Socially distanced... but bridging three generations

SMILING with pride, the Queen and Prince Philip may have been required to keep their distance from newlyweds Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi – but a Royal relationship has rarely been closer.

Beatrice married on Friday wearing both a tiara and vintage dress generously lent to her by her grandmother, deeply conscious that the 31-year-old was missing out on a traditional large wedding.

Instead, the hastily arranged ceremony was attended only by close friends and family following the cancellation of a larger wedding in May due to lockdown.

The princess was adamant her beloved grandparents should have the opportunity to see her exchange her vows with Edo, 37 – Government guidelines permitting – so chose the Chapel of All Saints on the Windsor estate, where the Queen, 94, often attends services.

It was the first Royal wedding behind closed doors for 235 years and the first ‘ public’ engagement for the Duke of Edinburgh in a year. The 99-year-old last appeared at Lady Gabriella Windsor’s wedding last May.

The wedding bridged three Royal generations – with Princess Beatrice becoming a stepmother to Edo’s son Wolfie, four, who acted as both best man and page boy alongside his two young cousins. Beatrice’s sister Eugenie, 30, was maid of honour.

A small party was held afterwards at Royal Lodge, Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York’s Windsor home, with many of the 20 guests staying overnight – some in glamping pods outdoors.

The photographs were released yesterday to ensure that they did not overshadow the ceremony on Friday to confer a knighthood on Captain Tom Moore, the former Army officer who raised £33 million for charity in a sponsored walk leading up to his 100th birthday in April.