Thursday, June 20, 2013

Royals dance the night away at Cecilie's ball

June 20, 1949

Twenty princes and princess and a "sprinkling of Americans feasted on lobster, venison, caviar and salmon," as they danced the night away to the "gayest tunes" at the pre-wedding ball for Princess Cecilie of Prussia and Clyde Kenneth Harrison,  according to the Chicago Tribune.

The polterabend was held in the Count's Hall at Burg Hohenzollern in Hechingen.

The guests on the "black and white marble floor under a pseudo-gothic ceiling."  The walls seemed to come alive "with the outlines of the Hohenzollern family tree from the year 1000."  Many of the guests made their way outside in the castle's "cobblestone court yard."

Princess Cecilie, 31, elder daughter of former Crown Prince Wilhelm and Crown Princess Cecilie, and Texan, Clyde Harris will be married tomorrow in two ceremonies.  The first ceremony will be the civil ceremony, as required by German law.  This will take place in the castle's library.  The mayor of Hechingen will officiate.

At noon, the couple will be married in the castle's chapel.  The officiant will be the Protestant pastor from the village church in Hechingen.   He has chosen a passage from Ruth: "Thy people shall be my people" as the theme for his sermon.

Harris told reporters that he hoped to have Cecilie's "entry papers for the United States completed in four weeks."  He will fly home to Amarillo Texas, and begin the process after he arrives.   Once Princess Cecilie receives permission, she will travel to the United States by ship.

Most of the royal guests are "Prussian relatives, all refugees in western Germany from the Russian zone," as their homes have been confiscated or destroyed."

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