The Queen has been in hiding for months as the novel coronavirus swamped Britain—but she’s ended her lockdown in style.
The 94-year-old was joined by the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Andrew on Friday morning to attend a secret royal wedding between Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
The couple had been due to tie the knot at the Chapel Royal of St. James’ Palace on May 29. But their ceremony was postponed due to COVID-19 and no new date was given by the palace at the time.
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It has now been revealed that the couple exchanged vows today at the Royal Chapel of All Saints, within the grounds of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s home of Royal Lodge, in Windsor Great Park.
Buckingham Palace formally confirmed the marriage after photographs were published on the website of British newspaper The Sun showing the Queen and Prince Philip arriving and departing the ceremony.
The palace issued a brief statement saying: “The private wedding ceremony of Princess Beatrice and Mr. Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi took place at 11 a.m. on Friday 17th July at The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor. The small ceremony was attended by The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and close family. The wedding took place in accordance with all relevant Government Guidelines.”
The Sun reports that just 20 people witnessed the scaled-back event.
A friend of the princess told The Daily Beast: “Beatrice is not into all the razzmatazz so I suspect she will really be very happy about it being such a small affair. And of course, if it meant her beloved dad could come without drawing any fire, that is another bonus. She is the sweetest girl and we are all thrilled for her after what has been a really difficult few years.”
Pictures of the happy couple will be released tomorrow, which is understood to be part of an effort to avoid overshadowing the investiture of 100-year-old fundraiser Captain Sir Tom Moore.
Beatrice has known “Edo” for many years. His late stepfather, Christopher Shale, was close friends with Andrew and Fergie. She started dating him in 2018, after breaking up with Uber exec Dave Clark in 2016.
He has a 3-year-old son named Wolfie, and was previously engaged to Dara Huang, Wolfie’s mother, for three and a half years. The pair are on good terms after splitting in 2018.
After Beatrice’s engagement was announced, Dara released a statement saying, “I wish the best for Edo and Beatrice and look forward to uniting our families.”
