The couple got engaged in Italy last year. Photo / Getty Images
The couple got engaged in Italy last year. Photo / Getty Images
Buckingham Palace has revealed the long-awaited date and venue of Princess Beatrice's wedding to Italian property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
The celebration will take place on Friday 29th May 2020 at the Chapel Royal in St James's Palace in central London after the Queen gave permission.
"The ceremony will be followed by a private reception, given by The Queen, in the gardens of Buckingham Palace."
The couple became engaged in Italy in September 2019 and broke the news via a loved-up Instagram post just 11 months after they started dating, news.com.au reports.
Beatrice, 31 will wed the millionaire property tycoon Edoardo, 34, at a chapel where Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg on 10 February 1840.
In 1893 the then Duke of York and Princess Victoria Mary of Teck (later King George V and Queen Mary) were also married there.
It was also the venue for Prince George's baptism on 23 October 2013 in a ceremony attended by four generations of the royal ramily, including the Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge.
The couple have been family friends for years and were both reportedly recovering from separate heartbreaks when they began dating.
Beatrice had split from longtime boyfriend Dave Clark in 2016 after a decade together, and Edoardo had recently broken off his engagement to architect Dara Huang, whom he had lived with in London.
Dara, who is also mother to his son, wished the couple the best when news of their engagement broke, telling the Daily Mail "I wish the best for Edo and Beatrice and look forward to uniting our families".
The couple have asked wellwishers kindly not to give them gifts but instead to find out more about the work of Big Change and Cricket Builds Hope.
The wedding caps off a tumultuous 12-months for the royals that has seen Meghan and Harry leave London for a new low-key life in Vancouver with baby Archie.
The couple are set to start their new life without HRH to their names in the northern spring and all eyes will be on whether they return to the UK for the family wedding.
Beatrice's father, Prince Andrew, is still embroiled in the fallout from his disastrous BBC interview over his friend – convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – that led to the former Duke being forced to step back from royal duties.
On Friday it was announced he would defer an honorary Royal navy promotion that would have seen him become an admiral on his 60th birthday on February 19.
The former naval officer saw service as a helicopter pilot during the 1982 war with Argentina in the Falkland Islands. Senior royals are treated as serving military members.
"By convention, the Duke of York (Andrew) would be in line for military promotion on his 60th birthday," a palace spokeswoman said.
Prince Andrew, Duke of York and Princess Beatrice attends day one of Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse on June 18, 2019 in Ascot, England. Photo / Getty Images
"Following the decision by His Royal Highness to step back from public duties for the foreseeable future, the Duke of York has asked the Ministry of Defence if this promotion might be deferred until such time that His Royal Highness returns to public duty."
The announcement came hours after the British government said it had changed the policy of flying flags on royal birthdays.
The government said there was "no requirement" for local officials to raise flags for Andrew's 60th because of his decision to step back from public duties.
But Westminster Abbey — the historic central London location of every royal coronation since 1066 and host of 16 royal weddings — said it would still sound its bells for the prince.
