The Duke of Northumberland’s second daughter, Lady Melissa Percy, married Thomas van Straubenzee in a ceremony in Alnwick today.  It was billed as the “society wedding of the year” and the “royal wedding of the North”.  There were about 500 people in attendance, including: Prince Harry, Prince William, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Chelsy Davy (who served as a bridesmaid), Pippa Middleton, and Cressida Bonas (go here and here to get the rundown of the who’s who of the society set that attended the wedding).  Kate Middleton was “unable” to attend due to “fear that she might go into labor early”.  The bride arrived in a 200 year old family carriage that has been fully restored.  I will be covering the fashion from the wedding in a separate post so as to not over clutter one post.  Go here for the Order of Service.  I’m sure it was a beautiful wedding, and, from what I can tell in pictures, the bride and groom do seem happy.  Congratulations and best wishes on their wedding and good luck for the future!

I suggested last night that Kate was in fact asked not to come by the Percy family and the story about her choosing to stay home was to save face.  According to this video, the Duchess of Northumberland wanted this wedding to be about “Missy and Van” and not about the people attending.  So I was probably right.