Why Princess Eugenie's Sister Princess Beatrice Read a 'Great Gatsby' Excerpt at the Royal Wedding

Princess Beatrice had the perfect passage in literature to honor her sister, Princess Eugenie, and her groom, Jack Brooksbank, on their special day.

The couple married on Friday at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England -- the same location where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle said their "I dos." 

The stunning ceremony included several readings from the Bible, but Beatrice, her sister's made of honor, broke tradition by reading from The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The excerpt she chose is about the bewitching appearance of the American novel's main character, Jay Gatsby.

He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced–or seemed to face–the whole eternal world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself, and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey. Precisely at that point it vanished — and I was looking at an elegant young rough-neck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd. Some time before he introduced himself I’d got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care.

As for why the 30-year-old royal chose to read such a passage at her sister's wedding, Rev. Andrew Connor explained during the ceremony that it was Eugenie who had specifically selected the passage because it reminded her of Jack's warm smile.

Just a week prior to the wedding, Eugenie was already feeling sentimental, sharing a sweet throwback photo on Instagram of when she and Beatrice were young bridesmaids. "Sisterly love," she captioned the cute pic.

In addition to Beatrice's reading, the groom's cousin, Charles Brooksbank, read an excerpt from St. Paul's Letter and Andrea Bocelli performed traditional hyms and prayers as well as "God Save the Queen" with a full orchestra.

Eugenie isn't the only one to break royal tradition this year. Check out how Meghan has broken protocol since becoming a duchess:

How Meghan Markle Bent Royal Protocol During Outing With the 'Fab Four'

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