Princess Beatrice's Royal Wedding
If there is one thing that the Royals do well, it’s weddings and Princess Beatrice’s surprise wedding on July 17 was no exception. While their original wedding was scheduled for this past May and was going to have all of the royal trappings - the carriage ride to see the public, the luncheon followed by a black tie evening event, that was all impacted by Covid. Nevertheless, they planned an intimate and beautiful day with stunning florals, a unique vintage dress and so much meaning packed into the private day.
The Bride: Her Royal Highness, Princess Beatrice is the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew (the Duke of York) and Sarah Ferguson (divorced, but maintains the Duchess of York title). While Prince Andrew has been removed as a working royal due to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and accusations of assault against him, his daughters are still fairly beloved by the people for their low key attitudes, fun fashion choices, and the fact that they are the only “blood princesses” in this generation. “Bea” as she is known to friends, works at software company Afiniti, where she is currently employed as the Vice President of Partnerships & Strategy, and also does a significant amount of charity work as the Patron of Street Child, the Big Change Charitable Trust, the Teenage Cancer Trust, and the Berkshire Community Foundation, among other organizations. She is part of a very chic international crowd, with celebrities like Ellie Goulding, Karlie Kloss, Cara Delevigne and Ed Sheeran, among her circle.
The Groom: Edoardo Mappelli Mozzi, son from previous relationship nicknamed “Wolfie” His friends call him Edo and he is the CEO of Banda Property, a property development company. His father Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi is an Italian Count and his parents divorced when he was young. Edo is technically also a count, but does not use the title. Bea and Edo have known each other for a long time, her mother is actually his half brother Alby Shale’s godmother. They took their relationship public at the National Portrait Gallery’s annual gala in March 2019 and got engaged in September of the same year. Edo was rumored to have broken up with the mother of his son, Christopher Woolf (“Wolfie”) scandalously close to starting to date Bea.
The Dress: Princess Beatrice wore a vintage dress, loaned to her by the Queen! The dress was made by Norman Hartnell, who dressed the Queen at her wedding, and the Queen originally wore it on two occasions, the opening of Parliament in 1967, and the London premiere of Lawrence of Arabia in 1962. Her dresser, Angela Kelly and Stuart Parvin, who makes most of her dresses and skirt suits added a lovely sheer puff sleeve (to mimic the mother of the bride’s wedding dress) and changed the bottom of the dress.
The Tiara: In addition to loaning a dress, the Queen also loaned the Queen Mary Diamond Fringe tiara, which she wore to her own wedding. The history of this tiara is unique as it was originally a necklace owned by Queen Victoria, that Queen Mary had made into a tiara in 1919. It was also worn by Princess Anne at her first wedding to Mark Phillips in 1973. While royal brides can request specific tiaras, the choice ultimately comes down to the Queen, so this was a lovely and personal gesture.
The Guests: Due to Covid, the wedding was very small. The entire guest list has not been confirmed but we do know these key players were in attendance: The Queen and Prince Philip, Prince Andrew, The Duchess of York, Princess Eugenie (sister of Beatrice) and husband Jack Brooksbank, four-year-old son, Christopher “Wolfie” Mapelli Mozzi (son of groom), Nikki Williams-Ellis(mother of groom), David Williams-Ellis (step father of the groom), Natalia Yeomans (sister of groom), Alby Shale (half brother of the )groom. There are also rumors that Edo's young niece and nephew, Coco and Freddie served as the bridesmaid and pageboy.
The Flowers: The theme for this wedding was “secret garden” and holy moly did the flowers deliver on that! One of the benefits of having a smaller wedding, was that the florals made an incredible impact in the small spaces they were placed. It was an explosion of trailing jasmine, pale pink and cream sweet peas, royal porcelain ivory spray roses, pink o’hara garden roses, pink wax flower and baby pink astible. As is tradition, Beatrice’s bouquet included myrtle, which is in all royal bouquets since The Queen’s wedding. Her bouquet was also placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The Ceremony: The ceremony took place in the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, which is part of the Windsor Castle grounds. Music, including the national anthem, were played but not sung. The couple had a series of readings done by their mothers including Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare and “i carry your heart with me(i carry it in)” by e.e. cummings. The ceremony only included 20 guests.
The Party: The celebrations included an outdoor luncheon on the nearby grounds of Royal Lodge, the shared home of Beatrice’s parents. They had a very small number of additional guests come, and had a tent with the same “secret garden” theme and florals as was at the ceremony. Live music is still banned, so they played music over speakers. In the evening they set up an outdoor pub and guests stayed in “glamping” pods put up on the grounds!
