Princess Beatrice and her husband Eduardo Mapelli Mozzi fell for each other hard and
fast, but why was Queen Elizabeth so reluctant to approve the match?
Before Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi came onto the scene as a romantic interest of Princess Beatrice,
the princess was in a decade-long relationship with Dave Clark.
As noted by The Daily Beast, Clark came with his own impressive lineage.
His father was a corporate banker, and he worked in finance with some of the biggest
companies out there, such as Virgin Galactic and Uber.
He certainly seemed to be someone that a royal would find appropriate, and the length of
their relationship indicated that Clark and Beatrice were in it for the long haul.
When Uber relocated Clark to New York, Beatrice even went with him, starting a career in investment
banking as a result.
But, like many good things, Beatrice's relationship with Clark came to an end after 10 years of
dating.
As an insider told The Daily Beast, some saw the split as just a bump in the road, but
others were convinced that the two were set on going their separate ways.
As it turns out, Beatrice reportedly gave Clark an "ultimatum" - propose or leave.
It seems he chose the latter.
Princess Beatrice wasn't the only person in her newfound relationship to have a long history
with an ex.
While she and Dave Clark had been together for a decade, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzii was previously
engaged to an American architect, Dara Huang, who comes with her own impressive resume.
As noted by the Daily Mail, the U.S.-born architect has a graduate degree from Harvard
and has worked all across the European continent.
Huang also runs Design Haus Liberty, turning once-commercial locations into habitable living
spaces.
She and Mapelli Mozzi met in 2015 and got engaged in 2017, so things were clearly going
well for the two at one point.
But, as Beatrice and Clark came to an end, so did Mapelli Mozzi and Huang.
The kicker in their story, however, is that while engaged, they welcomed a son together
who goes by the nickname Wolfie.
As such, Beatrice took on a new role when she and Mapelli Mozzi started dating, and
Huang even moved to London because she and Mapelli Mozzi have joint custody of their
son.
Though her life in the city is "very different" from the traveling lifestyle she's used to,
as a source told the Daily Mail, the two exes have clearly tried to make their relationship
as co-parents work.
As it turns out, Mapelli Mozzi and Beatrice had a lot of friends in common prior to their
union, and a royal source confirmed to Express that Beatrice and Mapelli Mozzi did indeed
meet through a mutual acquaintance.
Reportedly, once the pair were introduced, they seemed to have an instant connection.The
source went on to reveal that Beatrice introduced Mapelli Mozzi to Fergie and Andrew shortly
into their relationship, and they even had a mini-vacation together.
In the typical fashion for royal relationships, the two had been together for several months
before making their public debut.
They chose to do it at a fairly laid back gala at the National Portrait Gallery in 2019,
and the reveal was met with surprisingly little scrutiny compared to other contemporary royal
debuts.
"The UK media are notorious for doing whatever they can to get a story."
While the two certainly looked happy together during their first public appearance, the
beginning of their relationship wasn't all sunshine and rainbows when it came to the
royal family's perspective on the union.
As Vogue pointed out, Queen Elizabeth had her reservations about the partnership, and
reportedly would not allow Mapelli Mozzi to enter the palace after learning that he had
lived with his ex, Dara Huang, and had a child out of wedlock.
Despite the queen's apparent reservations about Princess Beatrice's relationship with
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, the two forged ahead with their romance.
Just months after making their debut, the couple got engaged.
As noted by the BBC at the time, the engaged couple made a statement through the palace,
noting how thrilled they were to start their new lives together, writing,
"We are both so excited to be embarking on this life adventure together.
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."
According to Harper's Bazaar, Mapelli Mozzi popped the question while he and Beatrice
were vacationing in Italy.
Romance was certainly in the air, as they had attended a wedding in Rome on the same
vacation.
It seems that the old saying, "When you know, you know," rang especially true for the new
royal couple, as they'd been together for only a fraction of the time Beatrice dated
Dave Clark before deciding to tie the knot.
With the onset of COVID-19 in early 2020, many events were postponed or canceled.
According to People, Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi had grand wedding plans just
like any other royal couple that came before them, but amid the pandemic and the strict
lockdown protocols enacted in Britain, the couple formally canceled their royal wedding.
It had initially been scheduled for May 29, 2020.
A spokesperson for the couple told People,
"There are no plans to switch venues or hold a bigger wedding.
They aren't even thinking about their wedding at this time.
There will come a time to rearrange, but that's not yet."
In fact, the outlet confirmed that Beatrice and Mapelli Mozzi never even mailed out their
wedding invitations because of the pandemic.
There are certainly many brides out there that can empathize with having to change — or
completely discard — wedding plans due to COVID.
Despite the lonely and unpredictable state the world was in at the time, Princess Beatrice
and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi decided to forge ahead with their nuptials with a very small-scale
wedding.
As noted by Hello!
Magazine, Beatrice and Mapelli Mozzi tied the knot in July 2020, just two months after
their wedding was initially scheduled, in a gorgeous ceremony at the royal lodge at
Windsor with just a few people in attendance.
Queen Elizabeth did come around and give her consent, and the socially distanced ceremony
was held at the Royal Chapel of All Saints.
Beatrice looked absolutely stunning on her wedding day, wearing a vintage Norman Hartnell
gown that belonged to the queen.
It was altered to fit the bride on her big day by the queen's royal dresser, Angela Kelly,
and dressmaker Stewart Parvin.
The gown was made with the finest ivory taffeta and adorned with organza sleeves.
Topping off her look was, of course, a tiara on loan from the queen.
"When we found out that, um, she pulled off this secret wedding, the editors and I were,
um, saying, 'Please let her have worn a tiara.'"
Only a small selection of the bride and groom's family attended the affair.
Mapelli Mozzi's young son, Wolfie, served as the couple's best man.
Less than a year after tying the knot, Beatrice and Edoardo announced that they were expecting
their first child together.
As noted by Hola!, their little one was in line to become the 12th of Queen Elizabeth's
great-grandchildren, following little Lilibet who was born to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
While Beatrice was on her way to becoming a mom for the first time, she did have a little
bit of practice.
The princess was already a bustling stepmom to little Wolfie, and she even reflected on
what that role meant to her in a column for the Evening Standard.
While writing about the importance of reading for World Book Day in 2021, Beatrice wrote
that being a stepmom was one of the biggest joys of her life.
She wrote,
"This year, I had the great honor to become a stepmother, and have had the most remarkable
time going back over some of my most favorite stories at bedtime.
Together, we had such a special time reading through all the entries for the Oscar's Book
Prize 2020."
She reflected that she drew particular inspiration from that year's winning book, Tad by Benji
Davies.
After announcing their exciting news in May 2021, Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli
Mozzi welcomed their little bundle of joy in September, making an official statement
through the royal website to proclaim the news.
The announcement stated that the baby was born late on Saturday September 18th, 2021,
at London's Chelsea and Westminster hospital.
The announcement also assured the baby was healthy, and thanked the staff at the hospital
for their excellent care for Beatrice and her newborn.
In a move that surprised many, Beatrice and Mapelli Mozzi refrained from announcing their
daughter's name for quite a while.
It took another month or so to finally let royal watchers know that they had named their
little girl Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi.
In another statement posted on the royal family's Twitter account in October, the couple said
they were all feeling great, and that Wolfie and Sienna were becoming fast friends.
The world was rocked when Queen Elizabeth II passed away on September 8, 2022.
Having been on the throne for seven decades, Elizabeth was the only monarch that most of
the British public knew.
While she was certainly mourned as a public figure, her very large family also mourned
the significant loss of their mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
Of those who were visibly upset during her funeral, Princess Beatrice was clearly shaken
while mourning the loss, and right beside her as a comforting presence was her husband
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
Speaking to Hello!
Magazine about their dynamic, body language expert Tina Wingman broke down the day in
question and the relationship between the two.
She explained how he managed to provide support for his wife without even the use of physical
contact.
Wingman stated,
"He mirrored her body language and comforted her with strong eye contact whilst gauging
his wife's feelings.
He appeared to be attentive and caring from the sidelines, a pillar of strength for his
wife and remaining by her side throughout."
While their marriage is still fairly young, it seems that the bond between the young royals
is reliably solid.
Having already withstood such overwhelming joys and losses in the years they've been
together, Edoardo and Beatrice seem to be taking on the very public challenges of their
station with strength and grace.