Princess Beatrice and fiancé Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi have put their wedding on hold over the coronavirus pandemic.
The couple were due to marry at St James’s Palace in London on May 29, with Beatrice’s grandmother the Queen hosting a private reception in Buckingham Palace’s gardens.
But royal officials revealed today that the reception has been cancelled.
A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace has said the couple will consider government advice before deciding whether to hold a smaller ceremony with a ‘small group of family and friends’.
The couple wished to avoid “unnecessary risks”, the spokeswoman said.
They are “particularly conscious” of government advice in relation to both “the wellbeing of older family members and large gatherings of people”.
This development has come after news broke yesterday that the Queen was going into self-isolation at Windsor Castle as a precautionary measure.
The Queen was due to spend the Easter period at Windsor Castle, but has moved there one week earlier than planned as a “sensible precaution”.
While engagements such as the Queen’s scheduled trip to Camden and Cheshire have been postponed, the 93-year-old monarch will continue her scheduled audiences this week with any future audiences reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
A statement released by Buckingham Palace also announced the cancellation of a number of significant events in the royal diary including the Garden Parties hosted by the Queen which were scheduled for May and also follows the news that one of the Queen’s favourite events, the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, would not go ahead this year either.
Doubts were first cast over Beatrice and ‘Edo’s’ wedding plans earlier this month, when travel bans and border restrictions across the globe seemed likely and Italy went into lockdown.
The couple’s guest list came under scrutiny with a source telling The Telegraph, “The coronavirus has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works. Although there’s no suggestion that Italy will remain in lockdown until the end of May, obviously the whole thing does cast doubt over the guest list.”
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi comes from the Lombardy region of northern Italy, which was the first to quarantine 16 million people.
Even before the Covid-19 global pandemic took hold the couple’s wedding plans have been dogged by stumbling blocks.
After announcing her engagement to ‘Edo’ last September she had to postpone the announcement of their wedding date twice, and was reportedly not happy about that.
The first time was because the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced that they would be stepping back as members of the Royal Family.
Then again after Prince Andrew’s relationship with sex offender Jeffery Epstein was again put under the spotlight.
Princess Beatrice’s wedding had been touted as one of the social events of 2020. Now it’s looking like it will be a very intimate affair, if it goes ahead at all this year.
