Tea at Trianon: Revisiting the Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Huescar

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, October 11, 2025

Revisiting the Wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Huescar

The Duke of Huescar wed Sofia Sofia Palazuelo in spectacular fashion on 6th October 2018

The Stuart descendants in Spain, the Fitz-James Stuarts. The Duke resembles his ancestor James II. The Duke's late grandmother the Duchess of Alba resembled Mary Queen of Scots. From Tatler:

Fernando Fitz-James Stuart y Solís – son of the 19th Duke of Alba and grandson of the late Cayetana, 18th Duchess of Alba, at one time the world's richest woman – married the beautiful Sofia in a lavish ceremony at his family estate, the 18th-century Liria Palace in Madrid. In attendance was Queen Sofia of Spain, the mother of the reigning King Felipe VI, a who's who of Spanish aristocracy.
The mass started at midday in the gardens of the groom's estate, which holds the honour of being the largest private residence in Madrid. The groom, dressed in the uniform of the Royal Cavalry of Seville, entered on the arm of his mother, Matilde Solís-Beaumont, who wore a navy blue suit by Lorenzo Caprile. Meanwhile the bride wore a gown designed by her aunt, Teresa Palazuelo and was walked down the aisle by her brother, Jamie. ‘Teresa knew me very well and understood that I wanted something understated, in keeping with my personality and style,’ Sofia, now the Duchess of Huescar, said in an interview following her aunt's death. ‘She suggested several ideas, and we ultimately drew inspiration from the architectural lines of Balenciaga to create the dress.’ A simple yet dramatic cape acted as the sweeping train. (Read more.)