Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozziconi. Photo / Getty Images
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozziconi. Photo / Getty Images
Princess Beatrice has married her fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a secret Windsor ceremony after her big day was cancelled due to COVID-19.
The royal couple wed at All Saints Chapel in Windsor Great Park with around 20 guests including Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, the Queen and Prince Philip.
Beatrice's sister, Princess Eugenie and her brother in law Jack Brooksbank, are also believed to have attended the wedding along with Edoardo's father Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi and sister Nicole Yeomans.
Buckingham Palace said the wedding took place observing all social distancing guidelines.
Beatrice's top-secret wedding will also mean a title change for the Princess, due to the fact her new husband is descended from Italian aristocracy.
Now married, Edoardo becomes a Count, just like his father - and Beatrice becomes a "contessa", the Italian equivalent of a countess. Aristocratic titles across two countries — not bad.
And just like her sister Eugenie did after her wedding, Beatrice will drop "of York" from her title:
Post Wedding, Beatrice will officially be known as HRH Princess Beatrice, dropping her father's territorial designation, "of York" per custom.
But, like with Eugenie, we will likely see "of York" occasionally as the royals & their staff don't always get their titles right.
They were due to marry at St James's Palace on May 29 with 150 guests after a star-studded engagement party, but were forced to cancel due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Their wedding came on the same day the government announced an easing of virus restrictions that would allow 30 guests at weddings from August 1.
WHO IS EDOARDO MAPELLI MOZZI?
Mapelli Mozzi is a property tycoon known as Edo. The couple began dating in the northern autumn of 2018 after having been family friends for years.
The couple were 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.
Beatrice will now become mother to his young son with Huang, Wolfie. His ex-fiance gave the couple her blessing after their engagement.
Princess Beatrice is the daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. She is not a full-time royal but works for artificial intelligence company Afiniti, as vice president of partnerships and strategy.
CORONAVIRUS WEDDING
The Queen had to leave the ceremony early in order to present a knighthood to Captain Tom Moore, an NHS fundraising hero on Friday afternoon local time. It was the first engagement she has attended since lockdown, which she has spent at Windsor Castle with Prince Philip.
A friend of the couple told The Sun, the wedding was arranged for Friday so the Queen could be there before she leaves for Balmoral at the end of the month.
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozziconi. Photo / Getty Images
"A massive wedding was out of the question because of coronavirus," the friend said.
"They were obviously very keen for the Queen to come so the wedding had to happen before she goes up to Balmoral so this was a great opportunity.
"So many guests were disappointed not to make the big day but understood the reason for it.
"They needed to make the wedding Covid-secure and safe for the Queen so what better way than the All Saints Chapel with reception on site at the Royal Lodge.
"They are just like a normal family and had to make sacrifices like many others have up and down the country and looking forward to having a wonderful celebration when the time is right."
PRINCE ANDREW PLAYS LOW KEY ROLE
It's unclear if Prince Andrew walked Princess Beatrice down the aisle as he did for Princess Eugenie in October 2018 when she married Jack Brooksbank.
He has since been forced to step back from royal life following fallout from a disastrous Newsnight interview in which he failed to draw a line under his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Princess Beatrice's wedding comes following the news of Ghislaine Maxwell's arrest. She is in a New York jail facing six charges relating to trafficking minors and perjury but denies any wrongdoing.
Prince Andrew has not commented on the arrest of his former friend, but is still facing calls from US authorities to give an interview over what he may have witnessed from Maxwell and Epstein.
The Duke of York denies any wrongdoing and said he abhors the exploitation of young women. His lawyers have said they are "bewildered" at US attempts to talk to him and claim he has offered to give an interview three times.
