Will Princess Beatrice Ever Marry? Royal Wedding in Big Trouble Once More
The upcoming royal wedding for the year 2020 may be jeopardized again, as the global pandemic coronavirus has continuously spread around the world, particularly in the United Kingdom.
Princess Beatrice -- Queen Elizabeth II's granddaughter to her son Prince Andrew -- is set to tie the knot on May 29, 2020. The 31-year-old royal is about to marry her Italian fiance, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, in London.
However, since most of the guests from Edoardo's side of the family will be coming from Italy, which has been dramatically affected by COVID-19, it looks like the royal wedding plans might be put on hold once again.
The 37-year-old property developer is a native of Lombardy, a northern region in Italy. The whole country has been placed in a total lockdown already due to the massive spread of coronavirus. Italy's Civil Protection Agency head Angelo Borrelli said that at least 168 people died due to the virus in the past 24 hours.
According to reports, locking down the entire country will help control the movement of those infected by the virus from in and outside the territory. The local government is also planning to implement the issuing of special permission for people who want to fly in and out for travel, work, or medical reasons.
As of writing, there are more than 18,000 cases of coronavirus all over Europe, and half of this number comes from Italy. The country's health chief said that the number may still increase in the coming weeks.
While there is no further announcement if the lockdown will last until May, it is feared that most of Edoardo's relatives who are coming from Italy will not be able to jet to London for the wedding.
A royal insider said that as the wedding nears, together with the blowing number of coronavirus cases in the country, it may also affect the attendees on the bachelor party prepared for the groom -- which date has not been disclosed.
"The coronavirus has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works. Although there is no suggestion that Italy will remain in lockdown until the end of May, obviously, the whole thing does cast doubt over the guest list," the insider told The Daily Telegraph.
One of the VIP guests who is expected not to be on Princess Beatrice's wedding would be her 99-year-old grandfather, Prince Philip (Queen Elizabeth II's husband).
The Duke of Edinburg is currently enjoying his retirement in Wood Farm Cottage in Norfolk, so traveling 100 miles for the wedding could take a hinge on his health. But a source said that Prince Philip commits to attend the wedding if his health permits.
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo got engaged in September 2019 after dating for almost 11 months. Their wedding date announcement has been pushed back a couple of times due to the scandal involving Prince Andrew's relationship with a convicted pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, and the controversial decision of Prince William and Meghan Markle to step down as senior members of the royal family.
