Friday, June 19, 2009

1st wedding in 500 years at Burg Hohenzollern

June 19, 1949

Princess Cecilie of Prussia's wedding at Burg Hohenzollern will be first wedding at the family's castle in more than 500 years, according to her father, Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia. He said in an exclusive interview with the Chicago Daily Tribune, that his future son-in-law, Texan Clyde Harris, "is handsome, well mannered and is an architect in a state that produces plenty of cattle and oil." The Crown Prince added that Harris told him that Texas is larger than Germany. "Is it? " the former heir to the Prussian throne asked.

The Crown Prince, 67, is "tall, lanky and white haired." He was dressed "in gray flannels and a bright blue turtle neck sweater." The prince has "vivid blue eyes," and his staff likes to say he resembles Frederick the Great. He is currently playing host to Harris and other guests at Burg Hohenzollern, where he moved into "for these three days" for the wedding festivities. The prince lives in a small town, Hechingen, about three miles away.

The guests will include the bride's mother, Crown Princess Cecilie, who is coming from Switzerland. After the wedding, she will travel to Denmark to visit her sister, Queen Alexandrine.

Cecilie's three brothers, Louis Ferdinand, Hubertus and Friedrich Georg and their wives, will also be attending the wedding. Her eldest brother, Prince Wilhelm, was killed in the second world war, but his widow, Dorothea, will be present.

Crown Prince Wilhelm said he had never lived in this castle until 1945. He stayed only a few months "because the castle was too cold for comfort in winter."

The princess is looking forward to her new home. "People tell me all sorts of stories about Texas. Many Germans think it is full of cowboys and Indians."

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