The world will be regaled with another royal wedding next year. Princess Beatrice, the daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, is getting married.
Buckingham Palace announced Beatrice’s engagement to real estate specialist Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, who popped the question while in Italy this September.
“Her Royal Highness and Mr Mapelli Mozzi became engaged while away for the weekend in Italy earlier this month,” the Palace said, adding that the wedding will take place in 2020.
The couple expressed their excitement in a statement shared by the palace. “We are extremely happy to be able to share the news of our recent engagement,” they wrote.
“We are both so excited to be embarking on this life adventure together and can’t wait to actually be married,” they added.
Mapelli Mozzi, who has a two-year-old son from a previous relationship, is a wealthy businessman, the BBC reported.
According to Companies House, he is the director of real estate company Banda Property.
Beatrice and her fiancée are believed to have started dating around two years ago, the BBC reported.
Mapelli Mozzi shared the news on Instagram alongside black and white photographs of his fiancée.
“You will never be alone my love, my heart is your home. Hand in hand, today, tomorrow and forever,” he wrote.
Beatrice’s mother, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, said the news gave her “tears of joy” in a post on Twitter.
“I am so proud of this sensational news. Andrew and I are just the luckiest people ever to have two great sons in [laws],” she wrote.
Beatrice’s sister, Princess Eugenie, said the engagement was “a long time coming” in an Instagram post.
She posted images, which she took herself, showing the embracing couple and the diamond engagement ring.
“Beabea – wow! I’m so happy for you my dearest big sissy and dear Edo,” Eugenie, who married last year in Windsor, wrote. “It’s been a long time coming and you two are meant to be.”
Mapelli Mozzi’s parents, Nikki Williams-Ellis and Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, said they were “truly delighted” about the engagement.
They added in a statement: “Our family has known Beatrice for most of her life. 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.”
It is unclear whether Beatrice’s wedding will be aired live like Eugenie’s marriage to Jack Brooksbank.
Princess Beatrice is ninth in the line of succession to the British throne. She is the granddaughter of the Queen and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and cousin of Prince William and Prince Harry.
The princess’ parents announced their separation and divorced in 1996, sharing joint custody of Beatrice and Eugenie.
In 2011, Prince Andrew resigned as UK trade envoy after coming under criticism for his friendship with the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
