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Aristocrats flock to Russia for first royal wedding in century
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov, 40, and his Italian fiance Rebecca Virginia Bettarini, 39, were preparing to say their vows at Saint Isaac's cathedral in the former imperial capital Saint Petersburg in the presence of dozens of European royals.
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Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov and Victoria Romanovna Bettarini leave the Saint Isaac's Cathedral as Russian honour guards salute them during their wedding ceremony in Saint Petersburg, on October 1, 2021. Russia was to hold its first royal wedding, on October 1, 2021, since the 1917 Bolshevik revolution toppled the Romanov monarchy, with royals from across Europe expected at the lavish ceremony. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov, 40, and his Italian fiance Rebecca Virginia Bettarini, 39, will say their vows at the Saint Isaac's cathedral in the former imperial capital Saint Petersburg in the presence of dozens of royals. (AFP/Olga Maltseva)
R
ussia on Friday held its first royal wedding since the 1917 Bolshevik revolution toppled the Romanov monarchy, with aristocrats travelling from across Europe for the lavish ceremony.
Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov, 40, and his Italian fiance Rebecca Virginia Bettarini, 39, were preparing to say their vows at Saint Isaac's cathedral in the former imperial capital Saint Petersburg in the presence of dozens of European royals.
Hundreds of foreign guests travelled to Russia's second city for the Orthodox Christian ceremony, including Queen Sofia of Spain, Prince Rudolph and Princess Tilsim of Liechtenstein, and the former king and queen of Bulgaria.
The guest list of 1,500 people included other prominent names like Konstantin Malofeyev, a monarchist and billionaire close to the Kremlin, and Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
Ahead of the wedding, Romanov said the couple chose to tie the knot in Saint Petersburg because it was the first place in the country where the family returned in the early 1990s.
"It is very, very close to our family," he told Saint Petersburg-based news website Fontanka ahead of the wedding.
Saint Petersburg is "the history of Russia," he added, "the history of the House of Romanov."
