The ceremony was officiated by the Reverend Canon Paul Wright, Sub-Dean of the Chapel Royal, and the Reverend Canon Martin Poll, Domestic Chaplain to Her Majesty The Queen, with all social distancing measures adhered to, in line with the circumstances of the pandemic. During the service, two of the couple’s favourite poems were read out by their mothers – Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare and I carry you in my heart by E.E. Cummings – along with a biblical reading, St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians Chapter 13, verses 1-13. Prayers were also read, and although no hymns were sung due to government guidelines, music was played, including the National Anthem.
The intimate ceremony was attended by the Queen and her husband, the late Prince Philip, Beatrice and Edo’s parents and siblings. Beatrice was walked down the aisle by her father, Prince Andrew, and Edo’s young son Wolfie acted as best man and pageboy. Two photographs of the day, taken by Benjamin Wheeler and released the following evening through the Press Association, showed Beatrice and Edo leaving the church following the service, and alongside the Queen and Prince Philip.
The following day, two further images of the couple were released. Buckingham Palace stated that ‘Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice of York and Mr. Mapelli Mozzi have been touched by the warm wishes they have received since their wedding, and are delighted to share two additional photographs of their happy day.’ In the photos, Beatrice and Edo were shown in the grounds of Royal Lodge (Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York’s family home) after the wedding, looking every inch the happy newlyweds as they smiled and held hands.
Beatrice’s wedding was always set to be a low-key affair, with none of the pomp, ceremony and crowds witnessed at Princess Eugenie’s big day back in October 2018. The original plan for a May wedding at the Chapel Royal in St James’s Palace, London with close to 150 guests was scuppered as a result of the pandemic.
It was reported at the time that the nuptials went ahead in July to make sure that the Queen was able to attend before she left Windsor for Balmoral later in the summer. A friend of Beatrice’s told the Sun: ‘A massive wedding was out of the question because of coronavirus. 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.
