The couple is set to wed on May 29. Photo / Getty Images
The couple is set to wed on May 29. Photo / Getty Images
The coronavirus outbreak has cast doubt over the guest list for Princess Beatrice's wedding, the Telegraph has learned.
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, who is marrying the Queen's granddaughter in London on May 29, hails from the Lombardy region of northern Italy which was the first to quarantine 16 million people. OnMonday, the whole country was placed in confinement after a surge of almost 2000 cases in 24 hours.
Although born and raised in England, Mapelli Mozzi, 37, who holds dual British and Italian citizenship, still has ties to the Bergamo region where his family's ancestral seat is the Villa Mapelli Mozzi. With travel bans looming, there are also fears about guests flying in from overseas.
A royal insider said: "The coronavirus has thrown a bit of a spanner in the works. Although there's no suggestion that Italy will remain in lockdown until the end of May, obviously the whole thing does cast doubt over the guest list."
The insider suggested it might also affect who Mapelli Mozzi can invite to his stag do but a spokesman for the couple insisted he only had "distant relatives" in Italy.
The outbreak, which has so far killed more than 4000 people worldwide, is also raising questions over the Duke of Edinburgh's attendance at the ceremony at the Chapel Royal, St James's Palace and reception hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
Prince Philip, who turns 99 in June, is currently living in a state of self-imposed isolation at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate while the 93-year-old monarch is dividing her time between Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.
Having been admitted to hospital over the Christmas period for treatment of a pre-existing condition, the Duke is now understood to be spending his days reading and sorting through paperwork.
Royal author Phil Dampier, who has written three books about the Queen's husband, said: "If the coronavirus reaches Italian proportions in the UK, I seriously doubt the Duke would run the risk of travelling to London for Beatrice's wedding. He has not been coming into contact with many people in recent weeks.
"The Queen is soldiering on and at moment there are no plans to cancel any of the garden parties planned for the summer - but if the coronavirus gets worse, I can't imagine the palace powers-that-be will want her meeting and greeting thousands of people. Not at her age."
Last week, the Queen wore gloves during an investiture ceremony for the first time in at least a decade and on Tuesday there were no handshakes as she greeted Sri Lankan High Commissioner Saroja Sirisena and her husband, Dr Sudath Talpahewa, at her London residence.
It came after a handshake ban was imposed on royals and dignitaries attending Monday's Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey.
Mapelli Mozzi, who is the son of France-based Count Alessandro Mapelli-Mozzi, a former British Olympian and his British first wife Nicola Burrows, proposed to Beatrice, 31, during a romantic trip to Capri last September.
The couple took a boat trip along the Amalfi coast to the cliffside village of Positano. It is thought they had originally wanted to marry in Italy but decided on the UK so the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh would not have to travel far.
