Splendor at St. George's Chapel: The Nuptials of Prince Gustaf and Princess Margaret (Part 2)

Our deep dive into the history of the wedding of a British princess and a future Scandinavian king wraps up today with a peek inside their sparkling royal wedding ceremony

It’s time for the final installment of our series on the courtship and marriage of Princess Margaret of Connaught, granddaughter of Queen Victoria, niece of King Edward VII, grandmother of the King of Sweden, and great-grandmother of the King of Denmark. Today, our story brings us to Windsor Castle, where two days of glittering celebrations are held, including the royal wedding at St. George’s Chapel.

Sydney Prior Hall’s painting of the wedding of Prince Gustaf and Princess Margaret at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on June 15, 1905 (Royal Collection Trust)

Passers-by at the Great Western Railway Station in Windsor could have no doubt that something magnificent was about to happen. On the afternoon of June 13, 1905, a splendidly uniformed detachment of the 2nd Grenadier Guards formed a guard of honor, and an escort of the equally impressive 2nd Life Guards waited nearby. King Edward VII of the United Kingdom stepped out of the royal waiting room, built for his mother, Queen Victoria, years before, wearing the uniform of a field marshal with the bright kingfisher blue sash of the Order of the Garter. Beside him, his brother-in-law, Prince Christian, waited wearing the uniform of a general of the British Army.

When the royal special steamed into the station, the first distinguished passenger who stepped on to the platform was the Khedive of Egypt. Abbas II, who had ruled in a tenuous, reluctant partnership with Egypt’s British occupiers for more than a decade, was resplendent in the uniform of a British Hussar as he advanced to shake the King’s hand. The band of the Grenadier Guards struck up the Egyptian national anthem, the peppy “Salam Affandina.” Those unaware of the big upcoming event on the royal calendar might have been forgiven for thinking they were watching the start of an official Egyptian diplomatic visit to Britain.

But the stars of the show were still on the train. After the Khedive’s greeting, the King turned to receive his sister-in-law, the Duchess of Connaught, and her daughters, Princess Margaret and Princess Patricia. The monarch kissed each of his nieces affectionately on the cheek. Behind them, a handsome prince stepped off the train, also sharply attired in a military uniform. He received a warm handshake from the King, who was soon to be his uncle-in-law.

Prince Gustaf Adolf, the grandson of the King of Sweden and Norway, had made the trip to Windsor for a special reason: his wedding to Princess Margaret of Connaught. The couple had met and wooed under the watchful eye of the Khedive during a visit to Egypt in the early weeks of 1905, and now, to the delight of both the Scandinavian and British royal families, they were uniting their royal houses in marriage. The playful, popular Princess Margaret was destined to one day become Queen of Sweden and Norway, adding another link to her uncle’s chain of diplomatic family unions across Europe.