The Queen Lent Princess Beatrice a Vintage Dress and Tiara for Her Wedding
New pictures of Princess Beatrice’s wedding reveal a vintage dress first worn by the Queen and a tiara she wore at her wedding. The Queen and Prince Philip appear in another shot.
Benjamin Wheeler/Pool via Reuters
Princess Beatrice’s top-secret Friday wedding to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi became a little less secret Saturday with the publication of photographs showing the bride and groom emerging from the church, and another with the queen and Prince Philip smiling at them both.
One photograph shows Beatrice, 31, and Mapelli Mozzi, 35, exiting a flower-bedecked All Saint’s Chapel in Windsor Great Park. The mystery of what Beatrice—who is ninth in line to the throne—wore for the ceremony was also solved, taking “something old” and “something borrowed” to another level.
Her wedding dress was a vintage Peau De Soie taffeta dress, in shades of ivory by Norman Hartnell, on loan from the queen, trimmed with duchess satin and encrusted with diamante. Hartnell designed the queen’s wedding dress, and this taffeta dress appeared to be a modified version of the gown the queen wore to the London premiere of the movie Lawrence of Arabia in 1962.
Beatrice also wore the Queen Mary diamond fringe tiara, which was worn by the queen on her 1947 wedding day. Buckingham Palace said the dress had been remodeled and fitted by the queen's senior dresser, Angela Kelly, and designer Stewart Parvin.
Reuters
The ceremony took place after the initial date—May 29—had to be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The tiara “is arguably the most sentimental [piece] lent from the Queen yet, for a very special reason,” a source told People. "The Queen saved this grand tiara specifically for Beatrice. It was always reserved for her as they are exceptionally close.” It was originally made for Queen Mary by Garrard and Co. in 1919 from a diamond necklace given by Queen Victoria.
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“The Queen was the guest of honor, and it was very important that she was there,” a source told People. “It was planned for some time, and everyone had to be extremely cautious leading up to the big day because the Queen was in attendance. They had to make sure everyone who was attending was in perfect health.”
Working within government guidelines, the service was in keeping with the unique circumstances while enabling them to celebrate their wedding with their closest family.
— Buckingham Palace statement
“The couple decided to hold a small private ceremony with their parents and siblings following the postponement of their wedding in May. Working within government guidelines, the service was in keeping with the unique circumstances while enabling them to celebrate their wedding with their closest family,” Buckingham Palace said in a statement
About 20 people attended the ceremony, held according to new guidelines for weddings, including a prohibition on singing hymns. The guests included Beatrice’s parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.
They do not appear in any as-yet released pictures, with the shamed Andrew still wanted for questioning by the FBI over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, the pressure on him only increasing with the recent arrest and charging of Ghislaine Maxwell. It is known that Andrew walked his daughter down the aisle, while Mozzi’s young son Wolfie served as the best man and page boy.
Beatrice carried a bouquet—made by Patrice Van Helden, co-owner of RVH Floral Design—of trailing jasmine, pale pink and cream sweet peas, royal porcelain ivory spray roses, pink O’Hara garden roses, pink wax flower, baby pink astilbe and, in keeping with royal tradition, sprigs of myrtle.
Reuters
The BBC reported that, as tradition dictates, Beatrice’s wedding bouquet was placed on the tomb of the unknown warrior in Westminster Abbey; another picture showed the Reverend Canon Anthony Ball laying the bouquet with Toby Wright, the son of the sub-dean of the Chapel Royal, Reverend Paul Wright.
The service also reportedly included two of the bride and groom’s favorite poems, read by their mothers: Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare and “I Carry Your Heart with Me” by E.E. Cummings.
St. Paul’s well-known and recited First Letter to the Corinthians Chapter 13, verses 1-13, was also read—which comprises a range of meditations on the meaning of love such as “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.”
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