NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

Princess Beatrice's fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi: What you need to know

By Daniela Elser
news.com.au·
29 Sep, 2019 04:00 PM7 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Princess Beatrice has become engaged to tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Video / AP

Here's what you need to know about the newest member of the royal family — Princess Beatrice's rich, single father fiance.

Pity the Rector of St George's Chapel at Windsor.

There is every chance that in the coming months, the poor overworked chap will be facing his fourth royal wedding in two years, which might just be a royal family record, with the nuptials of Princess Beatrice and fiance Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. (He is known as Edo to his mates.)

News broke on Thursday night, that the ninth in line to the throne had accepted Edo's proposal after he popped the question two weeks ago during an Italian holiday.

While on paper he might sound like the usual sort of wealthy, connected chap that moved in Bea's circles, Edo, 36, is a much more interesting (and complicated) bloke.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

ROYAL FIRSTS

There are a number of ways that Edo will make history when he marries into the world's most famous family. He is the first single parent to join the Queen's family in the last century at least (more on that later), which means that Bea will be the first of the young royals to become a step parent, (Charles is a stepfather to the Duchess of Cornwall's children, Tom Parker Bowles and Laura Lopes.)

There is a good chance that Edo will be the wealthiest new member of the royal clan, being a self-made millionaire who has built one of London's most successful property development firms. (Meghan, Duchess of Sussex is rumoured to have been worth about $5 million when she became an HRH.)

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Princess Beatrice of York seen at the wedding of Ellie Goulding. Photo / Getty Images
Princess Beatrice of York seen at the wedding of Ellie Goulding. Photo / Getty Images

BLUE BLOOD

Edo's father is Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi who was a member of the British ski team at the Sapporo Olympic Games. Technically, Edo should be a count himself too. However, under rules imposed by King George V in 1932, he can't use the title in the UK.

Edo's parents split up when he was young and spent his youth moving between homes in the UK and France.

"We lived in old mill houses, that kind of thing — I like trying to work out how to make an old building function for modern life," he told the (UK) Telegraph earlier this year.

Discover more

Royals

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

27 Sep 09:42 PM
Royals

Cunning trick hidden in Meghan's wardrobe

28 Sep 01:14 AM
Entertainment

Inside The Crown stars' salary scandal

28 Sep 03:12 AM
Royals

The murderous mistress of Edward VIII before he met Wallis Simpson

28 Sep 09:34 AM

Despite his Italian ancestry, Edo is very much an English blue blood. His cousin married the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Mexborough and he himself attended Radley, a private boys boarding school, before studying for a Master's in politics at Edinburgh.

In adulthood, he has moved in the same aristocratic circles as Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie — along with Prince Harry's former girlfriend Cressida Bonas — young London-based European royals such as Princess Theordora of Greece, and Prince Charles's goddaughter Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece.

GROWING UP WITH THE YORKS

While Edo and Beatrice might have had a whirlwind romance — having met, dated, moved in together and gotten engaged in a year — he has known the York girls since childhood.

Princess Beatrice of York and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Photo / Getty Images
Princess Beatrice of York and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Photo / Getty Images

His mother, Nikki, and stepfather were close to the Duke and Duchess of York and Sarah Ferguson is the godmother of Edo's half-brother Alby.

GLASTO DEATH

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Edo suffered a great loss with the death of his stepfather Christopher Shale in 2011, who was a close friend of then-Prime Minister David Cameron. Shale's body was discovered inside a portaloo at the Glastonbury music festival after he had suffered a heart attack.

Beatrice was among mourners after Christopher Shale's passing. Photo / Supplied
Beatrice was among mourners after Christopher Shale's passing. Photo / Supplied

Fergie is said to have comforted Edo when he received the tragic news and Beatrice numbered among the 700 mourners who gathered at his funeral.

Edo, at the time, said: "He was a father to me, the only father I have ever known, and a father to all three of us — the best father we could ever have."

PROPERTY TYCOON

After graduating from university Edo briefly worked as a researcher for David Cameron before deciding to start his own company at the age of 23. He named the venture Banda, which is Swahili for "big house" or "big shed" after coming up with the idea while staying at his father's coastal estate on the Kenyan island of Lamu.

In the years since then, Banda has grown to be one of London's leading property firms and is reported to have developed more than $1 billion worth of homes.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Such is the popularity of the interiors of his company's projects, earlier this year Edo launched Banda Design Studios whose recent projects include a New York apartment, a Swiss ski chalet and a Croatian villa. He is also reported to be working on his own furniture range too.

View this post on Instagram

I know what a mother feels so I have tears of joy. I am so proud of this sensational news. Andrew and I are just the luckiest people ever to have two great sons in law. @princesseugenie took the colour photographs as my girls are so close. Beatrice and Edo wanted her to capture this special moment. The black and white photographs were taken by Misan Harriman

A post shared by Sarah Ferguson (@sarahferguson15) on Sep 26, 2019 at 3:15am PDT

THE MYSTERY BLACK EYE

In 2014, Edo ended up in the Daily Mail after a mysterious incident at a society wedding. Investment banker Alexander Jevons was left with a black eye with his girlfriend posting a shot of the shiner along with the comment, "My man Alex Jevons, ya should see the other guy Edo Mapelli Mozzi. Sign of the best wedding ever. Now Jev has a lasting memory."

When asked by the Daily Mail at the time about the injury, Edo said: "I think it was a dance move, or he fell over."

MEET WOLFIE

Edo is not only a design and business whiz (and something of a looker) but he also happens to be a Dad — he has a toddler son named Wolfie.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi with an infant Wolfie. Photo / Supplied
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi with an infant Wolfie. Photo / Supplied
Dara Huang - Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi's ex-fiance. Photo / Instagram
Dara Huang - Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi's ex-fiance. Photo / Instagram

Prior to his relationship with Beatrice, Edo was engaged to an American architect named Dara Huang. Reports vary whether they split before or after Bea and Edo started seeing one another. (Sparks are widely believed to have flown between the duo during her sister Princess Eugenie's October wedding last year.)

View this post on Instagram

Happy National Siblings Day... and to my big sister, your the best especially when helping me and my dress into the getaway car. #nationalsiblingday

A post shared by Princess Eugenie (@princesseugenie) on Apr 10, 2019 at 2:51pm PDT

"It was a very awkward crossover of romances," someone from Edo's circle told The Sun. "They were still living together when Edo realised after Eugenie's wedding, that he was falling for Bea. Dara did not take the news well, although she has come to terms with the situation now.

"But initially she felt very let-down."

It was revealed in April this year that Edo had moved into Bea's four-bedroom apartment in St James's Palace and that Wolfie was still very much part of Edo's life, with the doting Dad saying, "I take him to school a couple of mornings a week and finish in time to put him in bed three or four evenings."

Let's hope Bea is ready to help with the school run.

CRICKET WITH A CONSCIENCE

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

This should go down a treat with the Queen: for years, Edo has been running his own charity, having founded Cricket Builds Hope with his stepbrother Alby in memory of his late stepfather.

"I saw how sport had the power to bring people together and help share important messages," he has said, whose efforts helped open the Gahanga Cricket Stadium in Kigali 18 months ago.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
Lifestyle

The 39 definitive rules of office fashion

19 Jun 12:00 AM
Lifestyle

The three tools leading the charge in arthritis pain relief

18 Jun 11:12 PM
Premium
Lifestyle

Exactly what long car journeys do to your body

18 Jun 08:00 PM

Sponsored: Embrace the senses

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
The 39 definitive rules of office fashion

The 39 definitive rules of office fashion

19 Jun 12:00 AM

Washington Post: Sweatpants? No. But elastic waistbands? Absolutely.

The three tools leading the charge in arthritis pain relief

The three tools leading the charge in arthritis pain relief

18 Jun 11:12 PM
Premium
Exactly what long car journeys do to your body

Exactly what long car journeys do to your body

18 Jun 08:00 PM
Princess Kate unexpectedly cancels appearance at Royal Ascot

Princess Kate unexpectedly cancels appearance at Royal Ascot

18 Jun 06:57 PM
Help for those helping hardest-hit
sponsored

Help for those helping hardest-hit

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP