Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Prince marries his American girl



April 14, 1928

Disregarding the wishes of his family, Prince Charles-Phillipe, the Duke of Nemours, arranged to meet his American girlfriend, Marguerite Watson, of Washington, D.C., at the Henrietta Street registrar's office in London, where they were married today in a civil ceremony. The "quiet ceremony" was attended only by the American vice-consul and the Earl of Carrick's son-in-law, Toby Charlton, according to the Chicago Tribune's news service.

 Claude Marcel, a friend of the Prince's, was also a witness.

The Duke's family had tried to stop the marriage "by forestalling the Catholic dispensation," but Prince Charles-Philippe decided to go ahead and marry in a civil ceremony.

The 29-year-old bride, who is the daughter of the late Garrett Fitzgerald Watson, arrived at noon with her fiance, wearing a "navy blue frock, long navy coat trimmed in fox fur and a cloche hat to match."

The new Duchess de Nemours is still recovering from an appendectomy, "which was at first given as the reason for the postponed marriage." The New York Times reports that the bride "still looked thin and pale" as the result of her operation.
 
The bride's mother, Mrs. Garrett Fitzgerald Watson, who is in New York, received a cable yesterday announcing the marriage of her daughter. The bride has "distinguished ancestry on both sides of her family." Her maternal grandmother, Baroness Marie von Kettler, was the daughter of Baron von Kettler, who "fought in the Russian campaign with Napoleon the First." Her great grandmother, on her mother's side, was Countess von Schwerin, a "member of an ancient noble house." On her father's side, the new princess descends from "historical families of Carrington, Cabell, and Lyons, who settled in Virginia during Colonial days."

For several weeks, the bride has been visiting her husband's sister, Princess Marie Louise, who lives in London.
 
After the ceremony, the bride got in alone into a "rattletrap London taxicab," while the prince and his friends "followed into another.

The Duke of Nemours, 23,  is the youngest child and only son of Prince Emmanuel of Orleans and Princess Henriette of Belgium.

1 comment:

Bea said...

Marlene, I have read some articles on this couple and some say she came from nothing and some like this say she has an impressive family. Well maybe compared to her husband's family its not that great. Thank you for putting this article up with this great picture. Bea