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The Wedding of Princess Louise of Wales, eldest daughter of the Prince of Wales and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, and the Earl of Fife in the Private Chapel of Buckingham Palace on this day in 1889. Royal Relatives included Queen Victoria (grandmother, wearing her Queen Victoria’s Small Diamond Crown), King George I of the Hellenes (uncle), the Grand Duke of Hesse (uncle), and Crown Prince Frederick of Denmark (uncle). Two days later, the Earl was made the Duke of Fife and Marquess of Macduff by Queen Victoria. The couple had two daughters, Princess Alexandra, the 2nd Duchess of Fife, and Princess Maud, Countess of Southesk, and remained married until his death in Egypt in 1912, shortly after the family was shipwrecked off the coast of Morocco.
Queen Victoria’s Journal entry recorded that…
The Chapel looked very nice, decorated with beautiful flowers, & some sacred pictures on the walls, which Louise & Beatrice had arranged. The music was good. The Arch Bishop of Canterbury performed the service, & when it was over, the young Couple left the Chapel first, followed by us all. Louise’s Bridesmaids were, her 2 sisters [Princesses Victoria and Maude], 2 first cousins, Lenchen’s girls, her 2nd cousin May Teck, and the 3 Gleichen girls, all dressed entirely in pink. Louise was very pale & seemed very nervous.”
