Felix McCorquodale and Lily Coleman tie the knot, surrounded by loved ones, including Annabel Croft and Honour Wainwright

Wedding bells rang through Battersea over the weekend, as Annabel Croft’s daughter, Lily Coleman, married Felix McCorquodale, a relative of Princess Diana, in a ceremony that was the toast of young London.

Lily, who is following in her mother’s footsteps as a sports presenter, tied the knot with Felix at St Mary’s Church, surrounded by guests including sister-in-law Honour Wainwright, as she said ‘I do’ with her insurance industry beau, who is a relative of Raine Spencer, stepmother of the late Princess of Wales and daughter of romance novelist Barbara Cartland – who would surely have approved of the match.

Like many a cool-girl bride of late, Lily wore two wedding dresses to celebrate her big day. For the vows, she looked elegant in a draped-neckline ivory number, complete with a billowing fairytale train. The pair emerged from the ceremony to the sound of bagpipes and hopped into a Morris Minor decorated with a sign reading ‘The McCorquodales’

Later, Lily changed into a white feathered minidress for the wedding breakfast, held at Belgravia’s Wild By Tart, the restaurant owned by Jemima Jones, wife of Ben Goldsmith. Guests were treated to a grand three-course meal, with highlights including barbary duck and a wedding cake from The Clementine Kitchen. Tables were laid with personalised maracas and napkins embroidered with the phrase ‘happy tears’.

Annabel Croft made for a glorious mother of the bride, wearing a beautiful bronze ensemble as she posed for photos with her family, including Lily and her siblings, Charlie Coleman and Amber Llewellyn, a yoga instructor who welcomed son Arlo with her husband, Hector, 13 months ago. ‘Glamorous grannabel!’ Amber wrote in a photo of Annabel holding Arlo, her first grandchild; Charlie and his wife, Boodles heiress Honour, also brought their fourth-month-old daughter, Cosima.

The couple announced their engagement in September last year, announcing news with an Instagram post that read: ‘WHAT A SUMMER!!! I get to marry my besstttt friendddd.’ In a nod to her family’s recent flurry of festivities – which saw Charlie tie the knot with Honour and Amber welcome her baby – Lily added: ‘Think it’s safe to say our fam don’t mess around… one about to pop, one married, and last one engaged! Bish bash bosh.’

‘The most wonderful news and makes me so happy,’ Annabel Croft wrote in the comments, with a touching dedication to her daughter and future son-in-law. Meanwhile, Mia Southgate, daughter of former England manager Sir Gareth Southgate, sent her congratulations.

Annabel went on to reveal that her late husband, Mel Coleman, who died from sepsis three years ago aged 60, gave his blessing to Felix before he passed away.

‘He gave permission to my youngest daughter Lily’s boyfriend,’ the tennis pro told the Daily Mail: ‘Felix told me... one of the things Mel said to him was, “You definitely have my permission to marry Lily”.’

As for the latest addition to the Coleman clan, Felix McCorquodale comes from one of the country’s most well-known dynasties. ‘Acid’ Raine McCorquodale was once known as the ‘wicked stepmother’ of Princess Diana. But, as Tina Gaudoin revealed in Tatler’s October 2022 issue, the story was far more nuanced than that, with Raine going on to become one of the late Princess of Wales’ closest allies.

Variously titled the Countess of Dartmouth, Countess Spencer and La Comtesse de Chambrun throughout her life, the ‘narrative’ surrounding the daughter of Barbara Cartland was, Gaudoin explained, ‘so speedily crafted that, by the mid-’80s, it was hard to see Raine as anyone other than the impossibly demanding wife of [Earl Spencer] and wicked stepmother of the future queen.’ The glamorous socialite was ‘once vilified’ by the princess, but went on to become ‘one of her closest confidantes’.

What’s next for the couple? The table at their breakfast suggested their ‘next adventure’ would be in France, while Lily has already been sharing photos from what appears to be a honeymoon in a sun-drenched series of Instagram stories. Lily Coleman called the wedding the ‘best weekend ever’, but no doubt there are plenty more dazzling days to come for the new couple.