Royal honeymoon destinations revealed: Where Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and more holidayed as newlyweds

Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi‘s royal wedding was held in the midst of a pandemic, so unlike other royals, they had a very low-key ceremony.

The couple tied the knot in front of close family members on Friday 17 July and, according to reports, their honeymoon was somewhat altered, too.

Shortly after they became husband and wife, international travel opened up a bit more, with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office updating its global advisory against “all but essential” travel.

It was then revealed that they had travelled to the South of France for a mini-break to celebrate becoming a married couple. 

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex kept the exact location of their honeymoon a secret following the royal wedding in May 2018. 

Although the couple were rumoured to have visited Namibia, Prince Harry confirmed that they didn’t visit the African nation following their nuptials.

However, in his memoir, Spare, he did share some insight, explaining that he and his new bride spent 10 days in the Mediterranean. 

“Our honeymoon a closely guarded secret. We left London in a car disguised as a removals van, the windows covered with cardboard, and went to the Mediterranean for ten days. Glorious to be away, on the sea, in the sun.”

Not all went to plan, though. “But we were also sick. The build-up to the wedding had worn us down.”

There were many potential honeymoon destinations Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank were predicted to enjoy, from Nicaragua where they got engaged to Verbier in Switzerland where they met. 

Although the exact location they chose has remained unknown, the mother of the bride Sarah Ferguson suggested they returned home immediately after their royal wedding in October 2018.

“The Sunday after the wedding, I said to Eugenie and Jack: ‘Do you want to stay somewhere special?’ No. They wanted to stay at Royal Lodge,” she told the Daily Mail. 

“So the night before their honeymoon, the whole family were eating pizza together in the kitchen.” 

Zara Tindall and her husband Mike enjoyed a break in Cyprus following their wedding in 2011. 

The couple were forced to postpone their honeymoon for three months due to their respective sporting careers, but made up for lost time by enjoying a luxury trip to the five-star Columbia Beach resort near Limassol.

King Charles and Queen Camilla, who were at the time known as the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, enjoyed a low-key break to Birkhall Lodge on the Balmoral Estate in Scotland after tying the knot in 2005. 

Shortly after, they followed this up with a Greek island-hopping cruise. 

Prince Edward and Sophie Wessex didn’t travel too far for their honeymoon after their wedding at St George’s Chapel in Windsor; the royal couple stayed local with a nine-day break at Birkhall Lodge in Scotland.

The Duke of York and then-wife Sarah Ferguson boarded a private yacht to the small archipelago, the Azores Islands, near Portugal, after their wedding in 1986. 

For the second part of their honeymoon, they spent five days on the Britannia crossing the Atlantic.

Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales enjoyed a three-month honeymoon after their wedding in 1981, starting with a break at the Broadlands estate, followed by a cruise on the royal yacht Britannia through Egypt and the Greek Islands. 

The trip concluded with some time in Balmoral.

The Queen’s daughter Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips also honeymooned on the royal yacht Britannia, travelling across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to visit the Caribbean and Galapagos Islands.

Her Late Majesty Elizabeth II and the late Prince Philip also enjoyed a low-key honeymoon, heading to Birkhall on the Balmoral estate with her corgi dog, Susan.