Princess Beatrice Makes History with Wedding

Princess Beatrice has made history as the last member of the royal family to hold a marriage certificate without their mother’s details on it.

Beatrice – who is the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York – tied the knot with Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a socially distanced ceremony in July last year, in what was the only royal wedding to take place amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

And following a change in the law put into effect by the Home Office, Beatrice and Edoardo’s wedding will make them the last members of the royal family to not have the details of either of their mothers written on the marriage certificate.
The Home Office have “corrected a historical anomaly” so the mothers of brides and grooms in England and Wales are now allowed to appear on the document, with the law coming into effect this month.

The change marks the biggest shift for marriage law in England and Wales since registration law was established in 1837, during the reign of Queen Victoria.

Now, up to four parents per person can be added to a marriage entry, which also permits step-parents to be recognised.

What’s more, the traditional marriage register has now been done away with and has replaced with an electronic database, while certificates which were previously handwritten have now become printed documents sent on in the post, days after the event.

Meanwhile, it was previously revealed that Beatrice’s father Prince Andrew was able to walk her down the aisle because she and Edoardo had been isolating with her parents at Royal Lodge in the weeks before the intimate service.

Buckingham Palace confirmed at the time of Beatrice’s wedding: “The bride was walked down the aisle by her father.”