Princess Beatrice has arrived at the high society wedding of Prince Jean-Christophe Napoleon Bonaparte and his bride Countess Olympia von und zu Arco-Zinneberg – try saying that after a few wines.
The princess jetted to Paris, France, for the lavish royal wedding, which sees the former Imperial House of France and the House of Hapsburg reunited once again, some two centuries after Napoleon married the Archduchess of Austria.
Groom Jean-Christophe, 33, works as a private equity manager in London, but just so happens to be the sole heir of his great-great-great grandfather Napoleon Bonaparte, from whom he takes his name.
He has married Countess Olympia, 31, who is the great-granddaughter of Karl I of Austria, having proposed with an enormous 40 – carat diamond taken from the crown of Napoleon III’s wife Eugenie de Montijo – the last empress of France.
Her £ 1million engagement ring had been stolen from inside an unlocked Mercedes in Paris earlier this year, but the thief was later caught and her ring returned.
Princess Beatrice, 31, was seen arriving before the ceremony with her new fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
She got engaged to the 34 – year-old property tycoon in September and showed off her diamond engagement ri ng after he popped the question during a romantic trip to Rome.
The daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, wore a £ 1, 375 floral silk-satin tea dress with a peter pan collar by The Vampire’s Wife.
She paired The LA Dress with a pale blue Topshop trench coat, a £ 30 pair of black Carvela Lulu heels and a peach satin boater hat by Julian Garner.
The newlyweds even share a distant ancestor through the centuries, but have insisted their relationship is a love match rather than a nod to history.
Speaking after their engagement in May, Jean-Christophe said: “It’s a story of love rather than a nod to history. When I met Olympia, I plunged into her eyes and not into her family tree.
“Afterwards we were able to smile at this historical coincidence.”
The happy couple met when Olympia spent a semester abroad in Paris, while studying for her political science degree from Yale.
Their marriage, he told French newspaper Le Figaro, would be “the fruit of European reconciliation and construction, which I believe in enormously “.
Jean-Christophe and Olympia tied the knot at Les Invalides in Paris, where Napoleon’s body was returned from St Helena following his political exile from France.
The bride wore an incredible leaf-inspired white wedding dress featuring cape-esque shoulders and a dip hem, which she paired with an elegant and simple white veil that cascaded down her back and along her extended train.
The countess styled her designer dress with white pointed heels and a silver and diamond tiara, along with a pair of diamond drop earrings.
She clutched a pretty bouquet of white gypsophila with green foliage and smiled nervously outside the chapel as she was accompanied by her father, Count Riprand of Arco-Zinneberg.
Olympia was attended by a handful of small bridesmaids, each wearing white dresses with pale green sashes and flower crowns in their hair.
Jean-Christophe has previously been hailed as a political influencer in France, with his own grandfather noting in his will that he wanted the then 11 – year-old to succeed him as head of the Imperial House.
“The Bonapartes have always been modern men in the avant-garde and helping their era to move forward, and figures who have built their own lives with an extraordinary freedom, “said the groom in May.
“I firmly intend to pursue my heritage in this direction.”
The married couple are believed to be planning to live in London together after their honeymoon.
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