21st-Century Royal Weddings

Princess Madeleine of Sweden and her guy,
Christoher O'Neill on June 8, 2013.

by Kellyann Zuzulo

Every bride wishes for a fairytale wedding. But if you already have a palace at your back and a prince at your side, you sort of have a leg up. There are so many royals in Europe that there are bound to be fairly frequent royal weddings. Just this month, Swedish Princess Madeleine, youngest of Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia and fourth in line to the throne, invested her heart and wedding dress with New York banker Christopher O'Neill.

Prince Willem-Alexander & Maxima

Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands was still a prince when he married his princess, Maxima, in 2002. His mother, Queen Beatrix, later abdicated in favor of this favorite son. Now, they are King and Queen. (I'll bet Camilla wishes QE would take a tip and abdicate.) The Dutch king had a sort of a boring wedding pose. But check out the inauguration shot: much sassier.

A prince becomes a king.
"Hooray" they all shout for King Willem.

Princess Mary of Denmark

Princess Mary of Denmark wasn't a princess until she married Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark, in 2004. When he becomes King, she will be Queen Consort. Do you think she calls him Freddy?

Nik and Tata

Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Tatiana Blatnik were married on the Greek island of Spetses in May 2012. I think this would have to be my favorite wedding, in terms of how I would do it. Seems more relaxed, with the little urchins all in white in the background. Cobblestones beneath their feet, sea air surrounding. Lovely.

Princess Charlene wears Armani.

Prince Albert of Monaco finally settled down with his princess, Charlene in July 2011. This, of course, was the same year of THE wedding...when Will married Kate. Or, rather, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, married regular girl, Kate Middleton, making her a princess and a duchess.

So last century (1995)

Okay, so this wedding occurred in 1995, but I thought I'd include it because they are a quintessential 21st-century royal family. That would be Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece and Prince of Denmark (not sure how that works), who married Marie-Chantal Miller. Not a very impressive surname, but her dad's a billionaire. Pavlos and Marie-Chantal attended the recent wedding of Princess Madeleine with their FIVE children. Look at that photo. Can you say "GAP ad." Adorable.

But, baby, look at her now! Oh, mama.

Printh Felipe of Spain and Letizia.
(Yes, I did the Spanish lisp thing.)

Despite years of civil war in the last century, Spain still has a royal family. Prince Felipe married his chica Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, a former television journalist, in 2004. They have two darling muchacas.

No caption necessary.

And, finally, just to prove that it's never too late to have a fairytale wedding. Prince Charles married his princess in 2005. The nice thing about an "older" wedding is that you don't have to bother with an elaborate gown and you can wear a really big hat.

Charles & Camilla, BFFs.

Hey, which dress do you like the best?

Best Wishes!

Kellyann Zuzulo

The Genie Ignites is a finalist in the Abalone Awards for "Outstanding Ethno-Cultural Romance." Pick up your copy today!