Princess Theodora of Greece and Matthew Kumar are celebrating two years of marriage today, 28 September. They got there by a road few would have lasted on: a five-year engagement and a wedding postponed three times before they finally said "I do" in Athens.

They met in the United States in 2016 and for years kept their relationship quiet, far from the cameras. For the ceremony they chose Athens' Metropolitan Cathedral of the Annunciation. The groom arrived first with his best men, and Theodora walked in on the arm of her brother Pavlos. He walked her down the aisle in place of their father, King Constantine, who died in 2023.

The dress was by Greek designer Celia Kritharioti: organza and French lace, an off-the-shoulder neckline and more than half a million crystals, hand-sewn over almost 1,200 hours of work. Theodora kept to tradition too - she wore Cartier's Khedive of Egypt tiara and her great-grandmother's historic veil, the same one her mother, Queen Anne-Marie, and Denmark's Queen Mary wore at their own weddings.

The guest list was a parade of European royalty. Queen Anne-Marie arrived smiling with her son Nikolaos. Among the most applauded was Queen Sofía of Spain, with the Infantas Elena and Cristina and her grandchildren Juan, Miguel and Irene Urdangarin. Also there were Alexia of Greece with her husband Carlos Morales and their children - their daughter Arrieta was a bridesmaid alongside her cousin Olympia, both in lavender - then Marie-Chantal with her children, Philippos of Greece and Nina Flohr, and Christian of Hanover and Sassa de Osma.

The irony is obvious: Greece has been a republic since the 1974 referendum, yet tiaras and titles were everywhere at the wedding. The titles are courtesy ones, but the protocol, the tiaras and the great-grandmother's veil are entirely real. A royal family without a throne, it seems, is best preserved at weddings.

The day ended with applause, smiles and a kiss on the way out of the church. For two people who put their wedding off three times, it wasn't a small kiss - it was the end of a long wait. And in the Balkans, where a wedding is serious business, everyone understands that kind of wait.