It’s always been clear that Prince Charles has a long-standing beef with Prince Andrew, and that the beef extends to Andrew’s daughters, Princess Beatrice and Eugenie. Charles has never wanted B&E to be full-time working royals, to live a lavish royal life, to get money from the Sovereign Grant or to take any attention away from him or Prince William. But given everything that’s happened in recent years (Philip’s death, the Sussexit), I would have thought Charles would be a little bit softer on the York princesses. Perhaps he would even want them to be set up appropriately in one of the many royal properties. Not so much. As we heard a few months ago, Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi have been house-hunting in the Cotswolds and they had their eye on one particular property. They’ve apparently just purchased it.
Things are set to change for royal couple Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi who have reportedly just exchanged on a £3million property near Blenheim Palace, just months before the princess becomes a first-time mother.
According to the MailOnline, the Queen’s granddaughter and her husband are looking to leave London, as their offer was accepted on the Oxfordshire family home after having their sights set on the picturesque countryside retreat for months prior. It is believed that the luxurious Cotswolds property comes complete with a party barn, tennis court and a swimming pool – a leisurely haven for Beatrice and Edoardo to enjoy once they welcome their new arrival.
Following her recycled wedding dress, the eco-conscious princess is also a keen advocate for sustainability, so will no doubt enjoy being more connected with nature as she settles in the heart of the English countryside, with forage trails and stunning open spaces at her doorstep.
Despite escaping to the countryside to begin their journey as a family, it’s likely that St James’s Palace will continue to act as the royal couple’s London base, much like Princess Anne who also has a home at Gatcombe Park.
I would guess that the reference to St. James’s Palace means that Beatrice still has some kind of “apartment” in that palace, while Eugenie sort of has a little cottage in the Kensington Palace complex. Again, there are tons of properties, homes, rentals and cottages on royal estates. I’m sure if there was some kind of will for it, Bea & Edo could have had a cottage on the Windsor Castle estate or even a rental on one of the Duchy of Cornwall properties. But no, they had to buy their own place. Which makes me wonder how they did that. I suspect Edo is well-off, but Beatrice really isn’t. I wonder if… maybe granny helped them out a little bit.
Photos courtesy of Getty, Avalon Red.
I am so jealous. I love the Cotswolds.
I live in the Cotswolds. It is lovely. Grew up here. Expensive, though, and increasingly full of celebrities.
Better for them to have a home that is free and clearly theirs, unless I am missing something?
Good for them? It sounds lovely.
Re: all the royal palaces, apartments, cottages, party barns and estates — WHY???
Shady money is shady. What a load of bloody grifters they all are.
#AbolishTheMonarchy
Actually, as said above, i’d rather them buy their own place than live in anything remotely taxpayer funded. I don’t see this as grifting at all.
FYI: Eugenie has a grace-and-favor lease on Ivy Cottage in the Kensington Palace compound.
Edo’s family on both sides are very rich. His mother is an aristo, as was his late step-dad. Beatrice would not be married to him if he wasn’t wealth and an aristo.
Exactly. If only someone bothered to little look into all marriages of young royals and aristos in recent years, even ones who married supposed commoners, it would be astonishing and revealing discovery. Nothing has changed from the Middle Ages to the present day.
From pictures I’ve seen, Cotswolds look lovely, so good for them.
I would not be surprised if the queen helped out – to be honest i’m surprised she did not just purchase each grandchild a house as they got married, out of her personal money, as kind of their inheritance, since the bulk is going to go to Charles most likely.
ETA also as a random, I just read “That Churchill Woman” about Jennie Churchill and she complains a lot about Blenheim lol. Her brother in law had to marry a Vanderbilt to keep it up.
Blenheim was a pain from the beginning. I wrote a paper on its building in grad school and Sarah Duchess of Marlborough was instrumental in getting it finished. She gets a bad reputation but Vanbrugh impeded her a lot during the building.
It is my favorite of the grand English country houses though!
Her brother-in-law wasn’t the only one. It was a time when the aristocracy needed cash to maintain their estates so they married wealthy American heiresses and in exchange for the money, the women would get titles. They were called “Dollar Princesses” and a lot of these marriages were loveless – Consuelo Vanderbilt’s was famous for being loveless.
I know! We talked about this the other day! The weird thing was that after I read the book about Jennie Churchill, which obviously deals with the Churchills but only has a passing scene with Alva Vanderbilt and Consuelo, I read “The Social Graces” about Alva Vanderbilt vs THE Mrs Astor and it dealt with the same time period and Consuelo’s marriage etc and it was just funny bc I didnt mean to read those two books back to back.
I don’t think I would have done well in the gilded age lol. But both the books did make me want to read more about all the people involved.
I really do love reading about the gilded age. If you’re interested, Anderson Cooper has a book about the Vanderbilts coming out in September. He’s a Vanderbilt himself so it’ll be interesting to hear what someone who’s actually a part of the family has to say.
The premise of Downton Abbey!
I couldn’t finish that book! The main character wasn’t loveable/relatable/interesting enough. I got impatient and put it in my neighborhood’s Little Free Library.
Which one? Churchill or Social Graces? I didn’t love it overall but what I love about historical fiction is when it gets me interested in reading more about something. So while I thought the book was okay, it definitely made me want to find a good biography about jennie churchill.
@Becks1 – if you like a good historical family biography then I can highly recommend Black Diamonds about the Fitzwilliam family and Wentworth House. Reads like a novel, fascinating and eye-opening about the English aristocracy and, in this case, its ties to the coal mining industry. I couldn’t put it down.
@Becks1
If you’re interested , “American Jennie”, about Winston’s Mom is a good one.
Written by Anne Sebba
@merlinsmom – apparently I added that to my goodreads list in 2017. I’ll have to bump it up lol.
Thank you Hench and Sofia for the other suggestions! I’ll keep an eye out for those books too. We’re going to the library today anyway lol.
The author of “Black Diamonds” wrote another book “The Empty Rooms” about the Rutlands concentrating on the current Duke of Rutland’s grandfather. Like “Black Diamonds” it is well written page turner about the British aristocracy from about 1888 to 1940.
Thank you. The Cotswolds are indeed beautiful.
Not just Jennie Churchill–tons of British aristos went to America looking for rich heiresses (Dollar Princesses per the parlance of the day) to marry and infuse their estates with cash. Indeed, Princess Diana’s great-grandmother was an American Dollar Princess. Her name was Frances Work and her father was a NYC stockbroker who was a protege of Cornelius Vanderbilt and made a ton of money in stocks. She married Diana’s great-grandfather, who would become the third Baron Fermoy, and their marriage produced Diana’s maternal grandfather…. Work later divorced her husband (before he inherited the title, so she was never a Baroness) and married a Hungarian riding master….
I really hope both Beatrice and Eugenie leave Windsor and retreat into a private life outside of the royal walls. Nothing good will come from the clown show. Once the queen goes, all bets are off and Charles has made it perfectly clear he couldn’t care less about them. He will throw these women to the wolves without a second thought. Better to get out now rather than suffer at their uncles hands.
I think Charles did all he was going to do when he said they couldn’t be working royals, which was over a decade ago. I think these tabloids stories come from KP. After all we know Kate dislikes the York sisters and she has loved lording her rank over them. If you notice she is never seen without William when they are around because she would not outrank them on their own.
I imagine they want a home with no strings attached like a Crown Estate property might come with. They also wanted a country estate and had no desire for Windsor so Cotswold it was. It’s beautiful so I don’t blame them.
So now finances are the place I think Edo is shady…not that walk with his baby mama that was being discussed.
His family is apparently rich but he gives off “lies about his background” or “runs a ponzi scheme” vibes to me. I suspect he married Bea solely for the money and position. I doubt there’s much between him and his ex, but I would not be surprised if scams money from Bea.
Bea has no money
Bea and Eugenie both received several million in Trust from the Queen Mum, and the Queen invested what would have been Fergie’s settlement in the girls’ names.
But HOW MANY BATHROOMS does it have?!!
Lolol.
LOL that was my first thought at seeing the headline too!
I’m jealous though, the Cotswolds are so beautiful and serene.
I will be shocked, shocked I tell you, if they don’t mention the cost of the house every time they talk about Beatrice. I am beyond dismayed they left out the number of bathrooms. Don’t they know that’s what their public wants to KNOW about? In every article?
Charles could give a sh*t about his own son and grandchildren….now you KNOW he ain’t checking for his nieces who are the daughters of the brother he has no love lost for. This is not surprising and I would guess Granny Liz sent a few coins their way to help fund this.
It would have made a lot of sense for the queen to buy each grandchildren their own property and not some “gift” on a royal estate that’s not really theirs.
Anne having her own property where her children can also live and she can earn an income from has made out better than Andrew and Edward leasing massive crown homes
Also would have made sense for a trust fund to support them since everything seems to go to the heir. Charles at 70 cannot spend all this money in his lifetime so the stinginess is mind blowing.
The Queen bought land and paid for a mansion to be built for Andrew when he married Fergie. He owned it all free and clear, and could have eventually passed it down to his daughters who could have sold it or split it up for two families. Instead his greed and lack of financial skills resulted in him having to sell it to some shady rich guy in a very shady deal.
So because Andrew screwed up, Edward got nothing?
The public were so up in arms with all of Andrew’s shady deals, it would have been difficult to do something similar for Edward. As it was, the massive Bagshot Park didn’t go over well either.
I agree, if I were the Queen I would totally be looking for ways to quietly funnel assets out of my kids and grandkids who are outside the line of succession, rather than leaving them dependent on Charles and then William.
I don’t get all the congrats for a lifestyle that, let’s face it, no one really deserves, particularly people born into the royalty. Maybe I’m a bitter betty this morning, but I couldn’t care less where they live or how they got the money (most likely shady) to do so. Her over-the-top shiny, handsome husband looks straight out of a Beware of Grifters 101 course.
@Rapunzel said:
“His family is apparently rich but he gives off ‘lies about his background’ or ‘runs a ponzi scheme’ vibes to me. I suspect he married Bea solely for the money and position. I doubt there’s much between him and his ex, but I would not be surprised if scams money from Bea.”
@JFerber said:
“I couldn’t care less where they live or how they got the money (most likely shady) to do so. Her over-the-top shiny, handsome husband looks straight out of a Beware of Grifters 101 course.”
I don’t have any investment in either Bea or Edo. She’s royal. He’s aristo. And they are both more than likely stuffy and stuck-up to a degree. However, the facts are that Edo started his company Banda Property, in 2007, at the age of 23. He worked hard to build it into a multimillion pounds property development and interior design business. He is well known and highly regarded in the real estate and architectural design industries. He was already successful, wealthy and well-connected prior to dating Bea. Below is a 2015 article about Edo and his company that appeared in The NYTimes business section (years before he and Bea hooked up romantically):
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2015/03/06/greathomesanddestinations/in-hidden-real-estate-market-in-london-secret-agents-know-their-turf.amp.html
In addition, Fergie’s family has been friends with Edo’s family going back many years, so once again, Edo already had royal connections, and obviously aristo connections. He did not need to marry Bea for his own nor his company’s benefit. He also stuck around after her father’s scandal heated up, and throughout the pandemic giving their wedding plans hiccoughs.
I know nothing about Edo’s relationship with Dara Huang, but there’s clear reported evidence that he’s been a loving, caring and responsible father to their son. Since Dara herself is known to be brilliant and innovative in the field of architectural design, I would guess that Edo and Dara met and were in part attracted to each other as a result of their mutual passions for architecture & design, property development, and commercial and residential construction. Check out available interviews with and presentations by Dara on YouTube. She founded her own progressive architecture company.
I say all this because I have an interest in architecture and design, and so I was interested in reading about Edo’s business background. I’ve been impressed by what I’ve read about him, his design aesthetic, and his philosophical approach to residential development. In my opinion, it’s Bea who got the catch, not the other way around. Edo is surely pretty and dandyish-looking, but none of us have control over the looks we’re born with.
As far as I can see from factual evidence, Edo is not a grifter, and he doesn’t scam money from anyone, unlike Bea’s parents. Sure, there’s still some high profile cache I suppose in marrying into royalty. But we are certainly all aware of the steep downsides too. From what I can see, Bea is the lucky one in this union.
Anyone interested can check out Spotify’s Architectural Digest podcast and find the interview episode featuring Edo and his company.
Good for them. Now they don’t have to worry about it being taken away with another crown head..
Yup. Independence from Charles and Will is good. Let this just be the start of things.
Didn’t Anne have to partition her property and give a big chunk of it to her ex in the divorce? Apparently her property was a gift from the Queen and has been added to over the years. Wonder if there is something in divorce docs that her ex must pass his portion of the property to his kids with Ann, as opposed to other children he has/may have had after the divorce?
If you buy your own property instead of taking a royal lease, you don’t have to deal with potentially being used as a scapegoat to cover up for the heirs.
Harry was a scapegoat rather than Camilla’s people. Charles is a terrible father for that.
I don’t trust either B or E but damn they were smart to stash and grab. Charles is a petty bitter fool. Like who hates their siblings for literally existing? Hate pedo Andy for being a pedo. His kids have nothing to do with it. Also Charles fav mentor was a pedo so he doesn’t hate Andy for that. So sick can’t wait for this family to fall
Beatrice is “eco-conscious” because she used her wedding dress to remind Granny to leave her cash? Sure.
Yeah that’s a bit much. Her carbon footprint is likely more than all the people posting here combined so rewearing granny’s dress is not the sign of an environmentalist.
Good for them. I would leave London too if the future heirs want me out of the family business. Why stay? She & Edo are building their own lives, separate from the Windsors and that’s fine. It’s what grown folks are supposed to do. Beatrice has an inheritance or trust from the QM. They probably got a mortgage like Harry & Meghan. She’ll definitely inherit once the Queen dies, so I doubt she’ll be poor.
The Cotswolds are choc full of celebrities, believe me. It’ll be like a home from home.
I would like to know if he’s really rich, or is he Donald Trump rich (aka broke). Their timeline is so shady, he’s giving off bad vibes, what’s the truth? Not gonna shade purchasing a home though. Your shady uncle and horrid cousin can’t take the home you purchased out from under you.
You can look up some of his filings on companies house uk Edoardo Alessandro MAPELLI MOZZI He started in 2010 my estimation if he made a million a year since that he propbably has $15 million if his own money not including properties he owns and other buisness ventures
^^ Yeah, @DuchessChicana, there’s plenty of factual details available online regarding Edo and his company, Banda Property. In another recent thread, someone pointed out his company’s net worth (I forget what it is exactly, somewhere around 300 mil, I think). Easy to check. Plus, as a few people already mentioned, there’s wealth on both sides of Edo’s family.
Below is a link to an article that appeared in The NYTimes in 2019, shortly after the engagement announcement. However, NYTimes had already published a 2015 article on Edo that I will link up thread — Edo was known and well regarded in the property development and architectural design industries well before he began dating Bea.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2019/09/02/realestate/london-luxury-property-undervalued-neighborhoods.amp.html
I know people joke about the bathrooms not being reported, but I wish they would show photos and details about the home.. being a former Realtor I love looking at houses.
I live in the exurbs of DC and so my concept of housing costs may be exaggerated…but is $3 million pretty…conservative spending for people of that wealth? Like, they didn’t get a palatial estate like some of their peers live in, eh ? And didn’t people say he’s old money rich? Interesting.
I have a close friend who lives in NW DC and she and her husband are run of the mill lawyers, making about a half million/year together and their house was roughly $3m. It’s amazing and lovely but, like a normal looking home on a third of an acre. So, yeah, this could be a normal family home.
The Cotswold house was 3 million pounds not $3 million dollars. There is quite a bit of difference if you convert pounds to dollars.
@BAYTAMPABAY, it’s approximately 3 mill in pounds, 4 mill in US dollars. So the cost of the house still isn’t out of bounds given their backgrounds and respected wealth. Like the original poster said, having known people who make a fair amount of $$$ and who have lived in Toronto, NYC, DC, London, and all over Switzerland, the cost strikes me as ‘normal’ for their backgrounds/net worth IMO.
Must be nice (she said while sitting in her 1957 house that cost 106,000).
Exactly. If only someone bothered to little look into all marriages of young royals and aristos in recent years, even ones who married supposed commoners, it would be astonishing and revealing discovery. Nothing has changed from the Middle Ages to the present day.