Princess Beatrice marries in private Windsor ceremony

Prince Beatrice, the eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York.Web Summit / Minerva97 / Creative Commons

The Duke and Duchess of York's eldest daughter, Beatrice, has married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi at Windsor, where Queen Elizabeth is living during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Princess Beatrice, the eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York, and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi have secretly married at a private ceremony at Windsor Castle on Friday (July 17). The couple announced their engagement in September 2019, were forced to postpone their wedding due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Their plan was to wed at Chapel Royal of St James's Palace, in May, with 150 guests. A lavish reception was planned at Buckingham Palace. Instead, Beatrice (31) and Edoardo married at All Saints Chapel, in Windsor Gret Park, in an intimate ceremony, with strict social distancing measures in place, according to Hello magazine. Currently, under British COVID guidelines, 30 people are permitted to gather for a wedding ceremony.

Queen Elizabeth, who has been in isolation with Prince Philip at Windsor Castle since the coronavirus outbreak, was photographed leaving Windsor Gret Park on Friday morning. The Daily Mail reports that Beatrice's parents, Prince Andrew and the Duchess of York, were both invited to the wedding but it is not known whether her younger sister Princess Eugenie (30) and brother-in-law Jack Brooksbank were present.

Since lockdown (March 23) Princess Beatrice has been living with her fiance, Edoardo, and her future mother-in-law Nikki Shale at her £1.5 million country house near Chipping Norton, in Oxfordshire.

Beatrice's husband is Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, a millionaire property tycoon with dual British and Italian citizenship. He has a four-year-old son Christopher (known as Woolfie), from his previous relationship with American architect Dara Huang.

Edoardo proposed to Princess Beatrice in Sept 2019 during a romantic getaway in Italy. He proposed with a bespoke diamond ring, designed by Mayfair atelier Shaun Leane.