Over the last few months, we have all missed things we were looking forward to. Concerts. Plays. Parties. So much has been cancelled. But there’s something particularly devastating – and potentially financially damaging - at postponing your own wedding. Perhaps the most famous person to have fallen in line with guidelines by putting aside the table plans and dress fittings for a while is Princess Beatrice. The royal was set to marry this week. So, on what was supposed to be the happiest day of her life, we look at the rollercoaster preparations.
Beatrice announced her engagement - to property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi – in September of 2019. Unlike her younger sister Eugenie and her cousin Harry, Beatrice chose to marry in London. A statement from the palace announced that she would tie the knot at Chapel Royal in St. James’s Palace. A private reception in the gardens of Buckingham Palace would follow. The venue was smaller than many royal weddings, but the couple favoured a more intimate approach. Reports suggested that a preference for privacy fell in line with the furore surrounding Prince Andrew’s association with the late Jeffrey Epstein. A televised event exhibiting the Prince walking his daughter down the aisle may not have gone down well with the public. In line with tradition, the royal family – including the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – would be in attendance. The reception, it is thought, would allow additional guests to join the festivities.
In March, reports stated that the wedding reception – planned for 300 guests - had been cancelled. ‘Princess Beatrice and Mr Mapelli Mozzi are very much looking forward to getting married’, a statement read. ‘But are equally aware of the need to avoid undertaking any unnecessary risks in the current circumstances. In line with government advice for the UK and beyond, the couple are reviewing their arrangements for 29th May. 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.’
They gave careful consideration to having a private marriage with witnesses, but the date has been pushed back. In an interview in April, Beatrice acknowledged that it has been a ‘challenging time.’
With any luck, big weddings will be back on the agenda soon. We could all use a celebration, right?
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