The royal weddings we’ve seen over the past decade have included enormous guest lists and processions through crowds of thousands, however Princess Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi yesterday in a small intimate ceremony at The Royal Chapel of All Saints in Windsor. It’s fitting for this small family ceremony that Beatrice’s wedding dress was such a sentimental choice—she wore a vintage Norman Hartnell embellished gown that belongs to her grandmother the Queen.
Beatrice made some alterations to the vintage dress, working with Stewart Parvin and Angela Kelly to add delicate organza puff-sleeves underneath the existing statement straps and add a new trim on the skirt. The Queen first wore this evening gown in 1961 to a state dinner in Rome and then a year later to the premiere of the film Lawrence of Arabia in 1962 at Leicester Square. It is a special piece from the Queen’s fashion archive and was previously included in an exhibition of her memorable dresses at Buckingham Palace.
Beatrice’s tiara is also ‘something borrowed’ as it is the Queen Mary Diamond Fringe, which Queen Elizabeth also wore on her own wedding day to Prince Phillip in 1947. With such an elaborate tiara and heavily embellished dress, Beatrice kept the rest of her bridal look simple with minimal jewellery and a short veil.
