The wedding day – one of the most special days in a person’s life. After months or years of saving, it all culminates to give your guests a party they’ll never forget. But if you’re a royal, you can afford to go all out on an unforgettable wedding. Check out these 30 stunningly expensive royal weddings!
Prince Johan Friso of Orange-Nassau
Mabel Wisse Smit married Prince Johan Friso of Orange-Nassau (a Dutch royal) in style back in 2004. The bride looked absolutely stunning in a silk gown by Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf. However, despite Mabel’s exceptional and classic personal style, the day hadn’t come easy. Her husband surrendered his position as next in line to the Dutch throne in order to marry her, because the Dutch parliament had forbidden the marriage! The reason: her close contacts in the underground criminal world.
Princess Madeleine of Sweden
The second daughter and youngest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, Princess Madeline ended up marrying a man with no noble blood whatsoever! She fell head over heels for British born, American based, financier Christopher O’Neill. The wedding was attended by many foreign royals, including The Princess Takamado of Japan. But what was the best detail about the ceremony? A wedding cake which consisted of over 700 macarons shaped into a towering pyramid!
Princess Victoria of Sweden
Princess Victoria of Sweden’s June 2010 wedding to gym owner Daniel Westerling cost an estimated $2 million! The Princess is the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. The couple married in the Stockholm Cathedral in a gorgeous wedding that some referred to as the biggest royal wedding since the Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer. The days between the Swedish national day on June 6th and the wedding date on June 19th were declared the Love Stockholm 2010 days. There were festivities all over the city for residents and visitors.
Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark
Danish Crown Prince Frederick may literally be Prince Charming, but he met his love, Mary Donaldson, in a down to earth way – in a pub! It was during the 2000 Olympics held in Sydney, Australia, and the prince hit it off with a local girl over a couple of beers. The two stayed in touch via handwritten letters (aww!) and long distance phone calls. Their relationship finally culminated with a storybook wedding held at Copenhagen Cathedral in Denmark.
Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway
When the Crown Prince of Norway Haakon decided to marry Mette-Marit Tjessem Høiby, the decision wasn’t celebrated by all the members of the Norwegian public. Mette-Marit wasn’t just a commoner – in addition to having no royal blood, she was also a single mother, who had a young son fathered by a man who was a convicted drug dealer. However, Prince Haakon put the haters’ criticism to the side and married her despite the controversy, and the couple is still going strong.
Pierre Casiraghi of Monaco
The son of royalty (Prince Albert II of Monaco) and the grandson of Hollywood royalty (Grace Kelly was his grandmother!), Pierre Casiraghi lived up to his bloodline with a jaw-droppingly gorgeous wedding. His beau, Italian heiress Beatrice Borromeo wore a stunning four separate wedding dresses during the festivities. American singer Lana Del Rey attended the wedding with her Italian photographer boyfriend, Francesco Carrozzini. The dynamic duo met in 2008 while they both were students at Milan’s Bocconi University.
Prince Joachim of Denmark
When Prince Joachim of Denmark married Frenchwoman Marie Cavallier, initially she was less than enthusiastic: “I had a great life – I didn’t need to be rescued by some Prince from Denmark. There was no doubt in my heart that I loved him, but I had my life. I was happy, and I had my pride. I simply was not ready to get married and take on the responsibility it would be to become a member of the royal family.”
Prince Christian of Hanover
Prince Christian of Hanover and his bride Alessandra de Osma didn’t have your typical royal wedding! After marrying in England in Prince Christian’s registry office, the duo jetted off to Alessandra’s homeland of Peru for the religious ceremony. They brought a string of notable royals in tow with them to the South American country, including the Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece with his daughter Olympia, British Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, and supermodel Kate Moss for good measure!
Crown Prince Willem Alexander of Holland
Crown Prince Willem Alexander of Holland wasn’t originally supposed to be king – the role was supposed to go to his brother, Johan Friso, but he gave up his spot in line in order to marry a woman that the Dutch parliament didn’t approve of. So when Prince Willem married Maxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, his new bride became the future Queen of the Netherlands. However, despite the pre-wedding drama, this wedding went off without a hitch. The bride wore a Valentino gown.
Prince Edward
When Prince Edward, the youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II, got married to Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999, it was a major cause for celebration. The British definitely know how to do a royal wedding, and the bride wore a Samantha Shaw silk organza gown, which was encrusted with a whopping 325,000 pearls. The power couple are still going strong, and are the proud parents of two children: James, Viscount Severn, born in 2007, and Lady Louise Windsor, born in 2003.
Prince Ernst August Jr. of Monaco
When Prince Ernst August Jr., the son of the Prince of Monaco, married Yekaterina Malysheva, it wasn’t exactly a family affair. His father, also named Prince Ernst August, notoriously snubbed the event because his son had inherited family property between 2004 and 2006, and the older Prince wanted in on the money. Despite the drama, Yekaterina and Prince Ernst married in front of 600 guests and thousands of onlookers at the Market Church of Hanover, Germany.
Prince Felix of Luxembourg
Prince Felix of Luxembourg’s marriage to Claire Lademacher is one for the books. The wedding was held in front of 350 guests at Villa Rothschild Kempinski on September 17, 2013 in Konigstein, Germany. Although Claire wasn’t born with royal blood, she came from a high society background. The daughter of German telecommunications millionaire Hartmut Lademacher, she was educated in private schools and had no trouble fitting into her husband’s high society circle. The happy couple now has 3 kids!
Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah of Brunei
When the prince of Brunei got married, he did it in style. There was a grand total of 100 limousines at the ready to transport the wedding’s attendees comfortably. Of course, the royal couple traveled via a golden stretch Rolls Royce limousine. Some royal guests of honor at the wedding included Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, and Crown Prince Naruhito of Japan. There was also a marching band that paraded through the streets of Bandar Seri Begawan and an amazingly indulgent buffet feast.
Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark
For her 2010 wedding to Prince Nikolaos of Greece and Denmark, Tatiana Blatnik decided to take a few risks. First of all, she entrusted the relatively unknown Venezuelan designer Angel Sanchez with the important job of designing and creating her royal wedding dress! The reason: the beauty was born and raised in Venezuela (born to Slovenian parents there), and she decided to give a nod to her roots. Of course, Angel’s career blew up after the wedding!
Lady Charlotte Wellesley of Wellington
Lady Charlotte Wellesley Of Wellington didn’t end up with another royal. She wed Spanish billionaire Alejandro Santo Domingo in a small town in the Andalusian countryside, where singer James Blunt serenaded the happy couple.
Prince Rashid of Jordan
The wedding of Prince Rashid of Jordan to tennis player Zeina Shaban was quite the star-studded affair. The wedding was held at Amman’s ornate Basman Palace. There was a large number of royals – both European and local – in attendance, including Queen Sofia of Spain, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburg, Bahraini King Hama Ben Issa Al Khalifa, and Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, along with many members of the Shaban family. The guest list totaled just over 2,000 people.
Prince Carl Philip of Sweden
Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland, married Swedish commoner Sofia Hellqvist at the Royal Chapel of Stockholm Palace. There was a great deal of foreign royalty present, including the most important members of the Norwegian royal family – The Queen of Norway and The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway – as well as The Princess Takamado of Japan and The Earl and Countess of Wessex from the United Kingdom. A colorful wedding cake packed with fizzling pop rocks delighted guests.
Prince Pavlos of Greece
Prince Pavlos of Greece may have married a non-royal commoner, but she certainly wasn’t a run of the mill woman – he married ultra-rich heiress Marie-Chantal Miller, whose father had an estimated net worth of over $2 billion. She married Prince Pavlos in London, wearing a custom pearl-encrusted Valentino wedding gown, which cost over $225,000! The most indulgent part of the wedding, in our opinion? How about 100,000 flowers flown in via private jet from Ecuador for the occasion.
Prince Rainier of Monaco
When Monaco’s Prince Rainier married Grace Kelly, the world stood still. The ceremony itself was held at Monaco’s St. Nicholas Cathedral, which was stuffed to the brim with 600 guests, including Hollywood royalty like Cary Grant, Ava Gardner, and Gloria Swanson, along with the billionaire barons of the day (Conrad Hilton and Aristotle Onassis were there.) The wedding’s attendees were treated to an indulgent feast which included champagne, caviar, lobster, and a massive wedding cake that weighed in at over 200 pounds!
King Mohammed vi of Morocco
King Mohammed VI of Morocco broke down some major barriers when he married the love of his life, Salma Bennani. First off, Moroccan kings and princes previously married other royals, and Salma was a commoner. King Mohammed also publicly acknowledged her and released their wedding photos, along with her full name – something that had never happened before, as the identities of the royals’ wives were always kept under wraps. The wedding was a very public celebration which lasted for a week.
Princess Hajah Hafizah Sururul Bolkiah
When the daughter of the Sultan of Brunei gets married, you better believe that it’s an event for the entire country. A public holiday was declared for a week of celebration. The wedding itself had a guest list numbering just over 3,000, with an estimated cost of a cool $1,000 per head! Let’s talk about the decorations – regular flowers were just too commonplace for the royal family, so the space was adorned with flora made from crystals and precious gems.
King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck of Bhutan
When the Dragon King of Bhutan (his official title) gets married, it’s not personal – it’s an event for the entire nation. A three day holiday where banks, schools, and workplaces were closed was declared in honor of the marriage. To the public, the royal couple provided an indulgent buffet lunch of traditional foods, along with performances of song and dance. Schoolchildren and local villagers came out in droves to congratulate the new couple as they passed through the streets of Thimpu.
Crown Prince Felipe of Spain
When the Crown Prince of Spain, Felipe, married former newscaster Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, it was quite the event. The wedding was held at Madrid’s Almudena Cathedral in May 2004, with an estimate of over 1,500 guests in attendance. There was an unbelievable number of flowers, over one million, in and around the Cathedral! A major part of the wedding’s budget, however, was spent on security, as the wedding took place only a few months after the Madrid subway bombings.
Prince Charles
Prince Charles’ second marriage was a major world event. The list of foreign royals in attendance read like a who’s who of international high society. Prince Turki bin Faisal Al Saud and Princess Nouf of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain King Hamid Al-Khalifa, Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine of Yugoslavia, The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Norway, and former Greek King Constantine II and Queen Anne-Marie of the Hellenes were all there on the special day.
Prince Abdul Malik of Brunei
This isn’t the first time that the Sultan of Brunei’s family has appeared on this list. The family is known for having some of the most luxuriously indulgent weddings on the planet, and the youngest son of the ruler’s wedding was no exception to the rule. His wedding was estimated to have cost the Sultan a cool $30 million! The wedding featured wedding bands for the bride and groom estimated to cost $1 million and a huge buffet.
Prince William of Wales
When Prince William decided to marry his former classmate and girlfriend of over ten years, Kate Middleton, the event immediately drew comparison to the wedding of William’s parents, Prince Charles and Lady Diana. The wedding was held at Westminster Abbey and featured an 8-tier, $80,000 wedding cake and flowers which totaled over $800,000. A large part of the wedding’s budget was devoted to security, as this was the biggest royal wedding in several decades.
Henry, Prince of Wales
Prince Henry of Wale, better known as Prince Harry, broke all English royal traditions when he proposed to his girlfriend Meghan Markle, Hollywood celebrity and divorcé. The royal family has been very supportive of Harry’s choice, and the wedding is happening on Saturday, May 19th. Harry and Meghan are to be married in St George’s Chapel, and will reside in Kensington Palace as newlyweds. According to Business Insider, the wedding itself will cost $2.8 million, with an additional $34 million for security costs.
Prince Albert II of Monaco
When your mother was one of the most glamorous movie stars of all time (more on that later), you’ve gotta honor her memory by having a fairytale wedding fit for a princess – especially when you’re a prince! Prince Albert II of Monaco kept the family tradition going by having an extremely lavish ceremony when he wed South African-born Charlene Wittstock. The couple had two ceremonies – both a civil and a religious one – which made the cost of the event very expensive.
Charles, Prince of Wales
Here, we’re taking it back to one of the most classic fairytale weddings of all time. Prince Harry and Prince William’s parents’ wedding was one of the most-watched TV events in history. Queen Elizabeth II’s son Charles wed Lady Diana Spencer while two million spectators watched from the streets and nearly 750 million people tuned in at home. Lady Diana’s wedding dress had a train that stretched 25 feet, and the wedding cake was five feet tall!
Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai
You might be wondering at this point what the most expensive wedding ever held was – and we’ve got it here for you. The marriage of Sheikh Mohammed Rashid al Maktoum of Dubai to Princess Salama in 1979 cost a whopping estimated $137 million (and that’s not adjusted for inflation)! The wedding holds the Guinness World Record for the most expensive wedding of all time and featured a guest list of 20,000 people and 34 private jets to ferry guests from other countries.
When Grand Duke Guillaume of Luxembourg got married, it was definitely a public event for the tiny country. His bride, Duchess Stéphanie de Lannoy, who hailed from Belgium, was a member of one of the oldest aristocratic families in Europe. The couple married after being friends for a number of years, and the event stirred some controversy, as it was paid for by Luxembourg’s public tax money. However, in return, there were fireworks, free concerts, and street fairs for the public.
