British Royals: Princess Beatrice scales back wedding plans amid coronavirus outbreak

The British royal family announced on March 18 that Princess Beatrice, Queen Elizabeth's grand-daughter is scaling back her wedding plans and cancelling a planned reception that is scheduled to be held in May at Buckingham Palace amid the coronavirus outbreak.

As per international media reports, Beatrice is due to marry Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in London’s St James’s Palace on May 29, and the 93-year-old Queen is scheduled to throw a private party in the Buckingham Palace Gardens. In order to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus, the royal wedding plans have been reportedly changed after the British government advised its citizens to avoid any kind of social gatherings.

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Annual garden parties cancelled

Buckingham Palace said that the couple were aware of the need to avoid taking any unnecessary risks and had given a thought to their plans in light of government advice, as per international media reports. The palace purportedly said in a statement that they are basically concerned about the government advice in relation to both the wellbeing of older family members and large gatherings of people. 

The palace further added that the planned reception in the Buckingham Palace Gardens will not occur and the couple will carefully consider government advice before deciding whether a private marriage might take place amongst a small group of family and friends.

Queen Elizabeth announced on Tuesday, March 17, that she has cancelled her annual garden parties and a series of other events, and would head to Windsor Castle, west of London, on Thursday for Easter - a week earlier than usual.

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 UK's $400 billion package

Amid coronavirus outbreak, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government reportedly unveiled a $400 billion package of support for businesses in a bid to help them survive the unprecedented times. While speaking to an international media outlet, UK’s Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said that the measures were equivalent to 15% of GDP and further added that the package is available to any business that needs access to cash. 

The package of loans for virus-hit business comes after Johnson’s government had ramped up the response to coronavirus outbreak and asked people to avoid unnecessary social contact. Johnson said that more urgent action was needed and promised to do ‘whatever it takes’ to tackle the global pandemic. Currently, the UK has  2,626 confirmed coronavirus cases and the deadly virus has also claimed 104 lives. 

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(Pic Credit: Twitter)