Crown Prince Felipe of Spain married former TV anchorwoman Ms Letizia Ortiz before a sea
of dignitaries today, putting a commoner in line to be queen for the first time in Spanish history.
The archbishop of Madrid, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, pronounced the couple husband and wife at Almudena Cathedral in what was Spain's first royal wedding in 98 years. Previous weddings have taken place abroad.
Just one year after she started dating the prince, Ms Ortiz, a 31-year-old divorcee, now has the title of Princess Letizia of Asturias.
In his homily, Cardinal Varela urged the couple not to be intimidated by the enormous responsibility of being heirs to the Spanish throne.
"Fear not these extraordinary demands," he said. "You are not alone in your path. Their majesties the king and queen of Spain, the royal family, your relatives and loved ones, the good people of Spain, are with you."
The congregation of some 1,400 royals and other dignitaries included Prince Charles, former South African President Nelson Mandela and Jordan's Queen Rania.
A driving rain fell as Ms Ortiz entered the church, wearing an off-white gown with a flowing silk veil and a 15-foot train embroidered with heraldic symbols.
On her head she donned the same diamond and platinum tiara that Greek-born Queen Sofia wore at her wedding to King Juan Carlos in 1962 in Athens.
Prince Felipe, 36, wore a crisp blue uniform reflecting his status as a Spanish army major, with braided epaulets, a light blue sash and medals of honour from the army, navy and air force.
An orchestra and choir performed Handel's organ concerto op. 7 No. 3 as Ortiz entered the cathedral. Other pieces included Mozart's Sancta Maria and Bach's Cantata No. 69. The ceremony ended with a booming rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah.
There were a couple of slip-ups, mainly in the re-enactment of a centuries-old custom in which the bride and groom exchange coins as symbols of the possessions they will share.
Rouco Varela dropped a few of the 13 gold coins - some 500 years old - as he handed them to the prince. The prince then forgot his lines as he addressed Ortiz, and had to look down at notes on a stand in front of him.
Thunder rolled through the skies during the wedding Mass.
After the wedding, the couple rode through the streets of Madrid in a vintage, black armour-plated Rolls-Royce, waving to tens of thousands of well-wishers holding small red-and-yellow Spanish flags. A line of policemen - one every two yards - stood at attention, keeping the crowd behind barriers. By then the rain had stopped.
The procession ended at a church where Ortiz, honouring Spanish royal tradition, left her bouquet of white lilies of the valley and roses to pay homage to a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Security for the wedding has been described as the tightest since Madrid hosted a Mideast peace conference in 1991. An estimated 20,000 police patrolled the streets, and F-18 fighter jets and two AWACS planes on loan from NATO monitored the skies.