Zara Phillips's Wedding
Zara Phillips, Prince William's cousin who is 13th in line to the throne, and Mike Tindall, captain of England's rugby team, were married on a glorious, sunny day in historic Edinburgh Saturday.
The 3 p.m. ceremony took place at Canongate Kirk, a small Church of Scotland venue where the Queen worships when she stays in Edinburgh. The modest church dates back to 1688.
The bride made her arrival at a fashionably late six minutes past the hour in an ivory silk and duchess satin gown by Stewart Parvin – the personal couturier to the Queen – and a silk tulle cathedral veil. She carried a huge bouquet of cream-colored flowers and accessorized with Jimmy Choo shoes and a tiara on loan from Princess Anne. Tindall wore a suit adorned with coattails and a light grey stripe on the trouser legs.
Guests began arriving at 1 p.m. via private coach bus, and the women were resplendent with colorful hats and fancy fascinators.
Princess Beatrice was among the first guests to arrive, wearing a turquoise hat with matching floral dress. Prince William and wife Kate (who wore a cream suit and matching hat) pulled up right afterwards in a black Jaguar. Princess Anne and her husband Tim Laurence followed and then another car brought Prince Charles and Camilla, also dressed in cream.
Prince William and wife Kate
At the bride's request, the Gordonstoun Chamber Choir – the student chorus from the Scottish private school she attended – sang at the ceremony, performing the "Gaelic Blessing" and then "Amazing Grace" at the signing of the register.
The reception will be held at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the Queen's residence not far from the church. Zara spent many school holidays visiting her grandmother there. The use of the venue (which is being closed to the public for five days) is valued at an estimated $60,000. It will cost a reported $800,000 to police the wedding, and marksmen are expected at vantage points to protect the royal guests.
With guests expected to number no more than 300, the couple looked forward to a private, family affair. "My wedding will be nothing like Kate and William's. For a start, there won't be anywhere near as many people. It will be a lot smaller, just close family and friends. Kate and William's wedding was amazing but ours will be very different," Phillips told Hello Magazine.
A Royal Love Story
Known as "The Fridge" in rugby circles, Tindall proposed by getting down on one knee with a platinum-and-pave diamond engagement ring while Phillips was watching television on the sofa. Her first reaction was to laugh before she eventually said "yes," according to the Mail on Sunday's magazine.
In 2003, Prince Harry introduced the pair at a bar in Sydney during the Rugby World Cup. Tindall celebrated his upcoming nuptials with a wild stag night in Miami, where he racked up a $20,000 bar bill and was photographed wearing a pink tutu. Phillips's bachelorette bash consisted of 19 guests at a spa in Portugal.
Prior to the wedding, the couple hosted a private cocktail reception on the Royal Yacht Britannia, a decommissioned ship docked in Edinburgh. Tindall stayed at the Balmoral Hotel, where J.K. Rowling finished her Harry Potter novels. Zara stayed at the Palace of Holyroodhouse on her last night before she became Mrs. Tindall.
Tindall's parents, who were beaming upon entering the church, come from a modest background. His father retired as a bank official and is battling Parkinson's Disease. His mother was a social worker. Tindall has said that Phillips's royal stature is of no matter, and that even if she worked as a cashier at a grocery store, he would still be in love with her./people.com
