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Princess Beatrice and her fiancé Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi have formally canceled their royal wedding due to the lockdown in the U.K. amid the coronavirus pandemic, PEOPLE confirms.
The royal bride-to-be, 31, who is the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, was set to wed the 37-year-old financier at St. James’s Palace in London on May 29 with a reception to follow at her grandmother Queen Elizabeth’s gardens at Buckingham Palace.
“There are no plans to switch venues or hold a bigger wedding. They aren’t even thinking about their wedding at this time. There will come a time to rearrange, but that’s not yet,” a spokesperson for the couple tells PEOPLE.
Given the latest announced on Thursday from the U.K. government that the nationwide lockdown will continue for at least three more weeks — in addition to government guidelines to avoid gatherings outside of close family groups — the May 29 date made it impossible to go forward.
Due to coronavirus concerns, “the invitations were never actually sent out,” a source tells PEOPLE.
It was previously been announced that the reception was no longer taking place, and that the couple were discussing the option to marry in a private ceremony with friends and family instead. But with the coronavirus pandemic, it was becoming inevitable that it would be put on hold.
Like many other couples around the world at this wedding season, they had become realistic that it wasn’t going to be possible, a friend says. But friends assert it was the last thing on their mind with so many other stresses and challenges across the world.
In contrast to Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and Princess Eugenie’s nuptials, Beatrice and Mozzi’s wedding was always set to be a smaller celebration. The couple were not planning to have a carriage procession, which was “in keeping with their wishes for a more low-key” affair, a royal source previously said.
In November, Beatrice’s father, Prince Andrew, stepped back from his royal duties amid the fallout from his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew had been poised to walk his daughter down the aisle, and Beatrice’s future stepson Christopher (from Mozzi’s relationship with former girlfriend Dara Huang), who just turned 4 years old, was also set to serve in the bridal party.
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During the couple’s wedding planning last year, a source told PEOPLE that Andrew would likely play a major part in his daughter’s big day, despite him stepping back from royal duties.
“He plays a very traditional role in her life. She’s his greatest supporter. This is obviously very hard times,” the insider told PEOPLE.
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Ferguson recently opened up about Beatrice’s relationship with Mozzi, saying her daughter is “the happiest I have ever seen her in my life.”
“She and Edo have a great love for each other and passion for life,” she added. “For them to be getting married fills my heart with joy.”
