No dry eyes at royal wedding

Published on 23/05/2004 01:00

THE rain in Spain was not going to spoil that nation’s first royal wedding on its soil in 98 years as Letizia Ortiz entered the Madrid cathedral to marry the country’s heir to the throne.

The thousands of romantics who braved the downpour to witness Spain’s Crown Prince Felipe wed former television presenter Ortiz refused to let the weather put a damper on proceedings.

Huge screens beamed images of the glittering ceremony to those huddled under colourful flotillas of umbrellas while crowds elsewhere watched from the shelter of nearby bars.

In a bid to keep her wedding gown and its 15ft train dry, the bride chose to arrive in a Rolls-Royce rather than walk along the red carpet from the Royal Palace to the adjacent Almudena Cathedral.

Wearing the diamond and platinum tiara Felipe’s mother Queen Sofia donned at her wedding, the 31-year-old divorcee walked down the aisle to become the first commoner in more than five centuries to be in line to be queen of Spain.

Felipe, 36,

first met Ortiz at a dinner party in late 2002 and they started dating secretly the following spring.