Prince Laurent and Princess Claire of Belgium celebrate their 10th anniversary today. This anniversary gives us the perfect opportunity to look back at their wedding.
Prince Laurent, the third child of King Albert and Queen Paola, was the fast-living playboy Prince of Belgium who seemed immune to settling down. That all changed when he met Claire Coombs, a property surveyor born in England and raised outside Brussels. Their wedding took place on April 12, 2003 at Brussels Town Hall (civil ceremony) and the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula (religious ceremony).
Claire’s gown, from the House of NATAN, featured an off-the-shoulder neckline and three quarter sleeves in exquisite Calais chantilly lace. A luxuriously smooth duchess satin A-line skirt flowed to a moderate (but still very royal) length train.
Claire topped the delicately beautiful dress with a family heirloom lace veil that has been passed down in Queen Paola’s family since 1877. The veil was anchored with a small antique tiara gifted from the King and Queen.
Young attendants wore floral wreaths in their hair to coordinate with classically styled ivory duchess satin dresses with spring green sashes.
Video footage from the wedding can be seen here.
I have always thought that Princess Claire was the most beautiful royal bride. Her incredible veil could have overwhelmed her but somehow, the whole look was light, fresh and perfect for a spring wedding. Ten years later, the look seems so timeless it could easily walk back down the aisle today.
Jump over to this post to see the hats worn by family and royal guests to this wedding!
Photos from Getty as indicated
Royal Hats 
This remains my faovrite royal wedding dress of all time.
What I have always loved about this dress and veil is that they are not just beautiful works of art on their own, but they made Claire shine on her wedding day. Sometimes, a lot of lace overwhelms a petite bride but this veil and dress, which were off her face and off her shoulders, made her the star and enhanced her natural beauty. When Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden got married 3 years ago, I think her dress did the same thing for her.
My thoughts exactly.
That angel lace veil is her crowing glory. She brings a tear to my eye. Here just goes to show that a bride can look even more beautiful to her groom by coverin up a bit. The young gals today need to take a lesson from these princess weddings.
Those little flower girls are darling
I’m sitting here with my mouth open. Ive never seen this dress before and it is so gorgeous. Better than Kate’s dress even.
Really? I know people go ga-ga over this dress but I don’t think it’s anything to write home about. Give me a royal wedding dress with some DRAMA.
A off the shoulder dress for a princess is pretty dramatic. You don’t see a lot of those.
The only other off the shoulder royal wedding dress I can think of was Princess Cristina of Spain. And Princess Tessy of Luxembourg but hers was strapless.
Girl, you oviously don’t no drama when you see it. This is REGAL ELEGANT drama the best kind of all. This is how to BE a royal bride.
This dress is absolutely timeless. STUNNING.
If you had showed me a picture of this dress I would have NEVER guessed in a million years it was 10 years old. Off the charts beautiful.
Beautiful.
That dress and veil are just gorgeous.
Since longtimes this is my favorite royal wedding robe. Magnifique.
There are so many beautiful royal wedding dresses and every bride looks beautiful in her own way. This one seems very special and it is one of my favorites for many years too.