GCMG, GCVO, VD, PC (6 August 1845 – 2 May 1914), usually better known by the courtesy title Marquess of Lorne, by which he was known between 1847 and 1900, was a British nobleman who was Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. The eldest son of George, Marquess of Lorne and the former Lady Elizabeth Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Sutherland, and was styled Earl of Campbell from birth. In 1847, when he was 21 months old, his father succeeded as 8th Duke of Argyll and he assumed the courtesy title Marquess of Lorne, which he bore until he was 54


As a daughter of the queen, Louise was a desirable bride; more so as she is regarded as the queen's most beautiful daughter by both contemporary and modern biographers. However, she was accused by the press, without substantiation, of romantic affairs. This, coupled with her liberalism and feminism, prompted the queen to find her a husband. The choice had to suit Victoria as well as Louise, and the queen insisted that her daughter's husband should live near her, a promise which had also been extracted from the husband of Helena, Louise's sister. Various suitors were proposed by the leading royal houses of Europe: Princess Alexandra proposed her brother, the Crown Prince of Denmark, but the queen was strongly opposed to another Danish marriage that could antagonise Prussia at a time of diplomatic tension over the Schleswig-Holstein question. Victoria, Louise's eldest sister, proposed the tall and rich Prince Albert of Prussia, but Queen Victoria disapproved of another Prussian marriage that would have been unpopular in England. Prince Albert was also reluctant to settle in England as required. William, Prince of Orange, was also considered a suitor, but because of his extravagant lifestyle in Paris, where he lived openly with a lover, the queen quickly vetoed the idea.


Louise viewed marriage to any prince as undesirable, and announced that she wished to marry John Campbell, Marquess of Lorne, heir to the Dukedom of Argyll. No marriage between a daughter of a monarch and a British subject had been given official recognition since 1515, when Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, married King Henry VIII's sister Mary.Louise's eldest brother, the Prince of Wales, was strongly opposed to a marriage with a non-mediatized noble.  Furthermore, Lorne's father, George Campbell, was an ardent supporter of William Ewart Gladstone, and the Prince of Wales was worried that he would drag the royal family into political disputes. Nevertheless, the opposition was crushed by the queen.


Louise became engaged to the Marquess of Lorne on 3 October 1870 while they were visiting Balmoral. The wedding ceremony was conducted at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on 21 March 1871


Louise wore a white silk wedding gown, heavily decorated with national and royal symbols, with deep flounces of flower-strewn Honiton lace, and a short wedding veil of Honiton lace that she designed herself and was held in place by two diamond daisy hair pins presented by her siblings, Princes Arthur and Leopold and Princess Beatrice. The hair pins were supplied by Garrard.


A beautiful bracelet was a present from her fiancé. The center could be worn as a pendant ornament, with a large and fine sapphire mounted with brilliants and pearls and pearl drop. Princess Louise wore this pendant on a diamond necklace on her wedding day, and it can be seen in her wedding photographs. It was also supplied by Garrard.

[Principessa]

Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert)( 1 May 1850 – 16 January 1942), was the seventh child and third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. He served as the Governor General of Canada, the tenth since Canadian Confederation and the only British prince to do so. On his mother's birthday (24 May) in 1874, Arthur was created a royal peer, being titled as the Duke of Connaught and Strathearn and Earl of Sussex. Some years later, Arthur came into the direct line of succession to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in Germany, upon the death in 1899 of his nephew, Prince Alfred of Edinburgh, the only son of his elder brother, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. He decided, however, to renounce his own and his son's succession rights to the duchy, which then passed to his other nephew, Prince Charles Edward, the posthumous son of Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany.


Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia (Louise Margaret Alexandra Victoria Agnes)(25 July 1860 – 14 March 1917), later Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn, was a member of the House of Hohenzollern. Her father was Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia (1828–1885), the son of Karl of Prussia (1801–1883) and his wife Princess Marie of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (1808–1877). Her mother was Princess Maria Anna of Anhalt (1837–1906), daughter of Leopold IV of Anhalt-Dessau. Her father was a cousin of the husband of Victoria, Princess Royal.


On 13 March 1879, Louise married  Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn at St. George's Chapel Windsor.


The bride wore a heavy white satin dress, a band of lace ten centimeters long encircling the waist. The skirt was sewn with lace 30 centimeters wide and decorated with a bunch of myrtle-leaves, the emblem in Germany of the bridal state. The train was four meters long and surmounted by a lace flounce one meter in width made in Silesia, in which a sprig of myrtle was fixed. The bridal veil was about three meters square, made of point d'Alençon lace, the design representing orange blossoms, roses, and myrtle-leaves intertwined.


The veil was fastened to her hair with five diamond stars, the gift of the bridegroom. The handkerchief was made of the same material as the veil and showed the same design, one corner being embellished with the princess's monogram, the other with a Prussian eagle. The Princess carried a bouquet of white flowers.

The bridesmaids wore dresses of white satin duchess faille and mousseline de soie embroidered with wild rosebuds and foliage: the flowers representing England, Scotland, Ireland and Germany.