Modern art and literary classic feature in royal wedding order of service
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank have added an unusual addition to their traditional Order of Service – a piece of modern art.
The final page of the wedding service booklet, which will be handed to the 850 guests gathered in St George’s Chapel, features an image of Here, a mixed media on canvas from 2018 by American abstract artist Mark Bradford.
Another work by Bradford, Helter Skelter I, which used to belong to tennis star John McEnroe, sold for £8.7 million in March, the highest auction price achieved by a living African American artist.
Art-loving Eugenie is a director at the contemporary art gallery Hauser & Wirth in London.
Other personal touches by the couple include a reading from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby, emblematic of the Jazz Age of the 1920s.
Princess Beatrice, Eugenie’s older sister and maid of honour, will deliver the passage, which is a description of enigmatic Jay Gatsby’s smile and said to capture both the theatrical quality of his character and his charisma.
The Order of Service also reveals that Jack will not be wearing a ring – unlike the Duke of Sussex – and Eugenie, like the Duchess of Sussex, will not promise to obey her husband.
Buckingham Palace said: “Princess Eugenie and Mr Brooksbank have taken great care and interest in bringing together the content of their service, working closely with the Dean of Windsor and all others involved.
“The couple are looking forward to sharing their marriage ceremony with their family, friends and all those who have come to celebrate with them.”
A Gaelic Blessing will be sung by the choir, and Italian singer-songwriter Andrea Bocelli will perform Bach’s Ave Maria.
The Order of Service also revealed Jack’s unusual middle name, Stamp.
He will say: “I Jack Christopher Stamp take thee Eugenie Victoria Helena to my wedded wife.”
Eugenie and Jack have, unlike Harry and Meghan, chosen a traditional, rather than a contemporary marriage service.
The 1928 Prayer Book Service features language such as “thou” and “thee” instead of “you”.
It also refers to the bride and groom as “Man” and “Woman”.
The service reads: “Eugenie wilt thou have this Man to thy wedded husband, to live together according to God’s law in the holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou love him, comfort him, honour and keep him, in sickness and in health? and, forsaking all other, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?
“The Woman shall answer,
“I will.”
The choice of a traditional service was a personal preference for the couple.
Bocelli will also sing the tenor piece Panis Angelicus.
The bride will enter to the rousing organ recital of Bach’s Piece d’Orgue.
The other reading is from the bible and will be read by Jack’s paternal cousin Charles Brooksbank.
It is taken from St Paul’s Letter to the Colossians Chapter 3.
Hymns include Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken, and Lord Divine All Loves Excelling.
The service will end with the National Anthem as is the tradition for royal weddings.
ITV will broadcast live coverage of the wedding of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank on Friday, October 12, in an extended This Morning special, This Morning at the Royal Wedding (9.25am - 12.30pm)