Beatrice becomes first princess to be a step-mum as she marries dad-of-one Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in secret royal wedding

PRINCESS Beatrice has become the first stepmum among the younger royals after secretly tying the knot with Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi today in Windsor. 

Today, the royal, 31, said her vows to the property tycoon, 36, who has two-year-old son called Christopher 'Wolfie' Woolf with his stylish former fiancé Dara Huang.

The wedding was previously scheduled to take place at the Chapel Royal of St James's Palace at the end of May, but it was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

A friend of Beatrice and Edoardo said the nuptials were arranged today to make sure the Queen could attend before she leaves Windsor for Balmoral at the end of the month.

Princess Beatrice, who is ninth in line to the throne, is the only princess to marry a partner who already has a child.

The only royal family member of the previous generation to find themselves in the same position was Prince Charles.

When he married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005, Charles became stepfather to her son Tom and daughter Laura. 

This also meant Camilla became a stepmum to Prince William and Prince Harry.

Millionaire property tycoon Edoardo was previously engaged to Harvard-educated architect Dara Huang – mum of his toddler son – and popped the question in 2015.

However, the romance wasn’t to last with Edoardo breaking up with DH Liberty-founder Dara around six months before dating Princess Beatrice.

A source told Fabulous Digital: “Almost overnight, Chinese-American fiancee Dara became Edo's ex fiancee.

“The talented Harvard-educated architect had been planning her idyllic wedding to Edo but was unceremoniously dumped.”

Beatrice has been going out with Edo, who specialises in discreetly developing multi-million pound homes for rich clients, since around the nuptials of Princess Eugenie in October 2018.

A friend told The Sun that they “hit it off instantly”.

The Queen, 94, and Duke of Edinburgh, 99,  joined Prince Andrew, 60, at the scaled-down Covid-secure wedding with around 20 guests this morning.

Beatrice, 31, and Edo, 37, said 'I do' surrounded by close family and friends in All Saints Chapel, Windsor Great Park.

Before the pandemic, the plan had been to have 150 guests, but a select group gathered for a more intimate ceremony today, with strict social distancing measures in place, Buckingham Palace confirmed.

The Palace said in a statement: "The private wedding ceremony of Princess Beatrice and Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi took place at 11am on Friday 17th July at The Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor.

"The small ceremony was attended by The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh and close family.

"The wedding took place in accordance with all relevant Government guidelines."

Beatrice's mum Fergie, her sister Princess Eugenie and her brother in law Jack Brooksbank are also believed to have attended

A source spoke to Fabulous Digital about the couple’s early days, and said: “Beatrice was delighted to find herself in the company of easy on the eye Edo and they started dating under the radar almost immediately."

Beatrice shacked up with the businessman and introduced him to royal relatives – leaving Dara sleeping on a pal's sofa.

A Royal source insisted that Beatrice wouldn't have started a relationship with Edo unless she was certain things had ended with Dara – although the romance started when they were still sharing a London home.

Edoardo has now moved in with Beatrice at St James Palace and also impressed her parents after joining them at the Bahrain Grand Prix last April.

They’ve even been to weddings together, including in Tuscany last July, and stayed in one of his family’s houses in Kenya at the beginning of last year.

They went public with their relationship in March 2019, after Princess Beatrice attended a charity fundraiser at the National Portrait Gallery with her new beau.

Beatrice has been single since splitting from her American boyfriend Dave Clark in 2016 after a decade together.

The split was thought to be over the princess's keenness to wed.

Descended from Italian nobility, Edo is a Count whose father Alex was an Olympic skier in the early 1970s.

Edo has been a family friend of the Yorks for years and when his stepfather Christopher Shale – a close friend of former Prime Minister David Cameron – died in 2011 at Glastonbury, Andy, Sarah, Bea and Eugenie all went to the funeral.

We shared how Princess Beatrice ‘is ready to start a family with multi-millionaire property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi’ – and mum Sarah Ferguson is chuffed.

We shared how Princess Beatrice didn’t need The Queen’s permission to get married – unlike Prince William and Prince Harry.

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