Wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lauren Bacall
The wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales and Lauren Bacall took place on 15 March 1947 at Oheka Castle in New York, USA. The groom was the eldest and only surviving son of King Edward VII and heir apparent to the throne, while the bride, namely Lauren Bacall was the only daughter of a salesman and a secretary, both of whom were Jewish. Unlike previous royal weddings, the wedding itself is starkly unique for being the very first to be held outside of Europe and the very first wedding to have a non-Christian participant, namely the bride whom remained Jewish until her own death.
Engagement
Charles, Prince of Wales was the eldest and from the year 1941, the only surviving child of King Edward VII and Princess Victoria Louise of Pruussia. As heir apparent to his father, Charles was traditionally expected to marry someone of equal prestige and standing, similar to all of his predecessors. Initially, prior into exiling himself to the United States, Charles was first affiliated with British socialite, Jessica Mitford. However, following an abrupt separation, the prince was then linked to another British socialite, namely Sarah Baring. Nevertheless, neither of these relationships lasted up to the point of a possible marriage between either side, with the prince subsequently remaining mostly unaffiliated for a period of time following his voluntary exile to the United States.
In early 1942, while furthering his career as a rising actor, Charles first met the newly debuted American actress, Lauren Bacall. Initially, owing to his own relative success as an actor himself, coupled with Bacall's then apparent inexperience in the field of acting, the former initially took the latter under his wing as an acting mentor. It was during this time that the pair first formed a close working bond as they generally starred together in several successful movies, some of which were directed by Charles himself. Thus, in April 1942, just a month prior to Charles's departure for Australia for the Second World War, the two finally struck up an off-screen romantic relationship, with Bacall and her mother later invited to reside at Charles's own estate during his two years long absence.
Three years later, after initially attracting a sizable degree of controversy among the British establishment and Parliament as a consequence of his wish to further marry Bacall, the pair were soon engaged when Charles's father, King Edward VII granted his consent for a possible union. Two years later, the couple was later married in Bacall's native state of New York.
Wedding
Venue
Unlike the preceding royal marriages, Charles and Bacall were instead married at the Oheka Castle in New York, rather than doing so at the traditional site of Westminster Abbey.
Bridal party
On the bride's side, Bacall herself was attended by only one bridesmaid of her own, namely Katharine Hepburn, also an American actress whom had been handpicked by the couple solely for the occasion. While on Charles's side, his best man was the American actor and singer, Frank Sinatra, whom was also similarly handpicked by the couple for the wedding occasion.
Wedding attire
The bride, Lauren Bacall donned a simple, white coloured long sleeves, high neck dress while the groom, Charles, Prince of Wales donned a Field Marshal uniform, alluding to his rank in the British Army.
Wedding service
From the couple's residence of Wales House, the Prince of Wales departed for Oheka Castle alongside his best man, Frank Sinatra onboard a white 1946 Triumph 1800 Roadster while the bridal party, consisting of the bride herself and her maid of honor, Katharine Hepburn departed for the wedding venue from the residence of Prince Frederick, Duke of Clarence and Avondale, merely a few miles away from Wales House. The bridal party's transport vehicle was a white Daimler DE.
The subsequent royal procession consisted of Charles's mother, Queen Louise, his uncle and cousin, the Duke of Clarence and Avondale and his son respectively, his adopted sister, Crown Princess Ingrid of Denmark, his aunts, the Duchess of Uppland and the Hereditary Princess of Denmark, and lastly, his grand uncle and aunt, the Duke and Duchess of Southampton, whose invitations to the wedding at first was contested by some due to their rather controversial past and the duchess's own Catholic faith.
As per the tradition, the wedding was solely officiated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher.
Music
By the Prince of Wales's behest, as to ensure that the wedding ceremony did not depart completely from the prince's native British traditions, the couple employed the choir group of the Royal Chapel, along with having their close friend and own groomsman, Frank Sinatra himself singing a song of his own said to had been specifically written for the occasion itself.
Titles
Prior to the wedding, Charles, as heir apparent to his father, King Edward VII, was the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles, and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland. Thus, following the wedding ceremony, Bacall automatically became the Princess of Wales. Additionally, the bride's mother, Natalie Bacall was later made a marchioness, the female equivalent of a marquess, by the groom's own behest upon coming to the throne several years later.
Post-wedding celebrations
Upon the conclusion of the wedding, the couple departed back for their residence of Wales House for the wedding breakfast alongside their respective family members and relatives.
Guests
Groom's family
- The Queen of the United Kingdom, the groom's parent
- The Duke and Duchess of Uppland, the groom's uncle and aunt
- Prince John of Sweden, the groom's first cousin
- Princess Sophia of Sweden, the groom's first cousin
- The Duke and Duchess of Clarence and Avondale, the groom's uncle and aunt
- Prince Charles of Clarence and Avondale, the groom's first cousin
- Princess Josephine of Clarence and Avondale, the groom's first cousin
- Princess Charlotte of Clarence and Avondale, the groom's first cousin
- The Hereditary Prince and Princess of Denmark, the groom's uncle and aunt
- Princess Henrietta of Denmark, the groom's first cousin
- Princess Charlotte of Denmark, the groom's first cousin
- The Duke and Duchess of Southampton, the groom's grand-uncle and aunt
- Princess Mary of Southampton, the groom's first cousin once removed
Bride's family
- Natalie Bacall, the bride's mother
Foreign royal guests included the Queen of Tonga, the King of Norway, the King and Queen of Belgium, the Queen of the Netherlands, the Crown Prince of Denmark, Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Sweden, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the Regent of Iraq, the King of Afghanistan, the Sultan of Johor, and the later Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III of Brunei.
On the American side, then President Harry S. Truman also attended the wedding alongside a number of his own cabinet members himself, along with a number of famed Hollywood figures at the time, generally considered to be friends of the couple.