Princess Eugenie's wedding 'will have air of intimacy about it', says Dean of Windsor
David Conner, who will take charge of Friday's wedding, is effusive about the pair's relationship on the eve of their big day.
Thursday 11 October 2018 13:26, UK
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank are "just the perfect couple" - at least according to the man who will deliver the service at their wedding on Friday.
The Dean of Windsor, David Conner - who will officiate and give the address at the second royal wedding of this year - described how it has been a "real pleasure" to work with the pair.
Princess Eugenie, 28, and Mr Brooksbank, 32, will mirror Prince Harry and the Duchess of Sussex when they wed at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle.
Speaking on the eve of their big day, the Rt Rev Conner - who also played a role at Harry and Meghan's wedding in May - expressed his hope Eugenie will feel "quite safe" on Friday due to her long affinity with both himself and the chapel.
He said: "I've been here now for more or less 20 years and when I came she was a girl at our little prep school just down the hill. It seems as if our knowledge of each other goes back a long way."
"I suppose she regards this place - even though it is a bit big and grand - as, in a way, her parish church," he added.
Eugenie and her husband-to-be met seven years ago in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier, with the Rt Rev Conner effusive about their relationship.
He said: "They come across as just the perfect couple. They're very natural with each other, they obviously love one another, but they also have a lot of fun together.
"It's been a real pleasure to work with them."
The Rt Rev Conner revealed the pair have had a "very significant influence" over the nature of Friday's ceremony, which he said will be "a mix of traditional and modern".
"It's obviously going to be quite a grand occasion, but I hope also it will have an air of intimacy about it," he added.
"You just have to remember that it is their day and really do your very best to focus on them and not on the hundreds of famous and semi-famous people who have been around."
As the Queen's second youngest granddaughter, Princess Eugenie is ninth-in-line to the throne.
Her status as a "minor" royal in the eyes of some has prompted campaigners to ask why taxpayers' should be funding another royal wedding in Windsor in 2018.
But choristers from St George's School Windsor Castle, where fees can reach around £7,000 per term, are overjoyed at the prospect of singing at a second royal wedding in the space of five months.
Alexios Sheppard, 11, described a "warm buzz going around the chapel" at Harry and Meghan's ceremony and predicted "this one's going to be as good as well".
His fellow chorister Leo Mills, 12, said: "It's really cool we get to sing a two royal weddings in one year."
He added: "My mum said she'll be sitting in front of the TV waving her Union Jack for me."
:: Sky News will have live coverage of Friday's wedding on TV and online