Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1901-02-15
ROYAL NUPTIALS
IN OLD MADRID
Bourbon Prince and Princess
of the Austrias Welded.
BRILLIANT FUNCTION

Royal Relatives of the High Contract
ing Parties, Roman Catholic Pre-
lates, High Court Retainers and
Other Dignitaries Participate.
MADRID, Feb. 14-Tn the chapel of
the royal palace, i'll the presence of the
royal family and all the aristocracy and
officialdom of Spain, Dona Maria de
Las Mercedes de Bourbon Hapsburg,
Princess of the Asturias, was today
welded to Prince Charles Bourbon
At 1920 o'clock this morning there
assembled in the private apartments of
the queen regent, Maria Christina, those
forming the brides party. consisting of
her mother, the queen regent; her
brother, the boy king, Alfonso XIII;
his sister, the Infanta Maria Teresa;
her aunts, the Infantas Isabella and
Eulalie; her uncle, Archduke Eugen of
Austria; her grandmother, Archduchess
Elizabeth, with all the high retainers of
the court, ladies in waiting, grandees of
Spain and gentlemen in waiting.
At the same hour, in like manner,
Infanta Dona Isabella the persons COM
posing the party of the bridegroom
These were the parents of Prince
Charles, the Count and Countess of
Caserta; the Duke and Duchess of Gala
bria; his sisters, Dona Maria Immacu-
lata, Dona Maria PIa and Dona Maria
Josephine, and their train of ladies and
gentlemen.
q fTsCf
and proceeded along the winding, mas
sive granite corridors to the chapel, be-
ing Immediately followed by the BRIDE s
cortege from the queen regents apart
ments Their places were, respectively,
to the right and left, but in front of the
altar the bride and bridegroom stopped
at the steps leading TO the altar, and
there kneeled, thus remaining through
out the mass, which was said by Cardi-
nal Sancha, Archbishop of Toledo, Pri-
mate OF Spain. Assisting were several
other Spanish cardinals, archbishops
and bishops. The mass celebrated was
low mass, there being no singing, though
the organ performed solemn sacred Sc
IeCtlOnS, including one written for tia g
occasion by Zubicurre
y Pretty Custom.
As the bride and bridegroom knelt
upon cushions touching the steps of the
altar, a white satin bordered veil, 3
yards long and half a yard. wide, was
spread over the head and shoulders of
the bride, reaching over the shoulders
of the groom, but leaving his head un-
covered, while, according to the Spanish
custom, white satin ribbon, called a
yoke, was tied about the neck of the
couple, the knot being made between
them, signyfying their union.
After the mass, the simple Catholic
ritual of marriage was read, the cere-
mony not differing i'll any detail from
that uniting the most humble of that
faith, except that the ritual was read
from specially printed book in Span
ish. Wedding rings were exchanged by
both parties, these, of course, being Of
great value and unique workmanship
Another custom observed was that of
giving of coins to the bride by the bride
groom. These may be pennies or silver,
or gold coins, according to the position
and wealth of the contracting parties,
but they must always number 13. Those
employed today were 13 gold coins, each
weighing an ounce and being of the
coinage bearing the bust of Felipe, the
first Spanish Bourbon monarch. They
were the same used at the wedding of
Queen Isabel II, the grandmother of
the bride.
After The conclusion of the wedding
service the cardinal primate pronounced
short discourse, exhorting the wife to
love and obey her husband and the hus-
band to love and cherish his wife, add
ing: 81 give thee a companion, not a
slave" The cardinal also made refer
ence to the virtues of the ancestors Of
the bride and groom, and pointed out
the obligations the prince and princess
were under to give good example to
those in inferior station of life, and then
bestowed the papal and his own bene-
diction.
After the Ceremony.