Prince Andrew's 'problems' likely reason behind Beatrice's secret wedding

The groom's cousin said Edo and Beatrice's wedding may have been in secret "because of the problems with her father", Prince Andrew. Photo / Getty Images

Prince Andrew walked his daughter Beatrice down the aisle in the first "secret" wedding ceremony the royal family has held for 235 years.

The disgraced royal gave his daughter away in a private ceremony, avoiding a public appearance, according to the Daily Mail.

The princess, 31, has married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 37, at All Saints Church on the Queen's Windsor estate in front of just 15 family and friends.

They'd planned a much bigger ceremony in London in May, but had to cancel because of the UK coronavirus lockdown.

Only the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were present, as well as Beatrice's immediate family, including her mother Sarah and younger sister Eugenie.

The Daily Mail reported that the bride and her mother organised the wedding in just two weeks after government restrictions were relaxed, so her grandparents could attend.

Some family friends insisted the secret wedding wasn't because of Andrew's involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

The groom's cousin said Edo and Beatrice's wedding may have been in secret "because of the problems with her father", Prince Andrew. Photo / Getty Images

Andrew is wanted for questioning by the FBI over his friendship with the convicted paedophile.

Pressure on Prince Andrew, 60, has intensified after the arrest of his close friend and Epstein's ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.

But Edoardo's cousin Dario Mapelli Mozzi told the Mail: "We heard it was postponed to next year but that was clearly to keep it secret. Maybe they did it now to be sure that the Queen could be there.

"Or perhaps because of the problems with her father they didn't want to go overboard with publicity in case anyone criticised them."

Princess Eugenie's husband Jack attended as well as Edoardo's mother Nikki Williams-Ellis and stepfather David and his half-brother Alby Shale.

Beatrice and Edo had planned to wed at the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace on May 29 in front of 150 guests, followed by a reception in the garden at Buckingham Palace.

The couple, who spent lockdown together at the home of Edo's mother and her husband in Oxfordshire, decided to just "sit back" and wait to see how things went.