This really is the year of the royal wedding: HI&RH Prince Georg Friedrich of Prussia married HSH Princess Sophie of Isenburg today, in Potsdam, Germany. Georg Friedrich is the great-great-grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last German Emperor and King of Prussia, and is the current head of the House of Hohenzollern. Despite the fact that the Kaiser was booted in 1919 and Germany is now a republic, the wedding was broadcast live on German television.
The bride and groom have known each other since childhood, and dated for several years before getting engaged. It's lucky, really, for Georg Friedrich that he was able to find a titled lady to love. If he had married a "commoner", he would have lost his inheritance as head of the House, which requires "equal" marriage. In fact, the family is in the midst of a spat as two of his uncles are challenging the fact that they lost their inheritances because of marriage in court.
Anyway, none of that has anything to do with our current topic: the bridal gown. Sophie's dress was created by German designer Wolfgang Joop and includes multiple kinds of silk with unique asymmetrical pleats and insert. (A shape which is very reminiscent of the pleating on
the gown she wore to the wedding ball in Monaco!) Sixty meters of material were used for the gown.
Over the dress, she wore a transparent silk organza jacket that extends back and creates the longer portion of her train. The dress is dyed to match the particular antique white shade of the Isenburg family veil, which is well over 100 years old and is fragile enough it had to be stitched on to the train to ensure it wouldn't drag on the ground.
The ensemble was capped with another one of Sophie's family heirlooms: the Isenburg Tiara, a beautiful and delicate diamond floral diadem.
Though this a radiant bride, I can't help but feel the dress is suffering from a mild personality disorder...the modern cut just isn't coming together with the dress shirt collar on the jacket. I preferred the ensembles she wore the day before the wedding, her civil ceremony dress and her lovely blue frock for the charity concert held the evening before:
There is a gala ball this evening which includes tiaras, and it has been reported that the bride will wear this gem, which belonged to Crown Princess Cecilie:
Pictures of the ball are just coming out as I write this, so stay tuned!
UPDATE: Reader Lily has been so kind as to send in a picture from
Bunte of the couple at the evening ball! Sophie wore her wedding dress without the strange jacket deal - so much better - and the aforementioned tiara, which is completely breathtaking.
Many thanks to Lily, and all the other readers that pointed out
Bunte pictures to me!
Photos: Getty Images/Reuters Pictures/Daylife/Nestor Bachmann/dpa/picture-alliance/PurePeople/Abaca/Bunte
