Inside the marriage of the 12 months, writes RICHARD KAY

This was a festival of rustling silk and elegant hats, of blessings, handshakes, kisses and tears.

Like any other family wedding you might find in an English country church – and yet like none of them.

To begin with the groom was the beneficiary of one of Britain’s biggest fortunes and his supporters included the heir to the throne.

As for the bride, she had to contend not just with a gusting wind that played havoc with her veil but also with an unexpected – and selfish – attempt to upstage her.

That neither the breeze which swirled around Chester Cathedral nor the behaviour of two ‘idiotic’ protesters from Just Stop Oil could spoil the new Duchess of Westminster’s big day was testament to one other quality that marked yesterday’s ceremony.

For all its glamour, the wedding of Hugh Grosvenor, 33, to 31-year old Olivia Henson was exactly what the couple wanted – a gathering of loved ones celebrating their match and which they sealed with a very public kiss.

William’s presence, of course, added a layer of intrigue because of the absence of brother Harry, who not only shares a friendship with Grosvenor, the wealthy 7th Duke of Westminster, but also his status as godfather to both princes’ first-born sons.

It was also an uncomfortable reminder of the tragic rift between the once-close brothers who no longer speak.

William’s role as an usher and the appearance of his cousin Princess Eugenie – an old school friend of the bride – certainly gave the event the veneer of a royal wedding in all but name.

Yet somehow, despite the crowds of flag-waving well-wishers, the sniffer dogs and police presence, this unique mood of intimacy was not lost. From the cascading foliage which spilled over the cathedral’s west door to the rambling roses, campanula and birch trees which lined the inside of the building, they had promised to bring a little piece of the leafy countryside into the city.

How ironic that this pair who had underpinned their arrangements with the promise of re-purposing should find themselves targets for two elderly eco warriors.

Indeed, with the exception of the vintage (borrowed) Bentley that brought the bride and her stockbroker father Rupert Henson to the cathedral, activists would find little to complain about.

The trees will be replanted and the flowers made into bouquets and delivered to local charities, churches and hospitals and the guests travelled, meritocratically, by bus rather than car.

The protesters timed their move for when the bridal party emerged into the sunshine, letting off orange smoke from a fire extinguisher.

A second device was seized by police before it was triggered.

The dismal scene which was greeted by jeers from the crowd could barely dampen the mood.

By the time William stepped outside, the women, aged 73 and 69, were escorted away by police.

Idiots, was the crowd’s consensus. Barbara Williams, 81, from Cheshire, said: ‘I feel a bit shaken. We were standing next to them.

‘Everyone was watching the bride and groom and then we just saw orange and they had what looked like a fire extinguisher.

‘The police realised quite quickly what was happening and pulled them out. One of them said it was for her grandchildren.’

Another onlooker said: ‘They got here at 6am. One of them had been reading a Richard Osman book. It’s bizarre.’

Down-to-earth the billionaire duke and duchess may be, but there were reminders everywhere of royal connections.

The last Grosvenor to marry in the cathedral – Hugh’s sister’s Lady Tamara – did so in front of the Queen and Prince Philip. And when Hugh’s father, Gerald, the 6th Duke, died in 2016, the then Prince Charles was at the memorial. The King is Hugh’s godfather and his sister Edwina was a goddaughter of the late Princess Diana.

It was also why thousands lined Chester’s narrow, medieval streets for a glimpse of Britain’s aristocracy in their colourful finery.

There was applause when the duke and three best men – old school friends – arrived.

Inside the cathedral there were smiles as the couple exchanged their vows.

For the duke’s mother Natalia, known as Tally, some mixed emotions. Dressed in a fuchsia coat-dress with a matching feathered fascinator, she arrived a duchess but departed with a new title, as aristocratic tradition decrees. Her daughter-in-law is now duchess, Tally the dowager.

And what an entrance from this newest blue-blood.

The ivory crepe silk satin and silk organza creation, by couturier Emma Victoria Payne, incorporated floral motifs from Olivia’s great-great-grandmother’s veil from the 1880s.

On her head she wore the Faberge myrtle leaf tiara made for Grosvenor brides in 1906. And something blue? Her shoes – and a debate was instantly sparked on social media, with many users labelling them ‘clunky’ and the very opposite of what dainty bridal slippers should be. Judging from the way Olivia turned her back on those eco protesters, the criticism is unlikely to hurt.

By the time she had reappeared after the hour-long service conducted by cathedral dean, the Very Rev Dr Tim Stratford, bridesmaids Isla, Zia and Orla – the daughters of the duke’s two older sisters – had got to grips with the fluttering dress.

Watching on, Hugh’s mother blew kisses to her son and daughter-in-law before wiping her eye. Was that a tear? Nobody would be surprised. It was that kind of day.

As for the duke, who wears his £10 billion fortune easily, he arrived not by golden carriage but in a 2001 green Land Rover.

William, meanwhile, was deposited in a Mercedes people carrier with blacked-out windows, while the remaining 400-plus guests travelled in a fleet of white coaches.

They included his old friends Tom van Straubenzee, a godfather of Princess Charlotte, whose wife Lucy taught Prince George and his sister at their old school, Thomas’s in Battersea.

Other guests included historian Dan Snow, who is married to Hugh’s sister Lady Edwina Grosvenor, nightlife tycoon Charlie Gilkes and his wife Anneke and the Prince of Wales’s close friends William and Rose van Cutsem.

TV producer and screenwriter Phil Redmond, who created Grange Hill and Hollyoaks, was also celebrating the nuptials.

Later at Eaton Hall, the vast Westminster stately home, guests were served vintage champagne and nibbled on lemon-flavoured wedding cake, where the toasts were to a long and happy life.

Back at the cathedral one promise was already being met – the flowers were on their way to their next destination.