090507: Pre-Wedding Party for Bavarian Duchess

Since the 17th century, Germany’s Nymphenburg Palace has echoed with the voices of Bavarian royalty, and on the evening of September 3, 2007 the laughter of Duchess Maria Anna rang out in its halls as she stood by the side of Klaus Runow, her soon-to-be husband, and welcomed guests to their pre-nuptial soiree. Dressed in a strapless gold gown, the bride-to-be was a regal figure whose radiance rivalled that of the famed “Gallery of Beauties,” a succession of 36 portraits of aristocratic lovelies which have a permanent home in a section of the German retreat. According to Hello magazine online, the couple will pledge their devotion to one another in a wedding ceremony held on the second weekend of September in a chapel at Tegernsee Castle.