It seems that Princess Beatrice's husband has been a friend of the family for years.
It was only a matter of time before Princess Beatrice was snapped up by a handsome eligible bachelor. And fans were delighted to see her meet her match in husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, who romantically popped the question to his future wife in 2019.
Beatrice wed Edoardo - known as 'Edo' - in a quaint Windsor wedding last year and the couple are set to become a family of three in autumn when Beatrice is due to give birth. But what is there to know about the new father-to-be?
Who is Princess Beatrice’s husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi?
Edoardo is an Italian Count by birth.
The 38-year-old (born 19 November 1983) is of both English and Italian descent, and comes from Italian aristocracy.
Edoardo is technically a Count by birth, with his father's family owning the Villa Mapelli Mozzi in Bergamo, Italy.
He is the son of former Olympic skier Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi and Oxfordshire born Nikki Williams-Ellis.
The couple married in 1978 and had two children - Edoardo and his elder sister Natalia - before separating sometime after.
His mother remarried the Conservative MP Christopher Shale and had another son Alby Shale - Edoardo's younger half-brother.
Sadly Shale passed in 2011, and in 2017 Nikki married sculptor David Williams-Ellis.
He's a property designer and founder of his own interiors company.
Edoardo is CEO of the interior design company Banda based in London, which he founded in 2007 aged just 23. His company specialises in finding and developing luxury homes for important clients.
Despite studying politics at Edinburgh University, Edoardo knew he wanted a career in property. With his mother Nikki Williams-Ellis, an executive in commercial real estate, proving to be his inspiration.
“I spent my childhood being dragged around to see sites,” he said in a New York Times interview. “I knew I wanted to be in property prior to going to university. But I just didn’t want to go and do a property degree, so I did a masters in politics."
Princess Beatrice's husband often shares his developments on his personal instagram account, which boasts 73,000 followers.
He's a multi-millionaire.
Whilst Edoardo's net worth has never been shared publicly, he is reportedly a multi-millionaire.
According to LinkedIn, his company Banda has a gross value of £700 million.
Edoardo's wife is also not short of money, with Insider reporting Princess Beatrice's net worth as £3.5 million.
This sum of money is allegedly accrued from royal trust funds and money set aside from her parents Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson after their 1996 divorce.
Edoardo co-founded a charity in his late stepfather's honour.
His company aside, Edoardo is also the co-founder of Cricket Builds Hope - a charity organisation in Rwanda that teaches children how to play cricket.
The initiative hopes to bring "positive social change" to the East African country. Promoting "reconciliation" through workshops that champion "equality, empowerment and social cohesion", according to the website.
The cause was inspired by his mother's second husband and late stepfather Christopher Shale.
Shale -himself a cricket fan - regularly visited Rwanda and wanted to build the country's first grass wicket and pavillion for Rwandan cricketers to benefit from.
Sadly, he passed in 2011 with Edo and his step-brother Alby going on to formally establish the charity in his memory.
It's clearly a passion project of the 38-year-old, with Edoardo taking part in the 2012 Nightrider Challenge - cycling 100 kilometres overnight in London to raise funds for the foundation.
Edoardo is already a dad to son 'Wolfie'.
Princess Beatrice's husband is a proud father to five-year-old son Christopher Woolfe.
Christopher - whose nickname is "Wolfie" - attended Beatrice and Edoardo's wedding and was given the important roles of best man and page boy on the day.
Edoardo shares his son with Dara Huang, a Chinese American architect and founder of the design studio Design Haus Liberty. The pair were alleged to be engaged before separating in 2018.
Despite the split, relations between the two seem amicable with Dara telling the Daily Mail after their engagement news: “I wish the best for Edo and Beatrice and look forward to uniting our families.”
This means that Princess Beatrice's baby will be Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi's second child and the couple's first child together.
Fans will have to wait till the birth announcement - expected in Autumn 2021 - to find out the baby's gender.
Princess Beatrice and her husband knew each other from a young age.
Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo first met when they were young, as their parents are good family friends.
Edoardo's father became acquainted with Beatrice's mother, Sarah Ferguson whilst skiing in the Swiss ski resort Verbier in 1972.
Prince Andrew and Fergie were also friendly with Edo's late step-father Christopher Shale. With Sarah, Duchess of York noticably spotted in photos taken at his mother's second wedding.
Indeed, Edoardo's parents confirmed that the two had been close for many years in a statement after the couple's engagement announcement:
"Our family has known Beatrice for most of her life," it read. "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."
Edoardo and Beatrice made their first public debut as a couple in March 2019.
Although friends for decades, things didn't turn romantic between the two until after Princess Eugenie's wedding.
The Daily Mail first reported that the two were dating in November 2018. Though it wasn't until March 2019 - at the National Portrait Gallery Gala - that the pair confirmed their relationship publicly.
Later that month, Edoardo was again seen with Beatrice, her mother Sarah and others on a family trip to the Bahrain Grand Prix.
And in May 2019, he joined Beatrice at Lady Gabriella Windsor's wedding to Thomas Kingston at St. George's Chapel in Windsor.
Beatrice's husband proposed to her in Italy.
Edoardo proposed to Princess Beatrice during a romantic weekend trip to Italy in September 2019.
Edoardo shared the engagement news on his personal instagram account. He posted several black and white shots from the couple's engagement shoot alongside the caption: "You will never be alone my love, my heart is your home. Hand in hand, today, tomorrow and forever."
An official engagement announcement was made by Buckingham Palace on 26 September 2019.
The two said that they were "extremely happy" to share their news, adding: "We are both so excited to be embarking on this life adventure together and can’t wait to be married. We share so many similar interests and values and we know this will stand us in great stead for the years ahead, full of love and happiness.”
Edoardo designed Beatrice's engagement ring.
The businessman designed the engagement ring himself, with the help of British jeweller Shaun Leane.
It features a 2.5-carat round centre stone flanked by two smaller round diamonds and a 0.75 carat baguette on either side, set in platinum.
“I worked closely with Edo for the past four to five months: He wanted the fusion of two elements in one ring, his love of Art Deco and Princess Beatrice’s love of Victorian style, so it’s a mix of both aesthetics,” designer Shaun said of the design.
He commisioned a special one-of-a-kind gift for Beatrice's birthday.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Edoardo revealed he had gifted his wife a bespoke statue for her 31st birthday.
"The best gift I’ve ever given is a bronze figurative sculpture, which I commissioned from my stepfather, the sculptor David Williams-Ellis, for my wife’s birthday last year," he said.
David's designs are created in a studio right next to the house he shares with Edoardo's mother Nikki.
"It’s so special for us to have a piece of his work in our home," he added.
Edo shared a sweet Instagram post dedicated to Beatrice on their 1st wedding anniversary.
One year on and Beatrice and Edoardo seem as happily married as ever.
The 38-year-old shared a loved-up snap of him and his wife on Instagram to mark their first wedding anniversary.
He described Beatrice as the "kindest, loveliest and most beautiful person in the world."
Edoardo is into his fitness.
It seems that Princess Beatrice's husband is no stranger to exercise. With Edoardo crediting it as the thing that keeps him calm and able to deal with pressure:
"To de-stress I go for a run in the park, I get on my Peloton bike or play squash. It’s not a ritual but something I do when I have the time. There’s always the feeling that you don’t want to do it before you start, but once it’s over you feel so much better."
He credits chiropractor Ben Carraway as his 'wellbeing guru'. And is a regular client of his at the London-based clinic.
In another life, he'd be an adventurer.
According to Edo, if he wasn't a property developer he would be out exploring.
Princess Beatrice became a fellow at the Royal Geographical Society from a young age and even did some work there during his teenage years.
"I worked in the expedition department where we would help people plan their trips, and I’d go to these amazing talks about the adventures people had been on," he told the FT. "And yes, I read all the books, Scott of the Antarctic and so on. I loved them all."
