The wedding of Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank took place on 12 October 2018 at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in the United Kingdom. The bride is a member of the British royal family. The groom is a British wine merchant, brand ambassador of Casamigos Tequila, and socialite. The dean of Windsor, David Conner, officiated at the wedding using the standard Anglican church service for Holy Matrimony published in Common Worship, the liturgical text of the Church of England. Princess Eugenie was the first British princess of royal blood to marry in the Church of England since the wedding of Princess Anne and Mark Phillips 45 years before.
Engagement announcement
Princess Eugenie of York is the second daughter of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah Ferguson. At the time of the engagement announcement, she was eighth in the line of succession to the British throne.
Jack Christopher Stamp Brooksbank is the European brand manager for Casamigos Tequila, the company co-founded by George Clooney. Brooksbank is descended from the Brooksbank baronets: he is the great-great-grandson of Sir Edward Clitherow Brooksbank, 1st Baronet. Jack is a third cousin twice removed of Princess Eugenie through Thomas Coke, 2nd Earl of Leicester. His great-grandfather is Sir Jack Coke, Gentleman Usher to King George VI and Extra Gentleman Usher to Queen Elizabeth II. Brooksbank's parents are Old Etonian George Brooksbank, a company director and chartered accountant, and his wife, Nicola (née Newton) who split their time between London and France's Bordeaux wine region. Jack has a younger brother, Thomas who is also an Old Etonian. After completion of his studies at Stowe School, Brooksbank worked in hospitality and management at establishments such as the Mahiki club and the Markham Inn gastropub. His first job after leaving school was in service at the Admiral Codrington pub in Chelsea.
The couple had been dating for seven years and they were first introduced by friends in a ski break in Verbier, Switzerland, where Brooksbank was working at the time.
On 22 January 2018, Buckingham Palace announced that they would marry in the autumn. They were engaged earlier the same month while in Nicaragua with Brooksbank giving the Princess an oval-cut Padparadscha sapphire surrounded by a halo of diamonds set on a gold band with two further diamonds on the shoulders. The ring bears a striking similarity to the engagement ring of Princess Eugenie's mother. Its value is estimated to be between $30,000 and $150,000.
Although Eugenie is a member of the British royal family, she does not require the Queen's permission to marry. The Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York expressed their delight at the news and the British Prime Minister Theresa May congratulated the couple on her Twitter account. After the announcement the couple gave an interview to Matt Baker of BBC One. The official engagement photographs were taken in the Picture gallery at Buckingham Palace. During the public announcement of the engagement, Eugenie wore a floral Erdem cocktail dress to coordinate with the pink sapphire engagement ring. She had previously worn the dress for a 2016 interview with Harper's Bazaar.
To mark the wedding of Eugenie and Jack, the Royal Collection Trust produced an official range of commemorative china, showing a monogram surmounted by the coronet of Princess Eugenie, alongside the couple's entwined monogram.
During the week preceding the wedding, Buckingham Palace and the Duke of York shared family photographs to commemorate the wedding. The couple gave a final interview to ITV's This Morning on 11 October 2018, released before the live coverage of the wedding.
Wedding
Planning The Duke of York announced shortly after the engagement announcement that the wedding would be held on Friday, 12 October 2018. Eugenie, who is a supporter of charities that battle plastic pollution, stated that she was organizing a plastic-free wedding ceremony. The couple reportedly hired Peregrine Armstrong-Jones, founder of Bentley's Entertainment and half-brother of Princess Margaret's husband, the Earl of Snowdon, to plan the wedding parties. Rob Van Helden designed an autumnal floral theme for the ceremony using roses, hydrangeas, dahlias and berries from Windsor Great Park. The Duke of York later described the event as a family wedding, rather than a public one.
Venue
After the engagement announcement, it was announced that the wedding would take place in autumn 2018 at St George's Chapel, Windsor, a few months after the wedding of her cousin, Prince Harry, making it the second royal wedding at the chapel that year. The venue was the site for the weddings of her uncle the Earl of Wessex and cousin Peter Phillips and the blessing for the second marriage of her uncle the Prince of Wales. The Duke of York later revealed that it was the Queen who suggested St George's Chapel to be used as the venue for the ceremony.
Cost The wedding and the parties were paid for privately by the bride's parents and family, not by the public as commonly thought. The royal family also paid for flowers, entertainment and the dress.
Experts expected the wedding to cost the public around £2 million due to security, Thames Valley Police having confirmed they would be responsible for security on the day. The cost of providing security was expected to be lower than for the weddings of Princes William and Harry, but an exact estimate has not been given. Thames Valley Police were expected to use a special grant provided by the tax payer to cover its costs. Windsor and Maidenhead Borough Council was to spend money on stewarding and setting up parking, and were expected to receive a government reimbursement. This caused controversy across the country with many people, including Labour Party Members of Parliament Emma Dent Coad and Chris Williamson, claiming they should not contribute. Republic, an anti-monarchist group, launched a petition asking the House of Commons to withdraw public funding for the wedding. The petition received around 50,000 signatures.
Wedding attire The wedding invitations specified a dress code for men of "dress, morning coat" and for women, "day dress and hat".
Bride and bridal attendants
The bride wore a long-sleeved ivory "open-back" dress with folded shoulders and flowing full length train designed by Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos. Eugenie, who did not wear any veil, wanted her scar from the scoliosis operation that she had undergone at the age of 12 to be revealed. The bride also wore a pair of diamond and emerald earrings, gifted to her by Brooksbank. The Queen lent her granddaughter the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara, which was made in 1919 by Boucheron for Dame Margaret Greville and bequeathed by Mrs. Greville to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother in 1942. It features "brilliant and rose cut diamonds pavé set in platinum, with six emeralds on either side". For the customary bridal themes of "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue", Eugenie had her emerald drop earrings (the "new"), the Queen's tiara (the "borrowed" and "old".), and a handful of "blue thistle flowers" in her bouquet (the "blue"). Hairstylist Sonny-Jo MacFarlane styled Eugenie's hair in a "loose chignon". The bride wore shoes by Charlotte Olympia. Her bouquet, created by Patrice Van Helden Oakes, consisted of "Lily of the Valley, Stephanotis pips, hints of baby blue thistles, white spray roses, trailing ivy, and sprigs of myrtle from Osborne House". After the wedding the bridal bouquet was placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey, following royal tradition that began with the Queen Mother. Bobbi Brown make-up artist Hannah Martin did Eugenie's make-up for the ceremony.
Maid of honour Princess Beatrice wore an outfit by Ralph & Russo and a hat by Sarah Cant. The bridesmaids and pageboys wore dresses and uniforms designed by Amaia Arrieta. The design incorporates the Mark Bradford artwork included in the Order of Service. The bridesmaids carried flowers by Rob Van Helden similar to that of the bride's bouquet. The special attendant, Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, wore a dress by Claudie Pierlot and a hat by Emily London.
Groom and best man The groom and the best man wore morning dress with tie pins given to them by Eugenie which featured "the white rose of York and the Padparadscha sapphire".
Wedding party Eugenie picked her sister, Princess Beatrice of York, as maid of honour after having previously announced it in a Vogue interview in August. Thomas Brooksbank, brother of the groom, was his best man, and that the bridesmaids and page boys would all be children. A total of six bridesmaids and two page boys were chosen: Eugenie's godchild, Maud Windsor, daughter of Lord and Lady Frederick Windsor, her cousin Peter Phillips' daughters Isla and Savannah Phillips, her cousin Zara Tindall's eldest daughter Mia Tindall, her cousin the Duke of Cambridge's eldest children Prince George and Princess Charlotte, as well as Theodora Williams, daughter of Ayda Field and Robbie Williams, and Louis de Givenchy, son of Olivier and Zoë de Givenchy. Eugenie's cousins Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor and James, Viscount Severn were special attendants.
Members of the Nijmegen Company Grenadier Guards, of which the Duke of York is Colonel, lined the West Steps of the chapel as the couple depart for their carriage procession.
Wedding service
On 14 September 2018, the palace announced that the ceremony would commence at 11:00am. Members of the royal family started to arrive at the chapel at 10:25am. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were the last members of the royal family to depart for the ceremony, as is traditional, arriving at the chapel at 10.52am. Shortly after, the bride arrived in a 1977 Rolls-Royce Phantom VI and proceeded down the aisle escorted by her father. He accompanied her through the Nave to the Organ Screen, where the groom and the best man were standing. After the introduction had been read by the dean of Windsor, the couple along with the best man and the bride's father were led through the Quire Gates and into the Quire of the Chapel.
It had been announced that the Dean of Windsor, David Conner, would give the address at their wedding. The dean also officiated as the couple made their marriage vows. The Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, had written a personal prayer for the service, which was included in the Order of Service.
Brooksbank's first cousin, Charles Brooksbank, gave the first reading taken from St Paul's Letter to the Colossians (Chapter 3, verses 12–16), followed by another reading by Princess Beatrice of York taken from The Great Gatsby.
The marriage vows were those published in Common Worship, and included the promise "to love and to cherish" each other. This was sealed by putting a ring on the fourth finger of bride's left hand. The ring is made out of the Welsh gold. After the signing of the registers, Eugenie and Brooksbank together with the guests sang the national anthem. The couple paused briefly to bow and curtsey to the Queen before walking down the aisle. They were followed in procession by other members of the bridal party and by their families. The couple shared a kiss on the steps outside the chapel.
Music Members of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the State Trumpeter of the Household Cavalry trumpeters provided music for the service. James Vivian, the Director of Music at St George's Chapel, prepared two hymns exclusively for the couple. Hymns sung at the wedding included "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken" words by John Newton, tune Abbot's Leigh; "Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise" words by Walter Chalmers Smith, tune "St Denio"; and Love Divine, All Loves Excelling words by Charles Wesley, tune Blaenwerm.