Saturday, July 18, 2020

Princess Beatrice's wedding: a nod to her grandmother

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Princess Beatrice of York and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi were married yesterday at The Royal Chapel of All Saints, which is located on the grounds of the Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park.  Royal Lodge is the resident of the bride's father, the Duke of York.

Although a guest list has not been released it is understood that 20 guests were present for the wedding.  The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were photographed in a car en route to the wedding.  It can also be assumed that the guests included the bride's divorced parents, the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York and her sister, and brother-in-law,  Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank.  

Edo's family at the wedding were his Italian-born Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, his mother Nicola, and her third husband,  sculptor David Williams-Ellis. his sister, Natasha and her husband Tod Yeomans and their two children, Coco, and Freddie, 3, and his half brother, Alby Shales, whose father was the late Conservative politician Christopher Shales.

Edo, a London-based property developer, has a four-year-old son, Christopher Woolf, by American Dora Huang.   Christopher, who is known as Wolfie, was his father's best man.  Coco and Freddie were the bridesmaid and page boy respectively.   Princess Eugenie was her sister's maid of honor.


Princess Beatrice wore the Queen Mary Fringe Tiara, becoming the third royal bride to wear this tiara on her wedding day.  Queen Elizabeth II, as Princess Elizabeth, wore the tiara in 1947 when she married Prince Philip.  In 1973,  Princess Anne wore the tiara for her first marriage, to Mark Phillips.

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No one could have predicted that Beatrice would wear a gown worn by her grandmother several times in the 1960s.  The original gown, designed by Norman Hartnell, was first worn by Queen Elizabeth II during her State Visit to Italy in 1961.  She also wore the gown to the premiere of the film Lawrence of Arabia in 1967, and in 1967 to the  State Opening of Parliament.

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The Queen's dresser Angela Kelly and designer Stuart Parvin had three weeks to redesign the dress for Princess Beatrice.

The Duke of York hosted a reception for the bride and groom and their guests after the wedding.

Edo is a member of an Italian noble family that goes back to 1913.   He is a British national by birth and his father is a naturalized British citizen.  Since 1932,  British nationals cannot use foreign titles in the United Kingdom.  Titles of the nobility have not been recognized in Italy since the establishment of the Republic in 1948.   This means that Edo is Mr. Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and not Count Edoardo.

After the wedding,  Princess Beatrice, following the tradition of previous royal brides, had her bouquet placed on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior.


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8 comments:

Susan Cosnick said...

The dress and the tiara were perfect on her. She was a beautiful bride!

Göran said...

Does this mean the Count title could have been used in the UK if Mr Mapelli Mozzi were an Italian citizen? Why was foreign titels banned in 1932?

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

It was decided in 1932 that the King would no longer issue royal warrants to allow British citizens to use foreign titles. Some were grandfathered in (the then title holder and then heir), but that was it.

There are no counts in Italy, not since 1948. His family has no real Italian nobility in it.

1971 said...

Is that Edo's son laying the bouquet?

3 weeks to redesign the dress, odd that a dress hadn't been prepared before the Corona lockdown. Even without lockdown would a dress be prepared so late?

Mikaela said...

Hi Marlene,

I know Edoardo's title is not legal but I was wondering about other princesses of the blood and their titles.

When a dukedom/earldom is given to a prince, the prince will primarily be referred to by their new title, right? For example Prince William and Prince Edward are referred to as The Duke of Cambridge and The Earl of Wessex. Because a duke/earl is considered higher title than "just" a prince?

Why are princesses referred to as The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon or The Princess Mary, COountess of Harewood after their marriage? Instead of just Countess of Snowdon or Countess of Harewood? Is being blood princess considered as higher title than their husband's non-royal noble title?

I'm so confused with British titles sometimes... Thank you for your help!

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

The status of a prince is defined by Letters Patent. Their passports will show their rank or profession as Prince of the UK of GB and NI. This also appears on the birth certificates of their children. However, sons of the sovereign and sons of the heir apparent are usually given dukedoms, which a peerage. This changes how they are styled. HRH The Duke of Cambridge. In the UK, the sovereign and peers of the realm are the only people who are not commoners .. everyone else, including princes and princesses are legally commoners. Dukes, marquesses, earls, viscounts, barons ar peers of the realm. They are separate from royalty ... there is a precedence for the peerage. Peerage of England, peerage of Scotland, peerage of Great Britain and Peerage of the United Kingdom.

A princess does not take her husband's rank unless it is higher than hers (ie a king) HRH Princess Mary, Countess of Harewood is how she was styled after her husband succeeded to the earldom. When they got married, he was Viscount Lascelles. So she was Princess Mary, Viscountess Harewood. Antony Armstrong Jones did not get his earldom until six weeks before the birth of his son. Margaret was not styled as HRH The Princess Margaret, Mrs. Anthony Armstrong Jones. But when hubby accepted the earldom, it was announced that she would be styled as HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon.
http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2010/11/british-style-for-princess.html

a princess is a higher rank than an earl This is based on the table of precedence. But the princess's title is based on her relationship to the sovereign. Only daughters and granddaughters of the sovereign are HRH and Princess. A princess cannot pass her title to children. The present dukes of Gloucester and Kent are HRHs and Princes so their precedence is due to the relationship to the sovereign (first cousins.) But when their sons succeed, the two dukes will cease to be royal as the present dukes are grandsons of a sovereign (George V) in the male lines. Their sons will become peers but because two peerages are peerages of the United Kingdom, their precedence will drop below the Dukes in the Peerage of England, the Peerage of Scotland and the Peerage of GB.

It is more about how a royal is styled. http://royalmusingsblogspotcom.blogspot.com/2018/07/so-how-will-william-and-catherine-by.html

Marlene Eilers Koenig said...

No that is not Edo's son, who is only 4. I think that another gown was being made, but not finished before the cancellation - and due to quarantine, Beatrice was probably unable to visit the designer ... who might not have had staff to finish, unable to do fittings, etc. So the queen came to the rescue

Mikaela said...

Thank you for your reply, Marlene! I love your expertise!