Hold on to your hats: Princess Eugenie marries in grand royal wedding

Queen Elizabeth's granddaughter Princess Eugenie married wine merchant Jack Brooksbank at Windsor Castle on Friday in front of celebrities and Britain's senior royals including Prince Harry and wife Meghan who wed at the same venue in May.

Eugenie, 28, younger daughter of the queen's third child, Prince Andrew, and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, tied the knot with Brooksbank, 32, in a traditional ceremony in the castle's 15th-century St George's Chapel.

It was the same setting as Harry and Meghan's wedding in May, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as the couple are now known, were among the star-studded congregation.

The couple, while showing clear signs of nerves, beamed happily during the hour-long service.

'This is meant to be a family wedding,' Eugenie's father Andrew said earlier.

'There will be a few more people than most people have, there are a few more than Harry had, but that's just the nature of Eugenie and Jack – they've got so many friends that they need a church of that size to fit them all in,' he told This Morning which broadcast the event live.

Several hundred singing and cheering well-wishers gathered outside in Windsor in the shadow of the castle, far fewer than the thousands that crammed into the town for Harry's wedding.

'I'm a true royalist,' David Weeks, 77, bedecked in a Union Jack suit and bowler hat, told Reuters. 'I was here for the queen's 90th birthday. I was here for Harry and Meghan's wedding, I wouldn't miss it, I love the atmosphere.'

The ceremony was conducted by the Dean of Windsor, David Conner, and Eugenie's elder sister, Princess Beatrice, the maid of honour, read an extract from the F Scott Fitzgerald novel The Great Gatsby which the bride had read after meeting her future husband in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier in 2010.

'One particular passage in which Jay Gatsby is described reminded her immediately of Jack,' Conner said. 'She decided she wanted eventually to let Jack know how much those words had brought him to mind.'

One noticeable absentee was Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, the wife of Prince Charles, as she was carrying out an engagement in Scotland.

Princess Charlotte (3) daughter of Harry's elder brother Prince William and his wife Kate, was a bridesmaid, and her brother, Prince George (5) a page boy.

After the service, the couple took an open-top horse-drawn carriage tour of Windsor before a reception at the castle, hosted by the queen.

Eugenie is a director at London's Hauser & Wirth art gallery and Brooksbank owns a wine wholesale business and is European brand manager for Casamigos Tequila, which was co-founded by US actor George Clooney.

Security around Windsor was tight, with airport-style security checks and large numbers of police. As Eugenie does not carry out official royal duties, republicans have said it is wrong that the estimated £2 million ($2.6 million) security bill will be paid by taxpayers.

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