Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi married Princess Beatrice of York in mid-July. They had a small, socially-distanced wedding in Windsor, with only a handful of people in attendance, including their parents, Bea’s sister Eugenie, the Queen and Prince Philip, and Edo’s young son. The vibe about Beatrice and Edo is still rather strange to me, especially given the weirdness of the start of their relationship. He was going to marry Dara, the mother of his young child, until he connected with Beatrice and then suddenly dumped Dara and got super-serious with Bea almost immediately. Edo and Dara still co-parent and work together in some ways. I guess I’ve just never gotten a read on Edo over the past few years. I can’t figure out his motives, because I don’t believe his motivation was “falling head over heels in love with Beatrice.”
So, I came into this interview thinking Edo is kind of a shady, secretive figure. What kind of person is he? Is he full-on posh? Is he an intellectual? Is he a con artist? I still don’t know. But I guess I have a better idea of him now, because he agreed to this Financial Times’ profile in The Aesthete column in the first place. The profile is all about where he eats, what art he enjoys, how well-traveled he is, and his work as some kind of top real estate guy. Hm. Some highlights:
His style: My personal style signifier is a blue suit. I buy both ready-to-wear and bespoke from different companies, but most recently from the new Hackett store at 14 Savile Row. I wear them with a white grandad collar shirt [from Officine Générale] and CQP trainers from Stockholm, which I own in multiple colours. It’s my work uniform. I don’t have to think about what to wear in the morning. I just put them on and off I go.
His family owns a place in Kenya? My favourite view in the world is the one from our eco lodge in Lamu, Kenya. There’s 12km of beach in front of the house that changes every day beyond recognition. Some days the tide can go out by a mile and on others there are huge waves. There are no lights at night but as you’re on the equator, there are billions and billions of stars in the sky and everything is lit by the moon. We say “no shoes, no news”. There’s no 3G and no electricity at the Lamu house, all our energy comes from solar and our water from our own well. I arrive there, sleep for two days and then my brain starts to get creative again.
The best advice: The best property advice I’ve ever been given is that there are no shortcuts and quality is everything. In short, do it once and do it well.
What he’s reading: The best book I’ve read in the past year is How to Raise Successful People by Esther Wojcicki. She has three accomplished daughters: one is the CEO of YouTube, the other is the co-founder and CEO of 23andMe, and the third is a top anthropologist and epidemiologist. There is nothing more important than raising and educating our kids and doing it well and she achieved this using the word TRICK: T for trust, R for respect, I for independence, C for collaboration and K for kindness. It’s great advice offered in an unpatronising way.
The best gift given: 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. His studio is next to my mother’s house so we’d see him in there every day covered in clay. It’s so special for us to have a piece of his work in our home.
The best gift received: And the best one I’ve received was four cases of wine, which was a christening present from my godfathers when I was a baby. It started a love affair with wine, and I have been trading it ever since. From those four cases I am now sitting on a very interesting collection, predominantly Bordeaux (although I tend to drink Burgundy). But the joy for me is about understanding the vineyards and the process.
Cufflink collection: I have a collection of cufflinks that were left to me by my first stepfather [Christopher Shale] when he died and when I put them on in the morning, they make me smile. It’s so nice to be able to think of him every single day.
A little ad for Casamigos: In my fridge you’ll always find a bottle of tequila [Casamigos Reposado] and smoked salmon. Why the tequila? Well, that’s obvious, but I always have salmon from Secret Smokehouse because it’s easy when you’ve been working all day and you just want to grab something healthy.
His favorite room: My favourite room in my house is the kitchen. I’ve fallen in love with cooking again. It’s been the epicentre of our family life and we come together for every meal. We are lucky enough to have a small vegetable garden and we cook seasonally. Even my son has got involved.
So, let’s summarize… Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi is an Italian nobleman and real estate guy with million-dollar properties he’s selling or developing around Europe, his family owns a lot of property too, he’s well-traveled and well-connected, he reads parenting books, he shills for Casamigos, he’s a dandy, he was close to his deceased stepfather and he’s close to his current stepfather, he cooks and he enjoys the finer things in life. And then he dumped his baby-mama for a princess (and the daughter of a rapist/human trafficker) and now they’re going to live in a small cottage in the Kensington Palace complex and they’ll live happily ever after. I don’t know. Something just doesn’t add up here.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, social media, Buckingham Palace.
Not gonna lie, he sounds like a pretty prentious and insufferable guy. But to each their own.
Yeah, it’s exhausting reading that, he seems painfully posh. I also don’t know why they would have publicized that first b&w photo of him and Beatrice. He looks really pained to be there in that photo, and less than pleased with his situation. She looks cute though, so maybe that’s why.
Edo just seems like a stereotypical sleezy aristo to me. The timeline between him and Beatrice and him and Dara are definitely muddled and perhaps were next to each other at some time. But I don’t completely buy the whole “he’s tricking her!” narrative. He might have ulterior motivations for marrying her but who’s to say Bea doesn’t know? She might and has decided she’s okay with it.
I have and continue to wish Bea best with the marriage. I’m not the one married to him so if he turns out to be a mistake, it’s Bea’s mistake.
His marriage to Bea actually makes sense.
It seems be paid the price for ‘marrying out of his set’ and that may have isolated him socially, especially with a child out of wedlock. Add the strange and tragic circumstances surrounding his father’s death and marrying Bea redeems him a little and now allows him to laud it up over the other toffs.
I see the Queen offering them a title possibly an Earldom so he stops using or mentioning that shady Italian one. Countess Beatrice of somewhere in London given she is the possibly Betty’s fave granddaughter.
Effortlessly fun Zara who competes with horses and level headed non-embarrassing Eugenie would give Bea a run for her money.
Well, his Kenya house sounds amazing.
Someone on here in one of the posts said they knew him and he was actually very nice and he and Dara got along really well, I remember she said that if you didn’t know, you would think he was just friends with Bea and was “with” Dara.
I remember that too, every time I think of this couple. Which is never unless they’re brought up. I really don’t understand his motives. Surely one fluff piece a year can’t be that much?
Big nothing burger. Lock Andy up!
His description of his wardrobe sounds just…precious.
Dying laughing, I had to read it again.
Oh dear lord, please spare us. Stop trying to make him and his salmon, wines and blue suits happen.
And his cufflinks. Don’t forget his cufflinks.
He’s trying just a bit too hard, isn’t he?
But hopefully Bea is happy drinking Burgundy and watching him take out smoked salmon from the fridge (I think that’s what he means by cooking) and being Mrs. Mapelli… it’s a pretentious posh life, but it’s not harming anyone.
He seems grounded which is good for Bea. It was the comment about arriving and sleeping for two days. It’s a homebody type comment and it seems he watches his health which is good too. His past is a bit shaky, but maybe it is true love with Bea?
For now I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.
I would believe it if only I could find a photo of the two of them where he is actually looking into her eyes.
I misread the headline that he was a salmon collector, and thought he was vaguely eccentric for a minute.
😂🤣😂
Was told this some time ago; Men are like taxies. When the light is on they are available. When the light is off no amount of waiting or arm waving will help. Timing is everything. His previous girlfriend prob understands this now. Wish them all well.
Never heard this, but I think there’s some truth to it. I’ve seen several cases where the man was very much in love with someone, but not ready to settle down and “commit”. The couple splits after 10 years together, and he marries someone else within the year! Timing seems extremely important.
Merch, merch, merch where are the Megxit crew ???
“…..new Hackett store at 14 Savile Row. I wear them with a white grandad collar shirt [from Officine Générale] and CQP trainers from Stockholm”
“…….My favourite view in the world is the one from our eco lodge in Lamu, Kenya.”
“…..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.”
“…… In my fridge you’ll always find a bottle of tequila [Casamigos Reposado] and smoked salmon.”
I thought that, especially when he said “my wife” because all the Megxit people get worked up if Meghan says “my husband”.
Sounds like he will seamlessly fit in with the Windsor Clan.
Still don’t see anything fishy about the guy. Still don’t buy the narrative that he dumped Dara when there’s been stuff written that they were just coparenting when he began dating Bea. If you come from my mindset, this is a pretty tame article about a royal adjacent hubby. Kenya sounds lovely. Tequila is good. His wardrobe sounds expensive, but I can get behind the simplicity of having a work outfit. Hope they are happy. Back to ignoring them.
“…..but I can get behind the simplicity of having a work outfit. Hope they are happy. Back to ignoring them.”
But notice he doesn’t use that dirty word never to be uttered by Aristo’s – WORK.
I can’t get out of my head how she behaved when Bishop Currie was speaking at Meghan’s wedding, and now the “rabbit ears” behind his head in that photo? Kind of childish, no?
This sounds like another article on him I read a few months ago. It was full of all of his favorite products. Makes me believe he gets paid for mentions. Bet there’s a milk commercial in his future…
He sounds exhausting. I would, however, put up with him for a week or so if I could hang out at the Kenya beach house and drink his wine.
Yeah, but…at the equator with no electricity?! That’s far too hot & humid for me.
No, its weird, he says “no electricity” but then says all the energy comes from solar, so I think there is clearly some power there.
I bet there’s a good breeze if its right on the ocean though regardless.
I think he meant “off grid”, not that there’s no electricity at all. His explanation is weird though, why does he think there are more stars if you’re at the equator? I reckon you might see plenty of stars at the North Pole…
He sounds perfectly fine to me. Seems like a normal, unproblematic, boring, rich white dude. If there’s anything “off”, I think she’s the problem. She’s her mother’s daughter and I think the Grifting is strong in little Beatrice.
Don’t be fooled by the name, he is a true blue blood aristocrat and he sounds very boring and snooty. I can see why he would fit in with the Yorks/Windsors.
Isn’t a book like “How to raise successful people” a bit shallow? I suppose you could be defining success as finding a satisfying path (work and personal life) in life but the examples he used (the author’s kids) suggest a kind of meritocratic, 1% thing. I’m not having kids, ever, due to climate change (and general ecological destruction) but I read books like The Whole-Brain Child and anything by Daniel Seigel. Really wonderful insights into helping kids develop healthily – and helped me understand the impact of my own rather dysfunctional upbringing.
Yes, he sounds fussy, pretentious, and kind of eager to be seen as a sophisticated and aristocratic man of taste – not “new money,” oh no! These people live in their own pretentious bubbles.
I confess, my assumption after Andrew’s debacle interview came out was that Edo would head for the hills. Maybe he’s the real thing. I wish them well.
I still think he sounds ok. I don’t think anything he said was bad or shallow, and I’ve always had the impression from the tiny bits we’ve seen he is fairly decent. I really like what he said about doing something once and doing it well. He comes across as someone who likes beautiful and quality things- an artistic mind. Hope they all continue happy.
I get shady vibes. I think he married Bea for the title and the palace property. This establishes his place in the aristocracy. I’m guessing he gave up the commoner as soon as he caught Bea’s eye. And he locked it down. This isn’t a love match. This is social climbing. His family needs legitimacy and now he’s a British earl married to a princess. Ça-Ching ça-Ching. Money and free press. He’s probably getting business from this fluff piece and paid for the promo. Did he name drop a company in every paragraph? Did the publisher pay him to name drop that book too?
This guy is yuck. If he were female we’d be meaner. He sounds pretentious and like he’s too much work. So much name dropping and bragging. Maybe he should have the Princess title.
They strike me as a problematic couple stepping out of an Evelyn Waugh novel.
He sounds sort of “meh” in a deliberately thought out tediously non-offensive way.
I wouldn’t care one way or the other except that Andy and fam including salmon-y Edoardo get a pass while Meghan is dragged.
Whether he’s a social climber or not, this guy comes across like any aristocratic/aristocratic adjacent rich guy who enjoys a life of jet-setting and luxury. I worked in fundraising for a bit and I met many men like this guy. He doesn’t come across as shady or strange. More like a stereotypical rich white British dude.
There may or may not have been overlap between Dara and Beatrice, but honestly that isn’t really shady. That’s really normal for this set of people. Everyone in this aristo/royal world know each other, the social circle really isn’t that big. They all cheat on each other and sleep with each other. I had to research these people when I worked in fundraising–let me tell you, Charles and Diana, Kate and William, Beatrice and Edo? Just the tip of the iceberg.
The book he mentioned I’ve heard of! There was an interview I read about that family with the mom and 3 successful daughters (they’re all American by the way!). It was actually very interesting.