Princess bride at last! BEA'S DOWNSIZED WEDDING

Unable to wait any longer, there’s finally light after her father’s shame

After months of speculation over whether her wedding would go ahead, Princess Beatrice and her fiancé Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi have finally set a date to tie the knot. But with the scandal surrounding her father Prince Andrew showing no signs of abating, the pair have scratched plans for an opulent affair, opting instead to say “I do” in front of just 150 family and friends in London on May 29.

“Originally Beatrice wanted the big fairytale wedding just like her sister Princess Eugenie, who had 850 guests and thousands of well-wishers gathered outside,” tells a palace insider. “But with the crisis engulfing her family, it’s clear a wedding of that size just wasn’t appropriate. At times, she’s struggled to even imagine going ahead at all given the negativity and stress – it’s been incredibly difficult.”

But sources say that the “intimate, low-key event” is just what her grandmother the Queen needs amid the royal family’s worsening crisis, which has seen not only Andrew stood down from duty over his connections to deceased paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, but also Prince Harry and Meghan’s shock decision to quit the royal family and move to Canada.

Then last week she was said to be blindsided by the news that her grandson Peter Phillips and his wife Autumn are divorcing after 12 years of marriage.

“The Queen is beginning to wonder when this dreadful run of luck will ever end,” says our source. “The mood in the family is certainly low but at least Beatrice’s wedding is giving everyone something to look forward to. The Queen is thrilled that it’s finally happening.”