Joy for Bea as she gets her wedding date at last
AFTER a tough few weeks for Princess Beatrice, I gather there is at last some happy news for the young Royal as the Queen has finally agreed to let her announce a wedding date – albeit one that doesn’t interrupt Royal Ascot.
Her Majesty says that Beatrice and her fiance Edo Mapelli Mozzi can reveal details about their big day in the New Year. I’m told we can expect the ceremony to be in early June, as the racing-obsessed Monarch has stipulated the date must not interrupt her favourite meeting, which next year starts on June 16.
A source close to the couple said: ‘Bea and Edo will finally announce their wedding date in the second week of January. The date has been described as “early summer”, just before the summer social season kicks off.’
However, it appears that securing a venue is proving to be problematic. The happy couple had told select friends last month that The Guards’ Chapel, St James’s Park, had made their final shortlist but now it seems that the venue is no longer under consideration.
Prince Andrew’s position as an honorary Colonel of the Grenadier Guards would have pushed Bea to the front of the queue to marry at the venue, which has a long waiting list. Generally, only current serving members of the military and their direct descendents can marry at the site, though exceptions can be made for civilians who are very well known to the church.
For this reason, the chapel was deemed to be a perfect choice – exclusive yet not traditionally Royal, and striking just the right note at a time when the Yorks prominence within the Royal Family is in flux.
However, the chapel, which played host to the wedding of Camilla and Andrew Parker Bowles in 1973, looks to be off the cards. My source says: ‘Only three weeks ago friends were expecting to watch Bea walk down the aisle at The Guards Chapel, but that location is now looking unlikely. Poor Beatrice – this wedding seems impossible to cement. At least she’s got a date at last, and has found a window to announce it, once the opening of Parliament, Christmas and New Year are over.’
Last week Prince Andrew reportedly failed to attend a dinner for The First Guards Club – its membership is restricted to serving and retired Grenadier officers.
His ‘unprecedented’ absence was explained by Buckingham Palace as being justified by his decision ‘not to undertake any activity in support of his military associations’. Andrew has stepped back from public duties in the wake of his disastrous Newsnight interview over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Perhaps a military wedding for his eldest daughter falls within that bracket?