There are some mixed feelings going around about Princess Eugenie’s October wedding, which is just a few weeks away. I’m genuinely excited about it though – I can’t wait to see Eugenie’s dress, and I can’t wait to see what the other royal women wear. Will Kate passive-aggressively go for a shade of yellow so pale as to photograph white? Will Meghan be the most-photographed woman at the event? Which brooch will the Queen wear? So much royal excitement. But people are (justifiably) angry or upset at the idea that Eugenie seems to think her wedding is on par with her Wales’ cousins’ weddings. Which is why we’re getting this royal report from Katie Nicholl: Eugenie “deserves” to have a big, splashy wedding because she did the right thing by delaying her engagement announcement so Harry could have his moment. Sure, Jan.
With just three weeks to go until their October 12 wedding, Princess Eugenie and her fiancé Jack Brooksbank have been ticking off the last to-dos on their checklist and holding final planning meetings in Windsor. Despite some criticism over the cost of the wedding—the security bill is estimated to be roughly £2 million, while Eugenie’s wedding party will reportedly exceed £100,000—Eugenie is said to be “hugely looking forward to her wedding day,” according to a source who described the bride as “cool as a cucumber” ahead of the ceremony at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor.
The source, a family friend, also sheds some interesting new light on why Eugenie, the ninth in line to the throne, is going all out on her wedding day. Apparently, Brooksbank, who is the U.K. brand ambassador for Casamigos tequila, and Eugenie had agreed to get married months before they officially announced their engagement this past January.
“It’s my understanding that Eugenie and Jack decided some time ago that they wanted to get married, and there was some talk about a wedding in 2017, but they had to wait for Harry to go first,” according to the source. “The feeling among the Yorks is that she deserves her moment in the spotlight and a big royal wedding with all the frills.”
Reports suggested in August 2016 that Eugenie and Brooksbank had planned to get engaged by the end of that year, but there was no announcement. At the time, Harry was dating Meghan Markle, and by the spring of 2017, there was talk of a royal engagement. With Harry being sixth in line to the throne, royal protocol meant that when he did announce his engagement, in November, it took precedence over his cousin’s possible wedding plans.
According to the source, Eugenie and Brooksbank had to wait to announce their own happy news. “There are no bad feelings at all,” the source insists. “Eugenie is very close to Harry, and she knows how the system works.” When the couple announced their engagement, they said the formal proposal had happened in Nicaragua earlier in the month.
I think this is kind of sad, the fact that the Yorks are putting this story out there as some kind of explanation for why Eugenie should have her special day. She should have her special day because she’s getting married, because she’s a bride. I completely doubt that Eugenie held off an engagement announcement for a year and a half just because of Harry’s relationship with Meghan. That’s not the way this works – the cousins walk all over each other’s engagements and announcements all the time. Zara Phillips got engaged soon after Will and Kate, and her wedding was just a few months after the Cambridges’ wedding too. All of this talk about how Eugenie “deserves” such-and-such because of royal timing shenanigans is just BS.
Nicholl also notes that all of the reports about the wedding being a two-day extravaganza are true, that the Queen will host the “champagne reception” at Windsor Castle, and Andrew and Fergie will host a two-day party at Royal Lodge. Andrew is insisting that Eugenie get a carriage procession, and Nicholl also says that ITV is still in talks about airing the wedding in its entirety.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red.
I’m sure she is lovely, but I can’t believe they thought for a second that her wedding would detract from Harry and Meghan. That is laughable
Actually, she probably wanted to not have that also be a story while hers is going on
It doesn’t make sense either. Harry and Meghan didn’t announce their engagement until November of that year. Why couldn’t Eugenie and Jack have announced their engagement the other 10 months of the year, especially if they wanted to marry in 2017?
I think she delayed because Beatrice was dumped by Dave Clark. They were hoping she might find a new boyfriend in a few months, like how Dave quickly hooked up with an American gal, but that didn’t happen.
Yes, I think zara followed Kate and William’s announcement and wedding so closely because it kept the spotlight off of her. Eugenie waited not to avoid taking focus (bwahaha), but to make sure the spotlight was on her. That’s fine, but don’t lie about it, it’s ludicrous.
I could see her father wanting the engagement delayed for the exact opposite reason, tbh – he has a bee in his bonnet about his daughters’ royal status, and if they’d been just behind or before Harry, nobody would have paid them any attention. That wedding would have blown theirs out of the water in terms of press and public interest. They couldn’t upstage Harry… but his wedding would inevitably have upstaged this one.
Who cares? Sarah and Andrew feel entitled, sure; Eugenie, I wonder if she’s just caught up in their fervour. And maybe a bit of competition as well. I don’t begrudge her a very special (to her) wedding day, but this spectacle it’s become is just way over the top for a non-working royal, “blood princess” or not. IMO, and JUST my opinion, I wouldn’t care at all about all of it, but that damned carriage ride to the auctioned off peasants just seems so overboard. “Look everyone! I’m just as popular/we’ll loved as the others! People WANT to see ME!”
Personally, I just want to see what Fergie wears as she lumbers into the chapel, What monstrosity Bea picks out (esp. the hat!)! Color theme, and what the other senior royals are wearing. Then I’m out lol
Sorry, can’t dredge up all the big interest in these two.
I can’t think about this wedding without imagining The Windsors.
Haha! I love that show – Beatrice and Eugenie are portrayed as so sweetly clueless.
I can’t think of any of them now without thinking of the Windsors. Hoping for some new episodes soon!
I LOVE The Windsor’s, too!
Me too!
Storm in a teacup.
I wish her well. Her father is such a tool.
That’s all I’ve got to say about the wedding.
That about sums it up.
Did Princess Eugenie delay her engagement to avoid BEING UPSTAGED BY Prince Harry?
There, fixed your headline for you. 😏
True.
She should have married last year.
This!
I just said that up a bit – should have read down! I agree. I don’t think she would care about that, but I would put money on her father caring.
Okay 🙄
At some point, someone has got to tell her that she nor her husband have the movie star good looks and charisma necessary to pull off a story like this.
I just don’t believe it. Try again.
I agree, but neither do Will, Kate, Harry or Meghan.
Will, Kate, Megan, and Harry are better looking than these two. There’s also the fact that the public grew up watching Will and Harry, and were very much fascinated by Diana. No one cares about Eugenie.
I think Meghan and Kate are good looking young women. William and Harry married up in that department.
Meghan’s got the beautiful looks, she was a Hollywood actress already. Harry’s got charisma in spades. Kate is very pretty.
William is the dud in that bunch without any looks or charisma.
William was good looking when he had hair. Lots of men are still sexy with receding hairlines or balding but William’s head shape looks better with hair.
Harry is okay, nothing special IMO as far as looks go.
@minx one thing both brothers have going for them in common is their height. if william weren’t so tall he’d be another prince albert!!
William I think is actually beginning to get his looks back, at one point he almost lost them but these days I think he is looking handsome.
People will go to Windsor not so much to see the couple but to get a close up of the senior royals, especially Harry and Meghan and other famous people.
I agree that both Will and Harry married up but still think neither of them is particularly special. Pretty girls, nothing spectacular.
If I was Eugenie, I would be more worried just how many people will turn out for this. It just goes to show how out of touch Andrew really is. Sure, we will look at the dress, we will look at the attendees but is not Harry/Meghan level. Its more the guest list. Nice but dim the groom doesn’t elicit much excitement. I am not being mean just realistic. “Deserve” all you want….if you want to pay, Andrew. He ain’t airmiles Andy for nothin’.
How ? I know personally people that applied to attend this thing and did not get in. So someone is seeing it and taken all ilthe invites
People want to see the BRF. They will always be a popular. If none of the other senior royals were in attendance how many people would show up for E?
As for people wanting to see HER and only her. Unlikely. She’s not as popular as W&H. Never will be.
Blah blah blah the public watched her grown up. Blah blah blah the public don’t care and can’t stand her pedo dad and her thirst hungry mother. No wedding will change that.
People applied because they want to see Meghan and other senior royals and any famous faces.
It’s a mess. I can’t believe The Queen would indulge this.
It only proves Charles’ point that Andrew’s role needs to be reduced after he takes over and the monarchy will be stream-lined to the people who matter.
Indulge YES. She’s a “blood princess.” Andrew will never let us forget.
The Qatari government is also throwing them a pre wedding party and of course Andy Air Miles can’t say no. Why can’t the Qataris foot the bill for the actual wedding then?
@Nic919….why is he called Andy Air Miles?
“The Qatari government is also throwing them a pre wedding party”
Wait, what?
I flipped it. He is called Airmiles Andy because he racks a crazy amount of air miles especially the helicopter for travel to places where he should be using cheaper methods. It’s one of his more minor scandals.
As for the Qatari pre wedding party, I just read mention of that today. I am sure we shall be reading more of that soon.
Charles cannot eliminate Andrew and the Yorks completely. Legally they have to fulfill the Counsellor of State requirements. Andrew is one now, Beatrice becomes one when HM passes away. Not sure what happens if Philip passes while HM is still alive.
Can you explain that piece to me? How does the Counsellor of State work? Is it hereditary? Was it created for Andrew? Why does it pass to Beatrice when HM passes away?
A Counsellor of State is a counsellor who helps the state on matters of state.
Or in other words: a mafia-style consiglieri who works for his state-sponsored (mafia) boss.
Thing is that Prince Andrew could never earn a living nor could his daughters. Therefore this type of “employment” was created for these lazybones.
One of the few silver linings of a Jeremy Corbyn-led government (which would be a disaster making Brexit look like a child’s tea party) is that they would almost certainly remove this role.
I am sure whatever the royal ladies wear will be approved in advanced and coordinated intentionally, just as they were with Meghan’s. The yellow coat on Kate’s was -intentional- (the colors the ladies wore created a stylized Union Jack, in anticipation of Meghan’s Commonwealth veil), and I have no doubt that if she is not expected to participate she will choose something equally appropriate and offensive to you.
ROTFL. None of them knew about the Commonwealth veil, not even Harry. That was revealed in the recent Queen of the World doc. And no the royal ladies weren’t out trying to dress like flags and bunting. Kate chose to wear something that photographed white, chose to do it of her own free will.
“Don’t upstage the bride.”
“Don’t out-do the bride.”
“White is the bride’s colour at her wedding so don’t do it as a guest.”
Do these rules no longer apply?
Honestly? No they don’t.
Rules like these date from a time when everyone would often be wearing a similar style of dress to the bride.
When was the last time you went to a wedding and any of the guests had on a white strapless full length gown?
If you show up to a wedding in a full on bridal gown… that’s bad.
Wearing a standard white cocktail dress? There’s no good reason not to, other than when you’re dealing with people who talk about etiquette they don’t understand (or a Bridezilla but those bitches can shove it).
Do women really wear white dresses to to other people’s weddings? Maybe occasionally but as a normal thing? That’s not a normal thing at all.
Is this another Kate thing where people tie themselves in knots trying to explain away her behavior?
I just don’t think there is a lot of interest in this wedding.
GUYS. WE FINALLY HAVE OUR CASAMIGOS CONNECTION.
Was it David Attenborough who talked about not letting the light in on the mystery? The Yorks are trying too hard.
I believe that was The Queen Mother (QEII’s mother).
Right! Thank you. It was about not letting the Queen get mixed up in politics but it applies in general to the royals. All this public pushiness for tv coverage is tacky.
W&K announced their engagement Nov 2010, married April 2011
Zara and Mike announced their engagement Dec 2010, married July 2011
There was no royal protocol stopping Eugenie and Jack from announcing and getting married whenever they wanted. If E&J wanted a big public wedding they would have picked a Saturday not a Friday. All this fuss and feathers, if anything, is coming from Andrew and Fergie with a cringing Eugenie in the background wishing they’d chosen Crathie Kirk during the Balmoral holiday.
If they didn’t want a big wedding they wouldn’t be having one. Friday or Saturday doesn’t matter on the cost of her carriage ride and the lottery winners.
The narrative that she’s some innocent who didn’t want a two day affair is ridiculous. She’s getting what she wants. If she didn’t want a carriage ride, there wouldn’t be one.
It’s her wedding after all. Are we supposed to believe that she’s had zero control of her own wedding?!?
Let’s see how much this poor soul is cringing while she’s in her carriage waving to all of us who’s had to pay for this spectacle.
This could of been scaled back if she wanted to to be.
If they’d wanted a huge spectacle, they would have picked Saturday for the ceremony itself not just for the day-after reception. A day when many people are not working so could flock to Windsor. Picking Friday for the ceremony itself *is* automatically smaller. I see Andrew and Fergie pushing this Must See TV angle, not Eugenie.
With parents like A&S, I suspect the York girls take what peace they can get. They love their parents but have learned when to fight it and when to just shrug and get out of the way.
The crowds would not “flock” to Windsor on Saturday for her.
She’s an adult and so is her husband. It’s her wedding. To create an illusion that she is simply going along with the spectacle isn’t believable.
E’s wedding is costing the public 2 million pounds for security. That isn’t exactly “small scale intimate” wedding.
100,000 people applied for the close-in tickets, so yes, there are crowds willing to flock to this wedding even on a Friday.
It is believable to me that she could both love her parents and not be able to control their crazy. Sometimes you just give in and go with the flow to keep the peace.
Absolutely agree! And Crathie is such a pretty church, I don’t understand why more of them don’t use it for weddings. If I were marrying into the RF, I’d want to do it at Crathie while the family is already there and have my honeymoon during the Braemar Games.
When a “brand ambassador” (however posh) marries someone we’ve never heard speak (however royal) the public simply aren’t going to care.
We have heard Eugenie speak. She has done multiple speeches, one recently at the UN against slavery and trafficking. There is also a good interview with her about her back surgery and fund raising efforts for the hospital that did her surgery.
Millions of people watched the York girls grow up and have affection for them. 100,000 applied to get tickets to be inside the castle walls. You might not care about this wedding but there are plenty of people who do.
People applied to see the BRF not E. Without the senior royals in attendance it’s doubtful that many people would be interested in the lottery. If laughable to believe all these people want to just see HER.
If the public actually cared about the York Women (not girls anymore) there wouldn’t be the ourage about this wedding from the public. To prove the low interest from the British public, the BBC won’t air the wedding. The BBC and other networks would be there full force to cover it from start to finish. Not just highlights. Where are they? Not covering it. ITV? Really?
People are applying to stand in the close-in crowd to see her wedding. Just as they did for Edward and Sophie. You may not be one of them, but there are millions who watched the Yorks grow up and are fond of them. Those are the people who will be there wanting to see Eugenie marry.
“the public” is 67 million people in the UK alone. That leaves a lot of room for those who are interested in the royals and those who despise them and anywhere in between. There is no one opinion about royals shared among those 67 million.
The public isn’t interested or it would aired on the BBC.
100,000 people didn’t apply to see HER. Again, they want to get a glimpse of the other members of BRF.
2,000,000 pounds for her is not small scale. She’s in control of her big spectacle.
People don’t care or the interest would be there. It’s not there. They can’t even get it aired on TV.
We are being left paying 2 million pounds plus for security bc 100,000 people applied out of 68 million ? 100,000 out of 68 million?
My aplologies. The public has spoken. The interest and demand for this wedding exceeds all expections.
@notasugarhere – If I remember right, the audience beyond the UK seems to be more interested than the one inside the UK – the ratings for the Sussex wedding inside the UK (and the requests for street closure licenses for “celebratory street parties”) were the lowest of any royal wedding broadcast in history, including the Wessex wedding. It was the outside audience that jacked up the figures. I kind of agree with Reese that if the BBC turned it down, it was a calculated decision on level of interest.
Just personally, seeing all the outfits and howlers is my reason for watching, too. I don’t say the York girls aren’t nice, no idea on that, they seem well brought up and kind. But I think others are right that this is Prince Andrew being angry at the increasing marginalization of his daughters as Charles’s heirs marry and have kids.
But the thing is, his life of privilege is based upon a certain hierarchical system, and the rules of that system make that decreasing importance inevitable as time marches on and nature takes its course. To me, it sounds like Prince Andrew is angry at the very system whose benefits he was perfectly happy to accept until that same system told him his “day” is over and others are well in front of him, if I have expressed that clearly.
No?
she and her sister are just duds trying to feel relevant. her father is a small minded little man who is out of touch with reality. forcing itv to screen the wedding for no reason? she hardly does any royal duties so why spend so much money for her wedding
She sounds like Fergie.
She could have had a beautiful wedding like Zara Phillips did and not insist on a carriage ride and not try to have it televised etc and give out tickets and try to make it into a major royal type wedding. She is a minor royal that few people around the world are interested in and it’s time she (well really not her but her parents) understood that. She is not that important that any anouncement of hers would upstage a major royal’s wedding.
Zara has benefitted from Princess Anne’s insistence that she not be titled Princess, and got a somewhat private life while still having a ton of perks. That’s the only way I would want to be part of this crew. Andrew, on the other hand, has always grasped for more, and we end up having these conversations.
The goings and comings of Zara’s wedding were shown on the bbc itself and 6000 people showed up for it. Watch it on YouTube if you want to see it for yourself. Sounds like the same is being done for eugenies wedding be it for ITV . And not 6000 people more like 1500 . Sounds like to me standard stuff here and dm is making shit up to get back at Fergie who is currently suing the parent company. Think for yourself people
6000 people showed up for Zara’s wedding because she and her husband are popular sportspeople in their own right. I’m annoyed about Eugenie’s carriage ride but I fully believe that Andrew and Sarah are the ones responsible for the extravagance. I don’t blame Eugenie.
Still even peter Phillips had 200 on lookers per the telegraph. And a carriage ride. And a full spread in hello magazine wtf
Just saw news that the wedding will be televised on ITV. I’m excited. I want to see what everyone is wearing. I wish nothing but the best for Eugenie and Jack. I take most of these stories with a grain of salt. Especially after the concerted efforts of the tabloids to blame these girls for their parents’ horribleness. We’ll find out what’s true in a few weeks. Until then, bigger fish to fry.
““The feeling among the Yorks is that she deserves her moment in the spotlight..”
To be honest, I think this is a weird way to describe a wedding. I get that it’s a bride’s big day, but that’s not the reason why you’re getting married. Also, since she’s royal, she’s used to dressing up and doing shindigs on a regular basis in a way a regular person isn’t, so I feel having the spotlight on her is something weird for her to aspire to — she’s not a Kardashian or supposed to have the mentality of one.
And it insinuates that the Yorks might be jealous of the attention received by other members of the family.
That family has more privilege than the vast majority of people on Earth and they still complain about not having more.
she is always badly dressed anyway so nothing new here
Ok Katie Nicholl, let us rephrase this to reflect the truth: Eugenie delayed in order for HER wedding not be upstaged by Harry’s wedding not the other way around like you are suggesting. Because anyone who thinks that the public would be more interested in Eugenie and Jack than Harry and Meghan is delusional. Sure Jan indeed.
bingo.
And I agree it’s Sarah and Andrew, not Eugenie behind this. That said if the wedding is televised I will watch it!
@Derriere – we get BBC here in the U.S., but I don’t think we get ITV? Does that mean we’ll have to wait for news coverage after the fact, or can US TV networks pick it up from ITV? I never have understood how that works. It’s a workday, anyway, here, so not sure it matters. . .
I don’t take days off from work to watch royal weddings for anything beyond six places in line . . . 🙂
Let’s be honest, Eugenie very much wants a public role. Most other not-in-direct-line royal brides have opted for relatively low key weddings.
She is marrying at Windsor just like Edward and Sophie, Autumn and Peter, Lady Helen Taylor. Two of those had carriage rides as part of their weddings. None of those were supposed to be working royals just as Eugenie won’t be. If anything I think Eugenie is fine with no royal role. Things are trickier for Beatrice who will be called on to be a Counsellor for a decade+ of her life.
Who is Lady Helen Taylor, nota? The name is new to me.
At least Lady Helen Taylor was a stunning, glamorous bride. She was the muse of Giorgio Armani in her prime. And her husband was far more dashing than Eugenie’s bloke. I know it’s superficial, but let’s face it, royalty is superficial in its very essence. Had Eugenie been a gorgeous media darling, marrying a similarly handsome man, perhaps this wedding wouldn’t have seemed so over top. At least there would have been value for money in terms of public interest.
Now, we are basically paying millions to watch poor Eugenie trotting down the isle, marrying a man whose name has already escaped me, and Beatrice and Andrew taking centre stage. None of them are charismatic or popular enough to warrant this spectacle. A private wedding at somewhere like Crathie Kirk would have been so dignified.
Agree.
If she didn’t want this wedding it wouldn’t be happening.
I, for one, couldn’t careless about E. I may watch just to see what Meghan’s wearing.
I’m actually hoping it gets televised, but that’s only because I want to get a good look at what everyone is wearing and how they’re behaving. Having Fergie there in such a prominent role as mother of the bride will be interesting to see.
By the way, I absolutely cannot wait for the Fergie year to come up on The Crown.
Did my eyes deceive me or did I read somewhere that the dress is alleged to be by Erdem?!
OMG. I don’t care when she was supposed to get married and/or engaged (really talk aboug FW problems!) but please, we headed of Erdem with the Sussex wedding, please please don’t inflict Erdem on us with this one!
Have I mentioned that I hate Erdem’s stuff?
I dunno what the stuff is about Kate’s outfit for the Sussex wedding (I just love typing out Sussex!) – to me it was quite clearly pale yellow, it didn’t remotely upstage the bride, and she was three weeks past giving birth to an 8.5lb. baby – there probably wasn’t much in the wardrobe that was springy that was appropriate. I remember also that the hormones are still running pretty high that soon after – you could still baby bump under the outfit. So I don’t get this suggestion of some dire aim to upstage the bride. To me, if anyone didn’t care, it was Amal Clooney and that bright yellow thing she wore. She strikes me as the famewho*e of all time. Kate seemed to me to be more interested in making sure her kids stayed in their lane . . .