You're reading: New York Times: After 100 Years, a royal wedding in Russia evokes days of the czars

New York Times: After 100 Years, a royal wedding in Russia evokes days of the czars

Published Oct. 2, 2021 at 7:20 am

Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov and Victoria Romanovna Bettarini attend their wedding ceremony at the Saint Isaac's Cathedral in Saint Petersburg, on October 1, 2021. - Russia was to hold its first royal wedding, on October 1, 2021, since the 1917 Bolshevik revolution toppled the Romanov monarchy, with royals from across Europe expected at the lavish ceremony. Grand Duke George Mikhailovich Romanov, 40, and his Italian fiance Rebecca Virginia Bettarini, 39, will say their vows at the Saint Isaac's cathedral in the former imperial capital Saint Petersburg in the presence of dozens of royals. (Photo by Olga MALTSEVA / AFP)

Photo by AFP

Under the watch of a ceremonial honor guard, the bride walked slowly down the aisle as a flock of young attendants held her 23-foot train aloft. The groom, clad in black coattails, stood expectantly under the golden dome of St. Isaac’s Cathedral as his mother watched from a thronelike marble enclosure.