Royal weddings are not just important to the royal family but to the public as well. So, when it was announced that Princess Beatrice would be tying the knot with Italian property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi this year, many were very excited about it.
But, unlike other royal weddings, Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi’s nuptials will not be covered by BBC. The British public service broadcaster said that it will not show extended live footage of the wedding, but will only offer “news coverage of the wedding across our services” instead.
ITV, which covered Princess Beatrice’s sister Princess Eugenie’s wedding with Jack Brooksbank in 2018, has not confirmed if it will be covering the upcoming royal nuptials. “We can’t comment any further on the situation surrounding Beatrice coverage until our teams are fully back in place next week,” an ITV spokeswoman said.
So, why are the BBC and ITV — and possibly other broadcasting companies — are not as eager to cover Princess Beatrice’s wedding like the other royal weddings? There is a high chance that Prince Andrew’s scandalous interview with BBC Newsnight, where his alleged link to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s scandal was discussed, may have impacted the decision making.
Meanwhile, the Royal family members know a lot of people, but they only keep quite a few real friendships. Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein have been friends for quite a long time, which is why the Duke of York was dragged into the latter's controversy.
Prince Andrew had denied the claims multiple times, stating that he was not involved in Jeffrey Epstein’s scandal. He also noted that he had no idea that Epstein was abusing women. However, the FBI needs to investigate everyone linked to the case and, unfortunately, for the prince, the victim mentioned his name.
When the image of Prince Andrew, alleged sex trafficking victim Virginia Roberts Giuffre, and Ghislaine Maxwell emerged, many were convinced that Queen Elizabeth’s son and the British socialite knew about Epstein’s lifestyle, and they didn’t do anything about it. This was when his claims of not knowing anything became hard to believe.
Although Prince Andrew eventually showed empathy for Jeffrey Epstein’s victims, it was a little too late as he didn’t express that emotion during the initial interview. After learning about his possible link to the scandal, a lot of charities and organizations sever ties with Prince Andrew.
