What better setting for the Queen’s favourite son to marry in than the grounds of her favourite home, Windsor Castle. Prince Edward, fifth in line to the throne, married Sophie, daughter of a car tyre salesman, after a three-year courtship, and the couple became the Count and Countess of Wessex.
The wedding was an evening affair. The ceremony took place at five o’clock, and the women were asked to wear evening dress, the men morning suit or kilts, and no hats were required. Only the Queen Mother ignored the request, turning up in a powder blue dress and hat resplendent with a feather.
The bride wowed fashion commentators by wearing a panelled coat-dress for the ceremony. The coat was later removed for the evening party, revealing a more traditional top and skirt ensemble.
After the ceremony, the couple left the chapel in an open carriage and were driven to Windsor Castle for a reception that went on until the small hours.
In November 2003, a daughter, the Wessex’s first child and the Queen’s seventh grandchild, was born prematurely. She was christened Louise Alice Elizabeth Mary Mountbatten Windsor.
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