Wedding of Infanta Elena and Jaime de Marichalar

The Royal House announced shortly after the engagement announcement that the wedding would take place on Saturday, 18 March 1995.[2]

The doors of the Cathedral of Seville opened early in the morning to receive the guests to the ceremony. First came the political representatives and different members of the Spanish social class, as well as the friends of the contracting parties. Lastly, and before the arrival of the groom, the President of the Government, Felipe González, and the members of the royal houses invited to the wedding ceremony of the eldest daughter of the King and Queen of Spain arrived.

Don Jaime and his mother left the Alfonso XIII Hotel where they were staying in the direction of the Puerta de Palos of the Cathedral, Don Jaime realized that it was through the Puerta de Campanillas that they had to enter, the vehicle being stopped in front of the first time, but she decided to walk the short distance that separated them, taking her mother by the arm. At ten past twelve they entered through the Puerta de Campanillas, where they were received by the Dean of the Cathedral, who gave them the Lignum Crucis to kiss.

At quarter past twelve in the morning, the royal procession, made up of the Infante Carlos, Duke of Calabria, and his wife, Princess Anne, Duchess of Calabria, departed from the Puerta del León of the Reales Alcázares, the Infanta Margarita, Duchess of Soria and her husband, the Duke of Soria the Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz and her son Bruno Gómez-Acebo, the Infanta Cristina and her cousin the Viscount de la Torre, and the Prince of Asturias with the Queen.

Finally, at half past twelve, the bride on the arm of her father, entered through the Puerta de Campanillas de la Seo Sevillana, 2 after having walked through the space between the Puerta del León of the Reales Alcázares de Sevilla and this. At the King's entrance, as is customary, the organ played the royal march. Once the national anthem was finished, the King and the Infanta were placed in their seats on the High Altar of the Cathedral, the ceremony began.[3]

The celebrants of the Eucharist were the Archbishop of Seville, Carlos Amigo, and the Archbishop and Vicar General Castrense, Monsignor Estepa, and the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Seville and President of its Cabildo, Antonio Domínguez Valverde. Miguel Artillo served as master of ceremonies and brother Pablo Nogueras was an assistant.

The texts chosen for it were an extract from the First Letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians, the psalm "The mercy of the Lord fills the earth" and finally the Gospel which was the text of Saint John 15, 9-12. After the homily of the Archbishop of Seville, the marriage rite took place, which included the mandatory consent of the spouses, the blessing and exchange of rings and the delivery of the deposit.

Witnesses on behalf of the Infanta Elena were her brothers the then Prince of Asturias and the Infanta Cristina, her cousins Princess Alexia of Greece and Denmark, Juan Gómez-Acebo and Alfonso Zurita, Marisa Caprile, Leticia Espinosa de los Monteros, Rita Allendesalazar, Alfredo Fernández Duran and Carlos García Revenga.

On behalf of Jaime de Marichalar, the following were witnesses: his brothers Amalio, Ana, Álvaro, Luis and Ignacio, Miguel Matossian, Archduke Simeón of Austria, Patricia Jessen, Alicia Chapa and Pedro Olabarría.

Once the ceremony was over, the bride and groom moved from the cathedral to the Reales Alcázares (residence of the Royal Family in Seville) in a carriage from the mid-18th century.3

After the wedding photographs, the wedding banquet began in the halls of the Mudéjar Palace and specifically around the so-called Patio de las Doncellas, which at that time was still cobbled and had not recovered its appearance as a transept garden. The U-shaped wedding table was placed on top of a maroon carpet and in front of one of the many tapestries that the Royal Collection treasures. The rest of the guests were arranged in 170 round tables of ten people each.

The menu was curated by the famous Sevillian restaurateur Rafael Juliá, and included "Cantabrian sea bass with truffles and almonds" as a first course, "ice-cold red coffee partridge with almonds and caramel sauce" as a main course and "the decorated wedding cake with fleurs de lys in chocolate' for the desserts.45 For the banquet it was necessary to install fourteen provisional kitchens in the Reales Alcázares and mobilize some 300 people, in addition to several truck-ovens.

The interpretation was given by the Royal Seville Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Vejkoslav Sutej and the National Choir of Spain, directed by Tomás Cabrera and the voices of María Orán, soprano, María Aragón, mezzo-soprano; Manuel Cid, tenor, and Alfonso Echeverría, bass. 6 pieces of Mozart were elected, being Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus, Agnus Dei and Canta de la Misa de Coronación by Mozart as well as Ave verum corpus also by Mozart. In addition to the music that was performed at the ceremony, several groups of Sevillanas dedicated songs to the Infanta Elena on the occasion of her wedding, highlighting the following. And it had to be Sevilla from Los Romeros de la Puebla, Niña Elena from Los Fernandos, Sevillanas by the Infanta Elena de Los del Río.

A total of 1,300 guests, including all members of the Government and representatives of State institutions attended the link, which was attended by 300 representatives of 38 royal houses. 150,000 Sevillians took to the streets that morning to cheer the protagonists of a historic event for the Andalusian capital with cheers and palms. Film director Pilar Miró directed the broadcast of the ceremony on TVE, which that day broke its all-time record for morning audience, with more than 10.5 million viewers following the wedding of the Infanta Elena.

The Sevillian capital was filled with visitors from all parts of the country who did not want to miss the first royal wedding to be held in Spain for 90 years. The royal members attending the link stayed at the Hotel Alfonso XIII.

That same afternoon, the Kings Juan Carlos and Sofía went to the Seville City Hall to present the mayor of the city, Alejandro Rojas-Marcos, with the flag of Seville. Thousands of people cheered the King and Queen of Spain, who appeared on the balcony of the town hall to thank the city for its behavior on the day of their eldest daughter's wedding.