It’s the summer of the relaxed royal wedding. It began in early June with Harriet Sperling and Peter Phillips marrying in a bucolic ceremony in the Cotswolds which felt more like an intimate family occasion than a day of pomp and ceremony. Later that month, on the eve of the summer solstice, Lady Marina Windsor, daughter of the Earl and Countess of St Andrews and granddaughter of the Duke of Kent, celebrated her marriage to Nico Macauley at All Saints’ church in the North Yorkshire village of Hovingham.
As these photographs from the day illustrate, Lady Marina, her family and friends revelled in the glorious midsummer sunshine, blending regal tradition and laid-back bohemian ease to set a new template for joyful royal wedding celebrations.
Lady Marina commissioned sustainability specialist Larissa von Planta to create her wedding gown – Rachael Fraser
Lady Marina, 33, who forfeited her place in the line of succession when she was confirmed into the Roman Catholic church in 2008, commissioned Larissa von Planta, a designer who specialises in upcycled, sustainable pieces, to create her main wedding gown using a number of antique fabrics, including an Austrian lave veil which was held in place by the Kent Pearl and Diamond fringe tiara, a striking family heirloom which has been worn by generations of Kent women.
To finish off her very personal wedding look, Lady Marina turned to Penelope Chilvers, the mother of her bridesmaid Gemma Sort Chilvers, to design a pair of shoes as thoughtful as the rest of the ensemble.
The bride wore a pair of ivory velvet Mary Jane pumps designed by Penelope Chilvers – Rachael Fraser
“It was such an honour and joy to have my wedding shoes made bespoke by Penelope Chilvers,” Lady Marina tells The Telegraph. “I have known Penelope, Gemma and Africa [Gemma’s sister] for most of my life and love them with all my heart. I have been the biggest fan of PC shoes [for] as long as I can remember and they are almost the only brand of shoe I wear. So, to wear these special creations at my wedding felt poignant and meaningful.”
Chilvers, whose shoe designs are loved by many other royals including the Duchess of Edinburgh and the Princess of Wales, took inspiration from Lady Marina’s beautiful tiara for the shoes she created: “For the ceremony and reception on the lawn we designed a pair of ivory velvet Mary Jane heeled pumps, on our best-selling heel height of 7.5cm, with a special touch of sparkle on the buckle to match her diamond tiara.”
Designer Penelope Chilvers (right) pictured with her daughter, Gemma, who was a bridesmaid at the wedding
In a nod to the carefree ambiance of the day, Lady Marina was just as keen that her shoes were easy to wear throughout the festivities. “Penelope’s shoes have a rich soul, impeccable style, are incredibly comfortable and have an amazing story and heritage to them. I felt very lucky and happy indeed to have them as such a key part of the wedding,” she said.
Lady Marina’s bespoke ivory Mary Janes were not the only Penelope Chilvers designs to feature in the wedding, though. Given the designer and her children are like family to the Windsors, it was only natural that her shoes featured throughout, from the rose velvet platforms that Lady Marina wore in the evening (“designed for dancing long into the night”) to the two pairs of espadrilles that the bride’s sister Lady Amelia wore from daytime to dancing.
As a friend of the Windsor family, Penelope Chilvers’ footwear was Lady Marina’s first choice
“Almost all the bridesmaids and many of the guests were wearing the brand, which made me feel so proud,” says Chilvers, who rocked her Hibiscus platforms in verdigris velvet while her daughter Gemma chimed with the bride’s sustainable gown by rewearing her own wedding dress, now dyed candyfloss pink, for bridesmaid duties.
Other guests at the wedding included Lady Helen Taylor, the bride’s aunt, who wore a mustard Roksanda dress, Lady Gabriella Windsor, daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, chic in pastel blue Sandro and Flora Vesterburg, granddaughter of Princess Alexandra, who was elegant in a Hill House Home smocked dress.
The decision to pay tribute to Lady Marina’s tiara with her wedding shoes was all the more special because one of the most famous women to wear it previously was her grandmother, the Duchess of Kent, who died last year aged 92.
In her time as a working royal, the Duchess, who was born at Hovingham Hall where Marina and Nico held their reception, was a style leader renowned for her polished elegance. In fact, Lady Marina comes from a long line of fashionable royal women, from Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark, for whom she is named, who topped best-dressed lists and appeared in Vogue, to her aunt Lady Helen, who was a longtime muse of Giorgio Armani.
The relaxed royal wedding took place at Hovingham Hall, where Lady Marina’s mother was born
All of these women have worn the Kent Pearl and Diamond fringe tiara in some form. The design was modernised in the 1970s after Lady Marina’s grandmother was given Queen Mary’s Diamond Crochet Bandeau tiara by Princess Marina as a wedding gift.
It has been worn in its current form by the late Duchess of Kent, Marina’s mother, Sylvana, the Countess of St Andrews, and Lady Helen Taylor. Until Marina’s wedding last month, it had not been worn since the 1990s. But on that happy, relaxed and colourful day in June, it was given a whole new lease of life.
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