A royal wedding like no other
The absence of Princess’s closest family added to the unusual aspects of a royal wedding in pandemic era
Buckingham Palace last night released photographs of Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi’s “lockdown” royal wedding, featuring the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh, but no Duke of York.
The Queen and her husband were guests of honour at the Windsor wedding on Friday, which had no hymns, or well-wishers, out of respect for Covid-19 guidelines.
The Duke of York, who walked his daughter down the aisle, was conspicuously absent from the photographs, after stepping down from royal duties following the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
IT WAS, by any measure, a royal wedding like no other.
On the side of tradition, there was a beaming couple, a chapel laden with flowers, and the bride’s beloved grandparents at its heart.
But in almost every other respect, the wedding of Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi was unrecognisable as a Great British royal wedding of the modern era.
As the Royal family adhered to the same Covid-19 rules as the rest of the country, the Princess and Mr Mapelli Mozzi wed in lockdown, with a handful of socially distanced family members, no hymns and a national anthem which was played but not sung. As official photographs of the newlyweds were released last night, there was another notable difference: the conspicuous absence of the mother and father of the bride in commemorative pictures.
The Duke of York walked the Princess down the aisle, but did not take part in photographs released to the public in the wake of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Sarah, Duchess of York read a poem during the ceremony, but she, too, was missing from pictures. Instead, the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were the only members of either family captured for posterity. The
In a touching tribute to “Granny”, Princess Beatrice wore a vintage dress by Norman Hartnell, lent by the Queen for the day. Remodelled and fitted by Angela Kelly and Stewart Parvin, the Queen’s dressmakers, it is understood to have first been worn by the young Queen to a screening of Lawrence of Arabia in 1962.
Clearly conscious of making the wedding day a special occasion despite the doubly difficult circumstances, the Queen also loaned the Queen Mary diamond fringe tiara, which she wore on her own wedding day. Originally made for Queen Mary by Garrard and Co in 1919 from a diamond necklace given by Queen Victoria for her wedding, the tiara has deep royal history.
The wedding had been kept a secret from all but a close-knit few, with its existence only emerging after the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were photographed being driven along Windsor’s Long Walk on Friday morning. Confirming only hours later that the wedding had taken place at the Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor, Buckingham Palace last night added: “The couple decided to hold a small private ceremony with their parents and siblings following the postponement of their wedding in May.”
The only guests were the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the couple’s parents and siblings, including Princess Eugenie, and the groom’s three-yearold son, known as Wolfie, who took the role of best man and page boy.
“The bride was walked down the aisle by her father,” the palace confirmed. Both best man and father-ofthe-bride were spared the traditional challenge of delivering a reception speech by virtue of lockdown, with the Duke likely to have instead spoken of his pride in Princess Beatrice during a small family gathering at Royal Lodge.
Sarah, Duchess of York and the groom’s mother, Nikki Williams-Ellis, read two of the couple’s favourite poems: I carry you in my heart by EE Cummings and Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116. The service also included St Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians 13: 1-13.
Made by Patrice Van Helden of RVH Floral Design, the bouquet was placed on the tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey after the ceremony. Photographs, two of which have been released to the public, were taken by Benjamin Wheeler, whose work has appeared in Vogue.
Guests were treated to a wedding breakfast and party in a marquee in the grounds of Royal Lodge.
The Mail on Sunday last night claimed they were served a cured sea trout starter followed by fillet steak, while children were entertained with a bouncy castle.
The newlyweds reportedly slept in a “glamping” pod. They are expected to celebrate with friends once guidance allows.
A spokesman said the couple’s honeymoon would remain “private”.
After self-isolating at Windsor Castle since March, the Queen, 94, and Duke of Edinburgh, 99, will move to Balmoral Castle next month for a summer holiday.
The Queen will have a “Balmoral bubble” of household staff and guests who will stay around the estate.