Ex to Princess Beatrice's fiance opens up about new couple

Property tycoon Eduardo Mapelli Mozzi and Princess Beatrice announced their engagement this week. Photo / Instagram, Princess Eugenie

The mother of Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi's child has wished him and Princess Beatrice all the best following news of their royal engagement.

The former partner of Princess Beatrice's Italian fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi has wished the couple all the best following the announcement of their royal engagement.

In a statement to the Daily Mail, Chinese-American architect Dara Huang, who is also the mother of Mr Mapelli Mozzi's son, said: "I wish the best for Edo and Beatrice and look forward to uniting our families".

View this post on Instagram

My first time in #singapore for the @milkeninstitute conference and I'm absolutely blown away by the architecture! Such a cool city!!! ❤️ . #formula1 #f1singapore2019 #f1singapore #darahuang #milkeninstitute #milkenconference #tpg #afterparty #mbssingapore #marinabaysandshotel

A post shared by Dara Huang (@dara_huang) on Sep 20, 2019 at 9:34pm PDT

Beatrice, 31, and millionaire property tycoon Edoardo, 34, announced their engagement on Thursday just 11 months after news of their relationship broke.

Shortly afterwards, Edoardo shared a romantic message on Instagram to his new fiancee, along with four photos from their official engagement shoot.

View this post on Instagram

You will never be alone my love, my heart is your home. Hand in hand, today, tomorrow and forever. 💍 Photo Credit @misanharriman 🙏🏻

A post shared by Edo Mapelli Mozzi (@edomapellimozzi) on Sep 26, 2019 at 3:31am PDT

"You will never be alone my love, my heart is your home. Hand-in-hand, today, tomorrow and forever," he wrote.

It's been a big couple of years for the royals — Beatrice's sister Princess Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank last October, and their cousin Prince Harry wed Meghan Markle just six months earlier.

While Meghan had already found fame thanks to her TV days on Suits, hardly anything was known about Edoardo prior to his engagement to Beatrice.

Who is Edo?

So who is the man set to become the latest addition to the royal family?

Edoardo — or Edo as he's called among friends — is a count, descended from Italian nobility, whose father Alessandro was an Olympic skier in the early 1970s.

The Mozzi family have been family friends with the Yorks for years — and when Edoardo's stepfather died in 2011, Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson, and their two daughters were all at the funeral.

Both he and Beatrice were healing from separate heartbreaks when they began dating in late 2018. The Princess had split from longtime boyfriend Dave Clark in 2016 after a decade together, and Edoardo had recently broken off his engagement to Ms Huang, whom he had lived with in London.