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Princess Beatrice got engaged last September. Her wedding has been postponed for a third time.

 

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On September 26 last year, it was announced that Princess Beatrice was engaged to her boyfriend of 10 months, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.

“We are both so excited to be embarking on this life adventure together,” the couple said in a statement.

“We share so many similar interests and values, and we know that this will stand us in great stead for the years ahead, full of love and happiness.”

Check out the fashion highlights from Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s wedding. Post continues below.

Video by MMC

No official date was announced, but it was said that Beatrice, 31, and financier Edoardo, 37, would tie the knot in the UK spring.

It was wonderful news for the couple, but equally joyous for the rest of the royal family.

Not just because weddings are happy occasions – but because the announcement served as a great distraction from what had so far been, quite frankly, a car crash of a year.

First, in January, Prince Phillip, 97, had a literal car crash, overturning his vehicle after a collision with another car just outside the Sandringham Estate.

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The two women who’d been travelling in the other vehicle were taken to hospital with minor injuries. (A nine-month-old baby who was with them was mercifully unhurt.)

There was also the rumoured rift between brothers, Prince William and Prince Harry, as well as the Queen being dragged into a constitutional crisis by British PM, Boris Johnson, who asked her to suspend Parliament for five weeks, cutting time to block a no-deal Brexit.

Then, right around the time of the engagement news, Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, decided to wage war on the tabloid press, taking legal action against the Mail on Sunday and its parent company after they published a private letter from Meghan’s father.

Following the announcement, Prince Harry launched a scathing attack on the tabloid press, likening their treatment of his wife to that of his mother, Princess Diana.

“Though this action may not be the safe one, it is the right one. Because my deepest fear is history repeating itself,” he said.

But while Princess Beatrice’s engagement might have served as a temporary placeholder headline, there was another royal scandal brewing that it simply couldn’t detract from.

Her father, Prince Andrew’s alleged association with now-deceased paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein, as well as sexual assault allegations made against him.

Prince Andrew Jeffrey Epstein investigation
Prince Andrew's alleged association with convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein caused scandal. (Photo Mark Richards - WPA Pool / Getty Images)
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Then, in November, Prince Andrew, 55, decided to set the record straight, agreeing to an interview with BBC Newsnight's Emily Maitlis.

It was an unmitigated disaster in which he failed to acknowledge or express any sympathy for Epstein's victims. After the interview, he officially stepped back from his royal duties.

If 2019 started as a car crash, it ended as a multi-vehicle pileup.

So bad, in fact, was the negative press about her father, that Princess Beatrice reportedly delayed her upcoming wedding twice, trying to avoid the day being shrouded in scandal.

A source who spoke to PEOPLE magazine said: "The date was changed two times to adjust [around Andrew’s scandal]. It will be smaller than the original plan".

The wedding was finally scheduled to take place in St James' Palace in London on May 29, followed by a private reception hosted by the Queen in the grounds of Buckingham Palace.

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But once again, Princess Beatrice and her fiance have had to cancel their big day, this time due to the coronavirus pandemic.

A Buckingham Palace spokesman confirmed in a statement: "Princess Beatrice and Mr Mapelli Mozzi are very much looking forward to getting married but are equally aware of the need to avoid undertaking any unnecessary risks in the current circumstances.

"In line with government advice for the UK and beyond, the couple are reviewing their arrangements for 29th May."

The statement said the wedding could still take place, but if so would be a much less lavish, crowded affair.

Originally, 150 guests were expected at the ceremony, which was set to be one of the social events of 2020.

"They are particularly conscious of government advice in relation to both the wellbeing of older family members and large gatherings of people. Therefore, the planned reception in the Buckingham Palace Gardens will not take place.

"The couple will carefully consider government advice before deciding whether a private marriage might take place among a small group of family and friends."

Earlier this week, the Queen cancelled all upcoming garden parties.

Additionally, Mozzi's family hail from Italy, one of the hardest hit countries, with a current death toll of more than 1000.

With travel bans being imposed all over the world, it's no surprise the upcoming royal wedding has been impacted.