High-profile international guests jetted into Spain from around the world this week for the lavish wedding of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar’s only daughter on Thursday evening. Twenty-year-old Ana Aznar tied the knot with her father’s former private secretary Alejandro Agag, 31, in the historic monastery town of El Escorial outside Madrid. Among the guests invited to see the couple take their vows in the imposing 16th-century basilica of San Lorenzo were King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia of Spain and British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie. Fellow European premiers Silvio Berlusconi of Italy and Portugal’s Durao Barroso, and El Salvador president Francisco Flores were also present. Figures from the worlds of music and fashion included among the 1,000 invitees were legendary Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias and international model Ines Sastre.
Unusually, the bride and groom chose to celebrate their hen and stag evening with their parents. The following day, the young bride, who is a psychology student, walked down the aisle on her father’s arm in a dress designed by her mother’s favourite designer, Segovian-born Avy Guemes. In another break with tradition there was no wedding cake at the reception, which was held at a horse breeding ranch a few miles from the monastery town. There, guests were treated to an elaborate dinner accompanied by the prime minister’s favourite wine, Pesquera from Spain’s Ribera del Duero region.
The couple’s wedding list had been placed with El Corte Ingles, the equivalent of Marks and Spencer or Bloomingdales, as well as an upmarket boutique in the capital. Potential gifts ranged from a silver cutlery service worth thousands of pounds to a flask at £25.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
The bride, Ana, arrives at the 16th-century basilica where the ceremony was held, on the arm of her father, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar
Photo: © Alphapress.com
At the church service the Blairs were seated alongside the bride's two brothers.
