Carriage travels to Church; Bride and Groom at altar; Bride and Groom leave Church (NATURAL SOUND).




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Background: Princess Margrethe, heiress to the Danish throne, burst into tears today (Saturday) as she attempted to thank the great crowd of well-wishers who gathered in Copenhagen to celebrate her marriage to French diplomat Count Henri de Laborde de Monpezat. There was complete silence in Copenhagen's red-brick Naval Church as the Royal Chaplain pronounced the couple man and wife. Then the crowd outside burst into cheers and a treble 21-gun salute rolled over the city.

Princess Margrethe, wearing a classical white gown and a veil of Irish lace, drove to the church in an open car carriage with her father, King Frederik. The roads were lined with well-wishers -- and 2,000 police called out in case anti-Royalist demonstrations materialised.

But there were none. Only cheers from the 25,000-strong crowd as the couple walked out of the church to the open carriage for a hussar-escorted drive through the city.

After the sunshine drive the 27-year-old Princess appeared on a balcony of the Royal Amalienborn palace to thank the crowd. As soon as she started speaking, her voice wavered and she left the balcony with tears in her eyes.

The bridegroom, who is 33 and was until recently a secretary at the French Embassy in London, is taking Danish nationality and will be known in future as Prince Henrik of Denmark.