When they got engaged in September, Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi released a sweet, starry-eyed statement.
It ran: ‘We can’t wait to actually be married.’
Unfortunately, they’re going to have to wait a little longer.
This week they indefinitely delayed their wedding reception — a lavish affair due to be held on May 29 — which was to have seen a throng of A-listers raise a toast to the happy couple on the lawns of Buckingham Palace.
Friends say restrictions on large gatherings, and the fear of the impact of coronavirus on the older generation, made the decision inevitable. Now the couple are deciding what they will do.
When they got engaged in September, Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi released a sweet, starry-eyed statement. It ran: ‘We can’t wait to actually be married’
Extraordinarily, they are weighing up the possibility of a behind-closed-doors ‘elopement’-style wedding that will feature just five people: the bride, groom, the priest and two witnesses.
They would then throw the party to end all parties some months hence, when all is back to normal. It would be an extraordinary conclusion to what must surely be the most cursed engagement in royal history; so far it has been knocked off course by a General Election, Prince Andrew’s Newsnight blunder, Megxit and now Covid-19.
ALISON BOSHOFF has the story of the Princess, the ‘curse’, and her determination to get a ring on her finger…
THE BUMPY PATH OF TRUE LOVE
Beatrice, the ninth in line to the throne, started dating long-time family friend Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in October 2018. She renewed her friendship with the property developer and father-of-one at her sister Princess Eugenie’s Windsor wedding.
The news upset the family of his ex-girlfriend, Dara Huang, who had believed the two of them were still an item.
When Bea renewed her friendship with Edoardo, he and Dara were still living together in London, although sources insisted they had split six months previously and were only sharing a home to co-parent son Wolfie, three (pictured together)
Edo, as friends call him, and Dara were still living together in London, although sources insisted they had split six months previously and were only sharing a home to co-parent son Wolfie, three.
Her mother Lily said: ‘I think Dara was hiding it from me. She didn’t want me to be sad. I am shocked.’ In September last year, handsome Edo proposed at sunset during a romantic stay at Le Sirenuse Hotel in Positano, on Italy’s Amalfi coast.
The York family were overjoyed at Beatrice’s happiness, which followed a ten-year dead-end romance with businessman Dave Clark. Dara, a stunning American architect and Harvard graduate, remains a part of Edo’s life.
In January this year it was reported that Beatrice, 31, ‘would rather there was a little more distance’ between her fiance and his ex. Dara is said to still help Edo, 37, pick out clothes and cut his hair. She was also a part of the wedding plans and was to attend in order to look after Wolfie, who will be his father’s ‘best man’.
POLLS MEAN THEY CAN’T NAME DAY
After the announcement of the engagement, it was expected that a date would be soon set.
However, a General Election was called at the end of October, and it is customary not to make royal announcements during an election period.
Relations with Prince Harry and Meghan (pictured) have also caused issues for Princess Beatrice’s wedding
SNUBBED BY THE BROADCASTERS
In the wake of Prince Andrew’s disastrous Newsnight interview, broadcasters confirmed they would not be covering the wedding other than as an item in news programmes.
When her sister Eugenie married in 2018, the BBC chose not to broadcast the event, although ITV ran a three-hour special.
AVOIDING THE QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY
The date of Friday, May 29, was finally announced in February, and was chosen to fit in with the Queen’s schedule. The second Saturday in June (the 13th, this year) is her official birthday, with Trooping the Colour scheduled, and Royal Ascot planned to run from June 16 to 20, meaning the entire month was best avoided.
The Queen is very fond of both granddaughters and insisted Prince Andrew’s disgrace should not be allowed to impact his children. She even invited Edo to spend Christmas with the family at Sandringham last year — a virtually unheard-of honour, as usually only married couples and family members can attend the three-day festivities.
‘They are close,’ says editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine Ingrid Seward.
‘The Yorks see more of The Queen than much of the rest of the family. The girls are with her every Christmas and Easter.’
Another source says: ‘The Queen is very close to Beatrice, and has been enormously supportive of her engagement to Edoardo, even warmly welcoming Edo’s son, Wolfie, into the family fold.
‘He and Princess Charlotte are now regular playmates, and Beatrice is wonderful with Wolfie — she’ll make a great mother.’ The Queen also offered to host the wedding reception at Buckingham Palace, a special gesture as it would have been the first wedding celebration to be held there since William and Kate’s in 2011.
In November 2019, Princess Beatrice’s father, Prince Andrew, gave a disastrous interview to BBC’s Newsnight about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Pictured: Princess Eugenie arriving with Prince Andrew ahead of her wedding
PALACE CONFIRMS: RECEPTION IS OFF
On Wednesday, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘In line with government advice for the UK and beyond, the couple are reviewing their arrangements for May 29.
‘They are particularly conscious of government advice in relation to both the wellbeing of older family members and large gatherings of people.
‘Therefore, the planned reception in the Buckingham Palace Gardens will not take place.
‘The couple will carefully consider government advice before deciding whether a private marriage might take place amongst a small group of family and friends.’
MARRY IN MAY… AND PARTY LATER?
The couple could wait for a year, or more, and have the wedding and reception as planned.
But it seems more likely that they will marry in May and have a party later in 2020 or in 2021. Friends say they are ‘madly in love’ and really want to marry sooner rather than later.
One suggests they are so keen for it to go ahead they are willing to do this even if the wedding is just the two of them, an officiant and two witnesses — the legal minimum number of people who must be in attendance.
The Church is currently recommending that couples stick to this minimum. The venue will likely be their existing choice of the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace — where Beatrice and Edo share an apartment.
£60K DRESSES AND TIARAS ON LOAN
Even if it is a tiny wedding, she can still wear her wedding dress and a loaned tiara. Beatrice has been spotted at the Knightsbridge HQ of wedding dress specialist Caroline Castigliano.
Her classic designs would be a safe choice for Beatrice, whose fashion experiments are sometimes poorly received. Prices range from £4,000 for an offthe-peg number, to £60,000 for a fully couture gown.
She will also have her pick of tiaras from the Queen’s collection. Options include the Oriental Circlet — worn by Queen Victoria — or the Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara, worn by The Queen and Princess Anne at their weddings.
A-LIST PALS WHO ARE SURE TO BE GUESTS
Bea is a fixture on the showbiz circuit and — when it finally happens — we can expect even more famous faces at her wedding reception than Eugenie’s. Close friends include models Kate Moss and Karlie Kloss, singers James Blunt, Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding and Robbie Williams, and comedian Jimmy Carr.
Models Poppy and Cara Delevingne, whose mother Pandora is close to Fergie, can also expect an invitation, as can Harry and Meghan’s matchmaker Misha Nonoo.
Beatrice is still friends with Prince Harry’s ex Cressida Bonas, while other society beauties who are likely be invited include Sophie Hesketh, Alice Naylor-Leyland, Lady Melissa Percy and Petra Palumbo, whose father Peter is one of Bea’s godparents.
Sam and Holly Branson, children of Sir Richard, will surely be invited, as will Prince Amedeo of Belgium and music mogul David Geffen, who has entertained Bea on his yacht, the Rising Sun.
Picture research: CLAIRE CISOTTI