Saturday, December 6th, 2008 2
After a gala evening at nearby Zemst on Friday the guests for the wedding of Count Rodolphe de Limburg Stirum and Archduchess Marie-Christine of Austria had a good night sleep. Around noon several royals could be spotted strolling through the shopping streets of Mechelen and walking around on the market square. Some even had a look outside the cathedral and the town hall. Late in the morning I had a chance to get into the town hall, as there had been another civil wedding, and the doors were only closed after all guests of that wedding had left.
The couple had chosen to marry in Mechelen because it is a town with a rich historical past. Here among others one of the ancestors of Archduchess Marie-Christine, Margaretha of Austria, resided as governess of the Netherlands.
The civil wedding at the town hall was attended by close family, friends and some of the higher royal guests. The groom arrived by car together with his parents. Also the bride arrived by car together with her parents. The wedding was scheduled to take place at 2.30/3.00pm. Afterwards guests, bride and groom drove by car to the nearby cathedral. Because of the wet streets - as it had been raining heavily from time to time in the afternoon - it wasn't possible to walk the short distance.
The bride wore a white satin bridal dress, designed by couturier Yves Dooms from Brussels, around the wrists there was white fur.The four metres long train was covered with a veil of old lace, that once belonged to Empress Eugénie, wife of Emperor Napoléon III of France. Before the lace was also used for the cradle of the son of Emperor Napoléon I of France. The diademe belonged to the grand-ducal family of Luxemburg, and was once in the possession of her great-grandmother Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxemburg.
