Here come the brides! King George V's great-granddaughter marries an Australian girlfriend in a fun outdoor ceremony with a kiss in front of a handmade celebration banner
The royal family celebrated its first lesbian wedding after King George V's great-granddaughter married her Australian girlfriend in a fun outdoor ceremony in New South Wales, Australia.
Aristocrat Ellen Lascelles, 39, made history when she tied the knot this week with Channtel McPherson, better known as 'Chan', in a ceremony in Byron Bay Hinterland, making the couple the first all-female wedding couple in the royal diaspora .
Ellen, the niece of David Lascelles, 8th and current Earl of Harewood, exchanged vows with her boyfriend and sealed their union with a kiss in front of a beautiful handmade celebration banner that read 'Here Come The Brides'.
The newlyweds, who live Down Under, will become a blended family of five as Ellen has a son, Jack, and daughter, Penny, with her Australian ex-boyfriend, while Chan, a design company owner, has a daughter. Raf.
When Ellen's grandparents, the Earl and Countess of Harewood, married, the reception was held at St James's Palace and attended by George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth.
Ellen exchanged vows with her boyfriend and sealed their union with a kiss in front of a beautiful handmade party banner that read 'Here Come The Brides'
However, Ellen Lascelles opted for a very different wedding, outdoors in the Australian gem with an Elysium of rolling green hills, breathtaking vistas, lush rainforest and waterfalls.
“Channtel and I surrounded ourselves with almost all of our favorite people in the world and had the funniest, hottest, most loving day I could ever imagine,” said Ellen, the eldest daughter of David Lascelles' youngest brother, Jeremy.
Ellen's son, Jack, wrote 'an astonishing acknowledgment of his country' to express his gratitude and respect for the Arakwal people, whose land in the Bundjalung, Ellen said, 'we were fortunate to marry on'.
She added: “And Penny and Raff were just a couple of little dream girls dressed in white.”
Ahead of the historic wedding, Ellen had joyfully informed friends of their engagement by posting the news online.
Aristocrat Ellen Lascelles (pictured: right), 39, made history when she tied the knot with Channtel McPherson, known as 'Chan', in a ceremony in Byron Bay Hinterland this week
Ellen posted a photo of herself with Chan – formerly manager of Bang-On T-shirts – looking radiant as they enjoyed the beach together
The newlyweds, who live Down Under, will become a blended family of five after their fun outdoor ceremony
Byron Bay Hinterland features an Elysium of rolling green hills, breathtaking vistas, lush rainforest and waterfalls
Ellen Lascelles chose a very different wedding location than her grandparents, outside in the Australian gem
When Ellen's grandparents, the Earl and Countess of Harewood, married, the reception was held at St James's Palace and attended by George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth.
Ellen is the niece of David Lascelles, the 8th and current Earl of Harewood and honorary life president of Leeds United Football Club
“On New Year's Day, Chan asked me to marry him and turned an incredible 2022 into an even more incredible 2023,” Ellen said.
“Two proposals in one day, plus a cat ring to seal the deal until we make a real engagement ring,” adds event manager Ellen.
A playful character, she has described herself as a 'left-handed free spirit and full-time dreamer' and elsewhere as a 'sunny vegan snack queen'.
She and her equally glamorous younger sister, Amy, once dressed up in fake tiaras and offered fitness classes that culminated in her lifting a 20-pound dumbbell (“the weight of an average royal corgi”) before Prince William's wedding and Kate Middleton.
But Ellen was completely serious about Chan's proposal, saying she's “floating on a love cloud.”
Lord Ivar Mountbatten (pictured left) – second cousin of Lord ('Dickie') Mountbatten married James Coyle, a cabin services director from Glasgow in the first royal gay wedding
Ivar and Penny remained close friends, and the former royal wife even gave him away during his wedding to James
To prove the point, she posted a photo of herself with Chan – formerly manager of Bang-On T-shirts – looking radiant as they enjoy beach time together.
It is not the first same-sex marriage within the wider royal family. That milestone was celebrated by Lord Ivar Mountbatten – great-nephew of Lord ('Dickie') Mountbatten.
In 2018, seven years after divorcing Penny Thompson, with whom he has three daughters, Ivar married James Coyle, a cabin services director in Glasgow.
Ivar and Penny remained close friends, and the former royal husband even gave it away at his wedding.