Princess Beatrice’s new Italian property developer husband

Princess Beatrice married fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a secret wedding in Windsor earlier today – but who is the man that stole the royal’s heart?

The happy couple were due to wed at the Chapel Royal at St James’s Palace in London with 150 guests on May 29, but Covid-19 meant they had to postpone their big day. 

Having kept their plans quiet, they tied the knot this morning in front of just 20 guests including the Queen, 94, and Prince Philip, 99, at All Saints Chapel in Windsor Great Park. 

Beatrice, 31, and multi-millionaire Edo, 36, are long-time family friends, but started dating in October 2018 and got engaged during a romantic trip to Italy’s Amalfi Coast in September last year. 

The pair said of their 11-month whirlwind romance in a statement: ‘We are extremely happy to be able to share the news of our recent engagement.

‘We are both so excited to be embarking on this life adventure together and can’t wait to actually be married.

‘We share so many similar interests and values, and we know that this will stand us in great stead for the years ahead, full of love and happiness.’ 

Property developer Edoardo is the son of former Olympic skier Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi and Nikki Shale, and has been a friend of the Yorks for some time. 

While he holds dual British and Italian citizenship, as solely a British citizen Edo is not eligible for his father’s title. 

Edo’s parents separated when he was young, and he has credited his mother Nikki’s career as an executive in commercial real estate for his early interest in property – now building up a multi-million pound portfolio. 

Beatrice, 31, and Edo, 37, are long-time family friends, but started dating in October 2018 and got engaged in September last year (pictured)

The father-of-one has a young son, Christopher, whose nickname is Wolfie, with his former partner of three-and-a-half years Dara Huang – meaning Beatrice is now a stepmother.

His Chinese-American former fiancée is a highly-successful architect with her own design company. 

Edo is said to enjoy an amicable relationship with Huang and prides himself on still being an active part of his son’s life. 

In August last year he told the Telegraph: ‘I take [Christopher] to school a couple of mornings a week and finish in time to put him in bed three or four evenings.’ 

Father-of-one Edo has a young son, Christopher, whose nickname is Wolfie, with his former partner Dara Huang – meaning Beatrice is now a stepmother

In August last year Edo told the Telegraph: ‘I take [Christopher] to school a couple of mornings a week and finish in time to put him in bed three or four evenings’

Edo was educated at the prestigious Radley school in Oxfordshire before studying for a Master’s in politics at Edinburgh.

At the age of 23 he started Banda – a property development and interior design company. His stated strategy is designing homes for affluent clients in ‘undervalued’ parts of London, getting them value for money. 

However this mantra was challenged by property experts on social media, who argued that ‘there is nothing undervalued in Notting Hill’ – where one of Edo’s latest projects was.

Edoardo’s mother is Nikki Shale, whose second husband was Christopher Shale, a senior Tory and a close friend of former prime minister David Cameron (right)

They described the affluent in the west London district as ‘a super prime residential destination’.

Bando’s Instagram page recently shared a series of images of a glamorous refurbishment in Leinster Square, on the cusp of Westbourne and Notting Hill. 

Edo holds directorships in a number of companies, some of them alongside his mother and his brother-in-law, Tod Yeomans.

Ahead of the 2016 London mayoral election, Edo wrote an article for Property Week urging the future mayor to insist on redevelopment projects in central London.

He has also openly criticised politicians Andrea Leadsom and Jeremy Corbyn.

Edo, pictured with Beatrice on Christmas Day last year, holds directorships in a number of companies, some of them alongside his mother and his brother-in-law, Tod Yeomans

Edo is a co-founder of the British-Rwandan charity Cricket Builds Hope, which aims to use the sport as ‘a tool for positive social change’ in the African country.

The charity was founded in 2011 to build Rwanda’s first grass wicket cricket ground, now known as Gahanga International Cricket Stadium.

Edo’s stepfather Christopher Shale came up with the idea for the charity, but he died before he could get it off the ground. 

Beatrice attended the funeral of Edoardo’s stepfather, who suffered a heart attack at Glastonbury in 2011. Shale was a close friend of David Cameron.

Following his death, his family and friends set up the foundation. Edo’s half-brother Alby Shale is currently on the board of trustees, while its patrons are Jonathan Agnew, Brian Lara, Heather Knight, Ebony-Jewel Rainford-Brent, Sam Billings and Makhaya Ntini. 

Beatrice and Edo pictured arriving for the wedding ceremony of the Prince Napoleon Countess Arco-Zunneberg at the Saint-Louis-des-Invalides cathedral at the Invalides National Hotel in Paris in October 2019

In 2012, Mapelli Mozzi cycled 62 miles overnight in London in the Nightrider Challenge to raise funds for the foundation.

After their friendship developed into a romance, Beatrice was understood to have introduced Edoardo, whose father is Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, as her ‘boyfriend’ to the Duke and Duchess of York.  

Edo – also a friend of her sister’s Princess Eugenie – was Beatrice’s first public boyfriend since she split from Uber executive Dave Clark in 2016 after 10 years together.

The pair made their first official public appearance in March last year at the National Portrait Gallery gala, where they were joined by the Duchess of Cambridge.

Their engagement photos, taken by sister Princess Eugenie in the grounds of Windsor Great Park, show Beatrice wearing a green floral £595 Zimmerman dress and showing off her 3.5 carat engagement ring by Shaun Leane, estimated to have cost £100,000, along with a £2,730 Cartier love bracelet. 

Edo is reported to have designed the engagement ring himself, along with British jeweller Shaun Leane.

Pictured: Princess Beatrice and her boyfriend Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi arriving at the Ellie Goulding and Caspar Jopling wedding at York Minster

Mozzi was Beatrice’s first public boyfriend since she split from Uber executive Dave Clark in 2016 after 10 years together. The pair are seen pulling funny faces

Further black and white pictures taken by photographer Misan Harriman at Royal Lodge, Windsor Great Park show the pair cosying up to each other and giggling, and pulling playful faces. 

Photographer Misan Harriman, who took the black and white photos, said: ‘Everything clicks when they are together and that’s exactly what my lens captured. It was an honour to observe and document such love.’ 

Posting the pictures to his Instagram account, Edoardo added the touching tribute: ‘You will never be alone my love, my heart is your home. Hand in hand, today, tomorrow and forever.’