Before her fairytale wedding in 2020 to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Princess Beatrice had a rather tumultuous love life.
The rollercoaster began when the princess was just 17 and had her first public relationship with Paolo Liuzzo, a then-24-year-old troubled playboy.
After being introduced by friends, Beatrice and Paolo began dating in July 2005 – but their relationship wasn’t made public for almost a year.
And their romance would soon end in May 2006, when the late Queen ‘ordered’ Beatrice to break up her polo-playing American beau because of his dark past.
In his book Entitled, royal biographer Andrew Lownie revealed that Liuzzo had been charged with manslaughter during his time at university in Massachusetts after a drunken fight led to the death of a teenager.
The charge was later reduced to assault, with Liuzzo, who was studying at the College of Holy Cross in Worcester, serving a suspended sentence instead of a jail term.
Mr Lownie revealed how Beatrice’s mother Sarah Ferguson called herself Luizzo’s ‘second mother’ and often accompanied the young couple when they drank and partied – despite her daughter being underage.
Liuzzo would later tell the Mail on Sunday that, not only had the former Duchess ‘encouraged his relationship with Beatrice’, Fergie also ‘exposed her daughter to people who took drugs, including cannabis, much to the Queen’s concern’.
Princess Beatrice, then 17, started dating Paolo Liuzzo, 24, in July 2005. Writing in his tell-all book Entitled, Lownie revealed how Fergie had referred to herself as Liuzzo’s ‘second mother’ and was said to have often accompanied the young couple when they drank and partied
While Liuzzo made it clear that neither Beatrice nor her sister Princess Eugenie took any drugs, he said that Fergie turned a blind eye to what was going on.
He also claimed Fergie, now 66, is a ‘brilliant mother’ but she ‘drinks like a fish’.
When they first met, however, Liuzzo and Beatrice quickly fell head over heels in love with each other.
Less than a month after the pair had first met, Beatrice even invited Liuzzo to join her family for their annual two-week holiday in the South of France, where they would stay at former racing driver Paddy McNally’s lavish villa.
Liuzzo, who had driven to France from Geneva and ‘brought with him some friends who proceeded to have a good time’ – even spent €30,000 at St Tropez’ glamorous beach club, Club 55, according to Mr Lownie.
A month later, Sarah Ferguson invited the Italian-American to join her, Beatrice and Eugenie for a holiday to South Africa, where they stayed at Richard Branson’s safari ranch, as well as an ultra-exclusive resort in Jamaica.
Despite their seven-year age gap, the former Duchess had become so fond of her daughter’s new boyfriend that she even allowed him to use ‘the Yorks’ business-class-only airway, EOS, which had just launched and granted them free flights’, Mr Lownie wrote.
Never one to shy away from extravagance, she was said to have told Liuzzo that whenever he wanted a flight, he should: ‘Talk to my assistant and they’ll sort it out’.
But the polo-playing American socialite had a dark past – Liuzzo had been charged with manslaughter after a drunken fight as a student at the College of the Holy Cross, Massachusetts, led to the death of a teenager in 2002. The charge was later reduced to assault
According to Liuzzo, despite the seven-year age gap the former Duchess had became so fond of her daughter’s new boyfriend that she even authorised him to use the York’s new business-class-only airway, EOS, which granted them free flights
Fergie also called in a favour from a property developer friend, who lent Liuzzo her seven-floor mansion to host ‘raves’ for hundreds of people by charging them £25 per head.
According to Mr Lownie, the home was left in such disarray that cleaning it up cost the owner £7,000.
Friends of Beatrice, known affectionately as ‘Bea’, described Liuzzo as the princess’ ‘first real boyfriend’ and spoke highly of how he treated her with ‘incredible respect and kindness’.
Liuzzo, over time, also grew closer to Andrew.
During his nearly 10-month relationship with Beatrice, Liuzzo went from talking predominantly about ‘golf and helicopters’ with the since-disgraced former Duke to becoming a trusted confidant.
On one occasion, Liuzzo even lent Andrew $10,000 to pay for removal men to move one of the ex-Duke’s girlfriends, Angie Everhart, out of the New York apartment she shared with her then-fiancée.
He recalled: ‘I woke about seven to a tap on my shoulder. The duke was standing over me. This was the first time he’d ever come into my room.
‘He said, “Paolo, take a shower. Get dressed. Then we have to speak because I need a favour to be done in New York right away”.’
It was not long before the ensuing scandal came to the attention of the world press and Liuzzo’s law-breaking caught the attention of the Queen, who is said to have stepped in to hold a crisis summit with Andrew, Fergie and Beatrice at Windsor
Liuzzo lent Andrew $10,000 to pay for removal men to move one of his girlfriends, Angie Everhart, out of the New York apartment she shared with her fiancée. Afterwards, he asked him to ‘kneel in the drawing room of their Windsor mansion for a mock knighting ceremony’
Liuzzo later claimed that Andrew never fully settled the debt after he learned of his criminal record. But at the time, the ex-Duke was said to have been incredibly grateful for his efforts.
Indicative of this, he even asked him to ‘kneel in the drawing room of their Windsor mansion for a mock knighting ceremony’.
‘Impersonating the Queen’, Fergie then proceeded to give Liuzzo the new nickname of ‘Sir Fixit’.
While she was warming up to her daughter’s then-boyfriend, Sarah’s own relationship with her former in-laws was deteriorating.
When she joined the Royal Family for their holiday to Balmoral in the summer of 2005, Queen Elizabeth II was driven to distraction by her daughter-in-law continually spouting “New Age” mumbo jumbo,’ Mr Lownie wrote, citing a palace source.
Despite his criminal past and the vast age gap between the pair, both Fergie and Andrew stood by Liuzzo – with Sarah stating: ‘We all have our own journeys and have to learn our way but Beatrice is a sensible girl, soon to be 18, with many friends including Paolo.’
While Beatrice had her parents’ seal of approval, the young princess would experience her first heartbreak less than a year after she met and fell in love with Liuzzo.
This is because, although the Yorks were captivated by him, the rest of the Royal Family was much ‘less supportive’ after his past run-in with the law came to the Queen’s attention.
Yet for Liuzzo, the prospect of a happily ever after fell tragically short. On February 7, 2024, he was found dead from a suspected overdose in a Miami hotel room. Then aged 41, he tested positive for ketamine, cocaine, fentanyl and bromazolam – a powerful new depressant
The New York-born socialite was found to have breached his probation after going on a ski holiday with Andrew, Fergie and Beatrice to Switzerland in February 2006.
This resulted in his three-year probation being extended further.
When Her Majesty learned of Liuzzo’s criminal charges, she immediately called a ‘secret summit’ with Beatrice’s parents and ordered that her granddaughter cut ties with Liuzzo.
He recalled: ‘The Queen was so concerned that a scandal was about to engulf yet another young Royal that she ordered the Duke, Fergie and Beatrice to attend a secret summit with her to discuss the situation.’
Reportedly ‘heartbroken’ that she had been forced to leave Liuzzo, Beatrice returned to her history studies at Goldsmiths, University of London and graduated with a 2:1 degree in 2011.
Soon after, she began a 10-year relationship with US-born Uber executive Dave Clark – but rumblings of Liuzzo’s behaviour continued to linger over the Royal Family.
In 2009, he faced further charges in Australia for crashing a $90,000 Audi into traffic lights, cocaine possession, and failing to pay for food and lodging at a casino.
Liuzzo also later confessed to cheating on Beatrice during their whirlwind relationship – and even claimed that she had wanted to introduce him to the Queen before the summit.
After a slew of failed relationships and rumoured romances, including with television presenter Wilfred Frost, Beatrice finally found her Prince Charming in Italian property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (pictured on their wedding day with the late Queen and Prince Philip)
‘I’m not a bad person. But it’s like putting heroin in front of Pete Doherty. Women are my weakness,’ he boasted, likening himself to the hellraising Libertines musician.
Unfortunately, the playboy who captured Beatrice’s heart ultimately met a tragic end.
On February 7, 2024, he was found dead from a suspected overdose in a Miami hotel room at the age of 41.
‘Police impounded extensive drug paraphernalia from the scene. Per police, there were no signs of trauma or foul play,’ the medical examiner’s report stated.
‘He drank alcohol occasionally. He was known to use drugs but it was unknown what he used.’
The report noted that Liuzzo had a history of depression but had never expressed suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide before, according to his mother. His death was determined to be an accident.
Prior to his death, Liuzzo was said to have been living a ‘very fast lifestyle,’ according to his close friend. Insiders later revealed that Liuzzo struggled with gambling as well as drugs, and claim he had racked up debts with loan sharks, according to The Sun.
‘Paolo was not doing great on a personal level. He loved to party and gamble. He began using a lot of pharmaceutical drugs but that later led to cocaine and harder drugs,’ a friend claimed.
Beatrice was said to have been left ‘heartbroken’ by the devastating news – with a funeral service held for Liuzzo later that month.
For Beatrice, after a slew of failed relationships and rumoured romances, including with television presenter Wilfred Frost, she finally found her Prince Charming in Italian property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.
The couple fell in love in 2018 before tying the knot at Windsor’s Royal Chapel of All Saints on July 17, 2020.
This time, the Queen gave her wholehearted approval and even lent Beatrice a dress she wore for a state dinner in Rome in 1961. The vintage gown was carefully remodelled as a touching tribute to her beloved grandmother.
