HAPPILY EVER AFTER

Two of Britain's most prominent aristocratic families are united in the society wedding of the year

- KATIE DALY

Belvoir Castle, her magnificent family seat, proved the perfect backdrop for the society wedding of the year as Lady Violet Manners tied the knot with William James Lindesay-Bethune, Viscount Garnock.

The wedding unites two of Britain’s most prominent aristocratic families; the groom, 34, who wore a kilt in the Lindsay family tartan, is the son and heir of the 16th Ea Earl and Countess of Lindsay.

Featuring a cannon salute, a banquet in one of the castle’s grand halls and a raucous party in the “basement”, which was transformed into anightclub for the occasion, the wedding was a celebration to remember for guests including Princess Alexandra’s granddaughter Flora Vesterberg and her husband Timothy.

Also present were Sabrina Percy, a relative of the Duke of Northumberland; Hum Fleming, the great-niece of James Bond author Ian Fleming; and the aristocratic shoe designer Eleanor Wellesley.