London – Pippa Middleton, the sister of Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, pleased a crowd of journalists and onlookers by sealing her marriage to wealthy hedge fund manager James Matthews with a kiss outside church on Saturday, local media reported.
Bells rang out to mark the marriage after a one-hour ceremony as the guests began leaving St Mark’s church in Englefield, Berkshire, for a lavish reception in a giant glass-walled marquee erected in the nearby grounds of Middleton’s parents’ home.
Middleton, 33, and Matthews, 41, waved to the crowd and kissed in front of the door to the church before they headed for the reception, according to images and video posted by the BBC and other media outlets.
Pippa Middleton wedding – The Duchess of Cambridge’s sister Pippa Middleton arrives with their father Michael Middleton, at St Mark’s church in Englefield, Berkshire, for her wedding to her millionaire groom James Matthews at an event dubbed the society wedding of the year. Photo: PA Wire
Pippa had arrived in an open-top vintage car, wearing a traditional short-sleeved, white lace dress for what local media dubbed Britain’s “wedding of the year.”
The dress was made by celebrity designer Giles Deacon, according to a tweet by Robert Johnson, the royal editor of the London Evening Standard.
Kate and her husband, Prince William, and their two children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, all attended the wedding.
Prince Harry was also there, as was tennis star Roger Federer. Three-year-old George and two-year-old Charlotte acted as page boy and bridesmaid at the wedding.
But there was no sign of Prince Harry’s girlfriend, Meghan Markle, amid speculation that she would attend the reception.
Pippa Middleton wedding – Pippa Middleton and her husband James Matthews leave St Mark’s church in Englefield, Berkshire, following their wedding. Photo: Arthur Edwards/The Sun/PA Wire/dpa
Many royal watchers had hoped to see clues that Markle’s blossoming romance with Harry could soon lead to a royal wedding that might eclipse Saturday’s event.
The families of Middleton and Matthews gave no public statements about Saturday’s events.
According to reports and rumours published by British media, the wedding banquet will be a Scottish-themed event for between 150 and 350 guests, including a fly-past by a Spitfire, a British World War II fighter plane.
The Daily Mail said about 120 guests were invited to the church and some 300 to the reception.
Pippa’s uncle, Gary Goldsmith, posted photographs on Twitter of him and his daughter in their wedding outfits with one caption reading: “Proud dad, off we go.”
Goldsmith was wearing a tartan waistcoat, in a possible confirmation of the rumoured Scottish theme.
Two other male guests arrived at the church wearing red tartan trousers.
The Daily Mirror said Goldmsith’s posts had “broken the social media ban” surrounding the wedding, but the newspaper did not say who had imposed a ban.
Many uninvited royalists travelled to Englefield in the hope of wishing the couple well and seeing members of the royal family.
“I want to see little George, and Charlotte,” Janice Clayton, 74, from north-west England, told the BBC, adding that it would be “lovely” if she could also see Markle.
John Haley, owner The Old Boot Inn in nearby Stanford Dingley, told the broadcaster that local people were excited about the wedding.
“We’re all really happy for Pippa. We’ll be having a party,” Haley was quoted as saying.
Haley’s pub was once a favourite of Kate and William, according to The Telegraph.
