Princess Beatrice is engaged to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Here's everything we know about the property tycoon and single dad descended from Italian aristocracy.
Edoardo "Edo" Mapelli Mozzi comes from a family of Italian aristocrats.
Mozzi's father, Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, is a former Olympic Alpine skier, the BBC reported. The Italian count competed for Britain in the 1972 Winter Olympics.
Mozzi's parents are divorced and his mother, Nikki Williams-Ellis (formerly Nikki Shale), subsequently married the late Conservative Parliamentarian Christopher Shale, according to the BBC.
Mozzi was a friend of the royal family long before he began dating Beatrice.
The Daily Mail reports that Mozzi's stepfather once employed Beatrice's mother, Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson, as a secretary at his PR firm long before she married Beatrice's father, Prince Andrew. Beatrice and her parents attended Shale's funeral in 2011, according to People.
"Our family has known Beatrice for most of her life," Mozzi's parents said in a statement after the engagement announcement. "Edo and Beatrice are made for each other, and their happiness and love for each other is there for all to see. They share an incredibly strong and united bond, their marriage will only strengthen what is already a wonderful relationship."
According to the New York Times, Mozzi founded London-based property development firm Banda in 2007, when he was just 23.
"I don't think I am the average developer," he told the New York Times in an interview earlier this month. "I think what Banda does is unique. There is certainly no one else of my age doing things like this in London. I actually don't think anyone in London is doing a project that is as high a quality as this and at such a good price."
New York Times reporter Peter Wilson characterized Mozzi's business model as "creating carefully designed homes for wealthy clients in areas slightly outside the most prestigious and expensive parts of London and selling them to people who intend to live in them, rather than to investors."
Mozzi also serves as the firm's CEO, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The company has developed over 400,000 square feet of London real estate with a total gross development value of almost £700 million (about $865 million), according to LinkedIn.
The firm "offers the comprehensive and completely bespoke services of property search, development, project management and interior design," according to its website.
While his personal net worth is not known, several publications (including Town and Country and People Magazine) note that Mozzi is reportedly a multimillionaire in his own right.
He also cofounded a nonprofit that teaches cricket to people in Rwanda called Cricket Builds Hope with his brother Alby Shale in October 2011.
Cricket Builds Hope "uses cricket as a tool for positive social change in Rwanda," according to Mozzi's LinkedIn profile. The nonprofit funded the construction of a cricket stadium in Rwanda and runs athletic programs for local children.
Mozzi served as the chairman of the organization's board from 2011 to 2015, according to LinkedIn.
Mozzi has a son named Wolfie from a previous engagement.
Wolfie's mother is American architect Dara Huang, according to USA Today. The two split a few months before Mozzi and Beatrice started dating, Insider previously reported.
In his free time, the businessman enjoys both skiing ...
... and being by the ocean.
"Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside," Mozzi wrote on Instagram in August 2017.
Mozzi and Princess Beatrice have been romantically involved for about two years, BBC royal correspondent Jonny Dymond estimates.
The couple's relationship "moved pretty quickly," according to Dymond.
The pair made their first public appearance as a couple in March 2019.
The two attended a gala together at the National Portrait Gallery in London.
The couple got engaged during a weekend trip to Italy in September 2019, the Duke of York announced.
"We are thrilled that Beatrice and Edoardo have got engaged, having watched their relationship develop with pride," the Duke and Duchess of York said in a statement September 26. "We are the lucky parents of a wonderful daughter who has found her love and companion in a completely devoted friend and loyal young man. We send them every good wish for a wonderful family future."
Beatrice's younger sister, Princess Eugenie, took their engagement photos in Italy.
The Duke of York also said that the wedding is scheduled for 2020.
Mozzi designed Princess Beatrice's engagement ring himself.
He did, however, have some help from British jewelry designer Shaun Leane, The Duke of York noted in the engagement statement.
The ring is estimated to have cost $100,000, Insider's Mikhaila Friel previously reported.
"I am so honored Edoardo chose to work with me to design the engagement ring for Princess Beatrice and to have been involved in this special moment in their lives," Leane wrote on Instagram. "The bespoke experience was a beautiful journey; from imagining the design with Edoardo to the crafting of the finished rings. Being able to incorporate both Edoardo and Princess Beatrice's characters into the design has resulted in a unique ring that represents their love and lives entwining."
"You will never be alone my love, my heart is your home," Mozzi wrote on Instagram alongside additional engagement photos. "Hand in hand, today, tomorrow and forever."
The more informal engagement photos were taken by Misan Harriman, a photographer and the founder of publishing platform What We Seee.
Source: Instagram
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