In an untraditional setting, Prince Andrew’s daughter, Princess Beatrice, got married in a hush-hush royal ceremony. Princess Beatrice, (31), wed her fiancée Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (37), fondly called Edo, a wealthy real estate investor who is divorced and is father to a young child.
The wedding took place in Windsor’s Queen’s Mansion at All Saints Church. The ceremony was a closed one and was attended only by 15 people, including close friends and family members. The Daily Mail’s British edition reported that this was done following the precautions implemented by the government to reduce the consequences of the Corona crisis.
The bride elegantly carried the vintage wedding dress that she almost publicly revealed in May. Everyone, counting the Queen, followed the rules of social distancing while standing inside the Church. Later, a reception was held at the Royal Lodge.
Read – Princess Beatrice’s Most Fashionable Moments
Beatrice and Eduardo started dating in the fall of 2018 and announced their engagement on September 26, 2019. Princess Beatrice is ranked ninth in succession to the British throne, while her younger sister Eugenie is in the tenth place.
Was the Wedding’s Secrecy because of the “Prince Andrew Scandal?”
Many believe that the covert ceremony helped Prince Andrew escape confronting the public after his scandalous relationship with billionaire Jeffrey Epstein came to light. However, close friends insist that the wedding’s secrecy was not because of Andrew’s recent problems, but only because of the Corona crisis. The couple had originally planned for a larger celebration in May in London, but they ended up postponing because of the recent pandemic.
Among the attendees of the ceremony were Queen Elizabeth (94), and the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip (99). Sources claim that they’ve been the sole people who’ve stood by Beatrice, her mother, and her younger sister.
Buckingham Palace announced Princess Beatrice’s wedding details, and it was reported by Daily Mail that no one except the family’s closest members knew about the marriage, and they too swore to not reveal it to the public. It is further claimed that Beatrice, along with her mother, made the arrangements for the marriage in a span of just two weeks post the government restrictions had been lifted.
A Sneak Peek into Historic Secret Weddings in the Royal Family
It is believed that the last member of the royal family who got married in a secret way, was King George IV (Prince of Wales) when he wed his mistress Maria Fitzherbert in 1785 without the approval of his father George III. Although that wedding disrupted his strict rules, it lasted until 1795 after George IV decided to divorce Maria to marry Princess Caroline from Brunswick. That marriage, too, however, was regarded unsuccessful as he tried to divorce her several times after he became king in 1820.