While the world's attention was focused on the nuptials of Prince Felipe, heir to the throne of Spain, another smaller but no less fashionable 'royal'wedding was taking place in Staffordshire.
Instead of joining fellow royals such as the Prince of Wales in Madrid, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands was at Lichfield Cathedral for the marriage of her goddaughter Fiona Shakerley, 30. Fiona, furniture restorer daughter of society photographer Sir Geoffrey Shakerley, married Brocas Burrows, 30, who helps run the Third Space chain of gyms. Certainly, there was no shortage of royal cameras - the bride's uncle Patrick (the Earl of) Lichfield, who is the Queen's cousin, couldn't resist bringing his camera to the reception at his ancestral seat, Shugborough Hall. In Madrid, there was a glittering state banquet, while in Staffordshire waiters in pink Nehru jackets moved through the throng serving cheese souffles, fillet steak and creme brulee.
It was all very romantic, just the kind of party that the bride's mother Lady Elizabeth Anson, who has run the company Party Planners for years, likes to organise herself.
In Madrid, the royal couple faced a life of public duty and exposure. In Staffordshire, Fiona and Brocas were rowed away on the River Trent into a life of romantic obscurity.