Princess Beatrice is taking a modern approach to royal life.
The eldest child of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Beatrice and her younger sister, Princess Eugenie, are non-working royals with professional careers of their own. The princess has also taken a contemporary approach to family life with her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. The pair tied the knot in a COVID-era ceremony on July 17, 2020, in the small, private chapel on the property of her family’s country estate, the Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Upon her wedding, Princess Beatrice also became the first member of the royal family in her generation to take on the role of a stepparent, becoming a stepmother to Edo’s now-9-year-old son, Christopher Woolf, whom the family calls Wolfie. The pair are now also parents to two daughters: Sienna, 3, and Athena, 8 months.
The couple’s friend Juliet Angus told HELLO! in a recent interview, “They’re the sweetest, and they’re adorable,” adding that despite their aristocratic upbringings, she sees their less formal sides at events like Glastonbury and dinner parties.
“I love their relationship and how cute and modern they are,” The Real Housewives of London star added. “I love that they’re a blended family — rules don’t have to be such big rules anymore.”
(L to R) Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Athena Mapelli Mozzi, Princess Beatrice of York, Christopher Woolf Mapelli Mozzi, Sienna Mapelli Mozzi.
JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty
Princess Beatrice has previously called being a stepmother a “great honor,” and Wolfie’s mother, Dara Huang, has opened up about coparenting with the royal.
“Wolfie has had two sets of parents trying to help him on both sides, and I just think, ‘The more, the merrier,’ ” Huang said in a 2024 interview with Harper’s Bazaar U.K. “I feel lucky to have such positive people around him, who really embrace him — because it didn’t have to be so easy.”
“It’s all about your point of view,” she added. “I don’t understand people who are divorced and then hold their children as collateral; that doesn’t make any sense. It’s about creating a happy home and lifestyle.”
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Wolfie Mapelli Mozzi and Princess Beatrice on Dec. 8, 2023.
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After Athena was born several weeks prematurely on Jan. 22, Princess Beatrice shared her “sheer worry” about her daughter’s early arrival in a personal essay for British Vogue in March. She wrote that she and her family have gained “a few more answers as to what happened, but still no precise explanation” of the early birth and noted the experience taught her “so much.”
Edo, as Beatrice’s husband is called, shared an intimate mother-daughter photo from the interview in a touching tribute on Instagram. “So much pride for my beautiful wife, who has bravely shared our story of Athena’s early arrival,” he wrote.
While she isn’t technically a working royal, Princess Beatrice does serve an important position within the royal family. When her uncle, King Charles, acceded to the throne, she was appointed as a Counsellor of State, which means she could execute constitutional duties if the King is abroad or unwell.
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While Beatrice and Edoardo’s daughters don’t currently hold royal titles in England, they did inherit Italian nobility on their father’s side. As the eldest son of Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, Edoardo will eventually inherit his family’s ancestral seat, the 18th-century Villa Mapelli Mozzi palace in northern Italy.
Upon their wedding day, Princess Beatrice became an Italian “Contessa” and “Nobile Donna,” and their daughters — and any future children — will follow suit.