Princess Beatrice's surprise wedding to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi on July 17 will, no doubt, be quite unforgettable for the royals for years to come. Apart from being the only modern royal wedding to take place with 20 guests due to the pandemic crisis, the princess wore a few exciting vintage pieces that were very special hand-me-downs from her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
Princess Beatrice's exquisite romantic ivory Peau de Soie taffeta wedding dress actually belonged to the Queen, who first wore it in 1961 and on two more occasions. The gown was designed by Norman Hartnell, who also did Her Majesty's wedding dress.
Queen Elizabeth first wore the beaded gown during a state dinner in Rome in 1961. The monarch wore the dress the following year for the London premiere of Lawrence of Arabia. She, also, donned the gown for a third time in 1967 during the Parliament's re-opening ceremony.
The gorgeous gown had a sleeveless strap which was updated for Princess Beatrice. The eldest daughter of Prince Andrew's gown had new puffed sleeves seamlessly sewn in but the new look still maintained the whole integrity of the dress, with the diamonds falling like waterfalls on the corset's middle half.
Princess Beatrice, also, opted to remove the underskirt so that the gown falls gracefully on the hem. When her grandmother wore this gown, it had a puff-ball skirt rather than a silk trim.
The Queen's granddaughter, also, borrowed the tiara that Queen Elizabeth wore when she married Prince Philip in the 1940s. The one other person who wore this tiara was Princess Anne for her 1973 wedding to Mark Phillips.
Insiders said that Queen Elizabeth especially saved her wedding tiara for Princess Beatrice. The relationship between grandmother and granddaughter is, reportedly, exceptionally close that Her Majesty lent her most sentimental tiara to her.
The tiara actually belonged to Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth's grandmother. It was crafted based on a Russian kokoshnik design in 1919 and has 47 diamonds on its pointed spikes. This jewelry was Queen Elizabeth's "something borrowed" for her wedding day.
Princess Beatrice and Edo were supposed to get married in London on May 29. However, by April, amid the coronavirus restrictions, the couple decided to change their original wedding plans but didn't reveal when or where it would take place.
The scaled-down affair was followed by a small wedding reception with less than 15 guests at the Royal Lodge, the estate of Princess Beatrice's parents. The Queen and Prince Philip, however, left after the wedding ceremony.
