Nicky Hilton and James Rothschild’s trillion dollar wedding at Kensington Palace: the guests, the flowers and Lionel’s star turn

Nicky Hilton and James Rothschild’s trillion dollar wedding at Kensington Palace: the guests, the flowers and Lionel’s star turn

Today the heiress to the Hilton fortune marries into a British banking dynasty. Susannah Butter and Phoebe Luckhurst have the inside track

utside Kensington Palace this morning crates of white peonies and boxes of champagne were being delivered. Inside the famous Orangery, final preparations were taking place and marquees were being erected ahead of a spectacular wedding party. For today marks the union of two of the world’s most powerful families: one a New World, New Money set, the other a European dynasty dating back to the 18th century, when Nicky Hilton and James Rothschild marry.

When Hilton, 31, great-granddaughter of Conrad Hilton, the founder of Hilton Hotels, marries banking heir Rothschild, 30, the combined wealth of their families will be staggering — the Hilton fortune is estimated at $900 million (£585 million), while the Rothschilds are rumoured to have $700 trillion (£454 trillion) tied up in property, banks, wine, art and charities.

You’d put money on it being a garish affair but that’s not how the lovebirds roll. “They’re a really sweet and unassuming couple,” says one society insider, who met them at a party. “He’s just really nice, as is she, though she has a cool, American edge.”

Assuming your invite got mislaid during the Tube strike chaos, here’s what you need to know about the Nicky and James (Jicky? Names?) nuptials.

Love story

Hilton and Rothschild met at Formula One heiress Petra Ecclestone’s marriage to James Stunt in 2011, a £5 million affair at 15th-century Castello Orsini-Odescalchi near Rome. They share a love of brunch, horseriding and Instagramming pictures of Suffolk sheep.

Rothschild proposed on a boat on Lake Como. Rothschild men respect tradition: he flew out from London to Beverly Hills to ask her parents for permission to marry their youngest daughter. “He got down on one knee and everything,” a source told US Weekly. “It was incredibly beautiful.”

It’s second time lucky for Hilton. Her first marriage, to financier Todd Meister, was a Las Vegas affair that lasted three months; she calls it a “whim”.

Hilton-Rothschild wedding party – in pictures

This time, Nicky’s sister Paris cried when she heard the news, uploading a tribute to Instagram: “I’m so happy for you! You will be the most beautiful bride! Love you both so much!”

Jicky have recently come into a fortune. In April, Rothschild sold his 1,700-acre, £24 million farm, the Rushbrooke Estate in Suffolk — which had been in the Rothschild family for 75 years — for an undisclosed sum. It would have made a good wedding venue — it was the site of James’s sister Kate’s 2003 wedding to Ben Goldsmith (the couple divorced in April 2013).

The couple are yet to confirm their permanent base — Hilton, who studied at Parsons School of Design, is a New Yorker while Rothschild works in London, as vice-president and partner of private investment and advisory firm Monument Capital Group LLC.

Prelash

Jicky celebrate everything with multiple events. They had a pre-honeymoon travelling in Europe. Then there was a “fairytale bridal shower” to prepare for the “bachelorette”. Mother of the bride Kathy Hilton co-hosted a Cinderella-themed gathering in Beverly Hills with Brenda Richie — Lionel’s first wife and mother Nicole. The centrepiece was a human- sized book entitled Once Upon A Time — Nicky and James’s Love Story.

Paris couldn’t make it due to DJ-ing commitments in Ibiza but she made up for it at the Bacholerette, at 1 Hotel Miami, where suites start at a cool $856 a night. It wasn’t all willy straws and strippers — Nicky shared a picture of herself by the ocean with the caption: “Calm before the storm. Let the “bachelorette” weekend begin!”

The groom has been scared off lairy stag dos. His former brother-in-law Ben Goldsmith staged a mock arrest during their mutual friend and cricket partner Alex Tulloch’s last night of freedom. He filmed the terrified stag party and told them they had been Punk’d in the manner of Ashton Kutcher’s prank show. Rothschild prefers watching documentaries to starring in them so his stag was quieter.

Venue

Nicky had designs on a capital wedding. “I’ve always wanted a destination wedding and I love London,” she says. But it has been hard work. “Planning a wedding in London from New York City has been the most challenging part,” she explains. “There’s a lot of back and forth.”

The couple say their vows at Kensington Palace Orangery, which was built in 1704 – Paris Hilton announced on her Facebook page that it is “Prince William and Kate Middleton’s home”. A weekend wedding there in July will set you back £22,500 and you’ll need to book a year in advance.

Nikki Tibbles Wild at Heart is doing some of the flower arrangements —Michelle Obama is a fan of this south-west London florist; while Wise Productions is taking care of logistics — it does Henley Regatta.

The night before

This is a modern union, untroubled by superstition: last night, bride and groom posed for pictures together outside Spencer House in St James, where the couple held a pre-wedding party. Guests were a cross-section of Rothschild’s London old moneyed set and the international jetsetters associated with the Hilton crowd. Naomi Campbell was there, as was billionaire property developer Nick Candy and his wife Holly Valance, and Petra Ecclestone and her husband. Isaac Ferry wore the dishevelled uniform of the modern Sloane (a bright pink suit and scruffy white Converses). Chelsea Clinton and husband Marc Mevinsky attended — Chelsea in black — while Sabrina Guinness (James’s aunt) and her husband, playwright Sir Tom Stoppard, also celebrated with the couple. Prince William’s best friend old Harrovian Thomas van Straubenzee — who was this week announced as one of Princess Charlotte’s godparents — attended, as did Euro-royals Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece and Denmark and his wife Marie-Chantal. Ben Goldsmith was there with his new wife Jemima.

The guest list was starry but the party small: it was held in the Great Room at Spencer House. Nicky’s brother Barron Instagrammed a picture of the ornate chandeliers, captioned “The night before” with a diamond ring emoji. It was a late night: At 3am Paris, who started her evening in a rooftop suite at Hotel Café Royal in Piccaddilly, Instagrammed Beatles lyrics (“All you need is love, love is all you need”).

The entertainment

Nicky has done her time on the Beverly Hills party circuit: in the late Noughties she was regularly big sister Paris’s plus one. You only wed once (Las Vegas blips aside) and the union of the Brit Pack and the Valley gang will be looking for a memorable night out.

Music is covered — family friend Lionel Richie is in Europe for his tour and has kept today free. As a wedding gift, Paris may perform her new single, High Off My Love — she gave an impromptu performance at Nicky’s hen.

The guests

The Orangery only has space for 300 people so this will be an intimate family affair. Both bride and groom are from large tribes. The Hiltons have flown across the Atlantic and are holding court in Mayfair — the “night before the night before” celebration dinner was at private members’ club Harry’s Bar; dessert was white chocolate hearts with James and Nicky iced onto them. Baby brother Conrad Hilton, aged 21, has not shown up yet. Perhaps he is at home looking after Nicky’s Chihuahua, Peter Pan. The last time he was in London he was arrested on the flight home following an outburst where a fellow passenger says he shouted “I will f***ing own anyone on this flight; they are f***ing peasants!” Since then he has been in Los Angeles doing community service where recently his dog ate his housekeeper’s turtle.

Paris Hilton has brought over new boyfriend Thomas Gross, a Swiss businessman said to be worth £120 million.

She is one of the seven bridesmaids. James’s older sister Kate is another. James gave Kate away at her wedding to Ben Goldsmith. Kate and the bride are bffs — Nicky sealed the friendship by naming a dress in her latest fashion collection after Kate. They’ve been practising for the ceremony by posing in the Chiltern Firehouse bathroom.

Children will be welcome — Nicky is broody and when she marries she will become an aunt. Kate has three children and Alice has recently had baby Dolly, with Zac Goldsmith.

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