Princess Beatrice and fiance are ‘considering move to Italy’

 Princess Beatrice and Edo Mapelli Mozzi are ‘considering a move to Italy’ because ‘the furore over Prince Andrew’s scandal’ has left the royal wanting ‘to start a new life’, a royal author has claimed. 

The Queen’s granddaughter, 31, is currently spending lockdown with Edo and future mother-in-law Nikki Shale at her £1.5 million country house near Chipping Norton.

Author Phil Dampier said the Duke of York’s daughter and her future husband were considering moving abroad, adding that ‘it wouldn’t surprise’ him if the couple did relocate to Europe.

He told Australian site New Idea: ‘She has had to put up with a lot, having her wedding postponed, and also the furore over her father Prince Andrew and the Epstein scandal.’

Edo has ties to Italy as a descendant of an Italian noble family, while the expert said Princess Beatrice may be motivated by ‘a desire to get away from it all.’

Meanwhile he pointed out that Edo could run his multimillion pound property business from anywhere and Princess Beatrice is not a working royal and ‘desires to be happy’.

Beatrice, daughter of the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, was set to walk down the aisle in the Chapel Royal of St James’s Palace in London last month. 

Beatrice was overjoyed after becoming engaged on a weekend trip to Italy last September, and the couple said they could not wait to be married.

Prince Andrew became embroiled in scandal in November and stepped back from royal duty after a disastrous Newsnight interview (pictured, with Princess Beatrice in May 2018)

But her nuptials were overshadowed by the scandal that has engulfed her father Andrew, with the date changing twice to accommodate the Queen’s second son. 

The duke retired from public royal duties in November after his disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Andrew has strenuously denied claims from Virginia Giuffre that he slept with her when she was 17 after she was trafficked by Epstein.

As the granddaughter of a monarch, Beatrice would have been expected to wed in front of 800 guests in St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, just like her sister Princess Eugenie, whose ceremony was televised and was followed by a carriage ride through the town.

According to Phil, Princess Beatrice ‘has put up with a lot’ including the ‘furore’ around her father’s scandal and wishes to ‘get away from it all’ 

Amid the controversy over her father, the princess opted for the more intimate, low-key option of the Chapel Royal and was due to invite 150 guests.

Edo’s son, Wolfie, from his relationship with architect Dara Huang, was set to be in the wedding party, alongside Eugenie as chief Bridesmaid.

The Queen was to host the private reception in the grounds of her London residence.

But plans were changed after the Government called on all people in the UK, particularly the over-70s, to avoid all non-essential contact and travel as part of unprecedented peacetime measures aimed at controlling the spread of Covid-19.

And in April, Boris Johnson put a ban on weddings as the virus raged through the UK public.

Sources confirmed the wedding had been postponed in May, telling People that the invitations were never sent out, due to complications with the virus.

The couple, who were set to marry in May, are staying with Edo’s mother Nikki Shale at her £1.5 million home in Chipping Norton (pictured, Nikki)

While Duchess of York, 61, and her ex-husband Prince Andrew, 60, have been joined by Princess Eugenie, 30, and her husband Jack Brooksbank, 34, at their home the Royal Lodge in Windsor during the pandemic, Beatrice and Edo have stayed with his mother.

Speaking on the City Island podcast, Fergie explained: ‘Edo and Beatrice have been living with her future mother-in-law who is lovely…I’m missing my [other] daughter but it’s just like everybody else, we are just the same family as everybody else.’

She went on to share a gushing tribute to her ‘darling’ Princess Beatrice on the date which was set to be her wedding day to fiancé Edo.

Sharing a childhood picture of Princess Beatrice on Instagram, Sarah commented: ‘I am so excited to celebrate yours and Edo’s love when we all are out of lockdown.’