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Prince Andrew's scandal may affect Princess Beatrice's wedding

Photo credit: Instagram - Getty Images
Photo credit: Instagram - Getty Images

From Cosmopolitan

Life was pretty exciting for Princess Beatrice back in September, when the 31-year-old announced her engagement to property tycoon boyfriend, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Few specifics were announced about the couple's plans for getting married, other than the fact it would take place next year, in 2020.

Since then, however, things have taken a turn for the worse for Beatrice's family. Her father, Prince Andrew, received widespread backlash for an interview with BBC's Newsnight, in which he was quizzed on his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. As well as maintaining contact with Epstein even after charges were pressed, Prince Andrew is accused of having sex with a 17-year-old Virginia Roberts (now Giuffre). The incident, Giuffre claims, took place in 2001 when Epstein was trafficking her for sex. Prince Andrew continues to strongly deny any sexual contact with Giuffre and says he does not recall meeting her, but did say in the interview he felt he had "let the side down" for being friends with Jeffrey Epstein.

In the wake of the interview, Prince Andrew publicly announced he would be stepping down from royal duties "for the foreseeable future". His charity patronages were severed and he has not been present at any royal events since, including Tuesday night's NATO reception at Buckingham Palace.

Photo credit: Christopher Furlong - Getty Images
Photo credit: Christopher Furlong - Getty Images

So, how will all this affect Beatrice's wedding? The issue is, if her dad is no longer a working royal, it makes it more complicated for the Princess to be allowed a public wedding (especially if it requires elements of public funding) just like Eugenie had, if that's what she wants. Plus, with the controversy surrounding her dad, it might make the whole issue a little sensitive, perhaps encouraging Princess Beatrice to delay the event or avoid quite such a big spotlight for the day.

Royal expert Marlene Koenig believes all this will have an effect on the way Beatrice and Edoardo plan their special day. Taking to twitter shortly after the Prince Andrew news broke, the royal author wrote: "Beatrice’s wedding will be collateral damage. I will not be surprised if she has a rather quiet wedding, out of the public eye, with a few photos, no live coverage.

"This will be better than an announcement that they have decided to postpone marriage," she added.

According to reports, it was suspected Princess Beatrice was planning to stray from the royal norm when it comes to her wedding anyway. Speaking to the Mail on Sunday back in October, a friend of Beatrice's reportedly said the bride-and-groom-to-be were considering shunning the favoured royal venue of St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, as well as the usual carriage procession.

"Beatrice has said she and Edo are looking at alternative venues because she wants something different," said the source. "The wedding will not be in Italy and from what they are saying it won’t be in St George’s Chapel, Windsor, either."

Photo credit: Handout - Getty Images
Photo credit: Handout - Getty Images

"There have been three big Royal weddings there in the past year or so and I’m not sure that’s what Bea wants. Edo has a child, there’s the situation with his ex, and Beatrice might just feel something more low-key might be more fitting," the insider added.

Now, with all the controversy surrounding her family, a low-key wedding seems even more likely.

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