Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi shared a ‘strained’ moment at Sandringham ahead of revelations surrounding their ‘troubled marriage’, a body language expert has claimed.
Video footage captured the couple, who wed in 2020, stood among dozens of Royal Family members on the steps of St Mary Magdalene Church following the annual Christmas Day service.
Yet as senior royals appeared engrossed in their respective conversations, Beatrice, 37, and Edo, 42, instead stood in silence and failed to barely acknowledge one another.
According to body language expert Judi James, the striking moment between the pair was a ‘strained-looking non-verbal misstep’ caused by Edo’s ‘discomfort’.
Ms James told the Daily Mail: ‘Any sense of rift or even distancing from the top tier royals might not sit too well with Edo.
‘Beatrice and her sister Eugenie appeared to make a choreographed shuffle off to a gap to the right of shot where they applied tense, forced-looking smiles as they glanced at William and Kate.
‘There was something about their behaviour here that suggested a desire to hang back and lurk while the other royals took centre stage, but Edo’s rather wistful glances suggested he might prefer to go down and mingle in the heart of the family.’
Ms James added that while Edo made an attempt to ‘turn his charming smile onto his wife in a bid to connect with her’, Beatrice appeared to ‘ignore his attention-seeking intro calls’ and instead ‘keeps looking off to the side’.
‘When she does turn back, she has her husband using warm eye contact and smiling directly at her but, in an unusual response between a loving couple, she avoids the eye connection, instead looking down at the ground.’
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi shared a ‘strained’ moment at Sandringham ahead of the revelations of their ‘troubled marriage’, body language expert Judi James has claimed
According to Ms Judi James, the striking moment between the pair was a ‘strained-looking non-verbal misstep’ due to Edo’s feelings of ‘discomfort’ amid the ensuing scandal surrounding Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Jeffrey Epstein
‘He turns back to the front with a wistful-looking smile while she performs her fixed social grin.’
Ms James suggested that Edo may have been attempting to ‘lead’ Beatrice and ‘encourage her to retain her place in the heart of the royals’, despite the scandal that was beginning to engulf her father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
‘His body language hints that it’s business as usual for Edo, with his very regal princely charm allowing him to fraternise naturally and readily and perhaps silently encouraging his wife to do so too,’ noted Ms James.
‘When the pair do walk away, it’s Beatrice walking off ahead of her husband while he adopts the very regal trait of having his hands clasped behind his back.
‘She turns with a frown though and he does join her with a supportive-looking hand on her back.’
The remarkable footage of the pair comes amid concerns by Beatrice’s friends that their ‘marriage is in trouble’ in the wake of the Epstein scandal.
Sources close to Beatrice and Edo have previously told the Daily Mail that there has been notable ‘distance’ between the couple in recent months.
They claimed that Edo is understandably keen to avoid his business being tainted by the scandal enveloping the House of York, which may be at odds with Beatrice’s apparent determination to offer support to her beleaguered father.
The timing of Edo’s Florida trip and the flurry of posts on social media – which is, some point out, rather unlike him – has led to whispers that all might not be well with the couple.
The remarkable footage of the pair comes amid concerns by Beatrice’s friends that their ‘marriage is in trouble’ in the wake of the Epstein scandal. Sources close to Beatrice and Edo, have previously told the Daily Mail that there has been notable ‘distance’ between them
One source told the Daily Mail: ‘Things haven’t been great for a while between them, but Beatrice has been determined to soldier on and forge a path through.
‘Beatrice is quite different from her sister. She really wants to almost naively see the good in people and will turn a blind eye to uncomfortable truths – that is why she was blind to her father’s behaviour, and the same is true of her belief in Edo.
‘She wants to stay together, but he seems more and more distracted by work and travel. Just when she needs him most, he’s been pulling away.’
Another source said: ‘He’s really worried his in-laws will affect his business. Banda has been taking off lately and he’s found some great investors among the wealthy Cotswolds set, but it’s taking up a lot of his time and energy. He’s all about himself at the moment. You have to feel for Beatrice.’
Someone else who knows the couple acknowledged: ‘There’s been distance between them with his much-increased work travel lately, which he has been posting out [on social media] heavily in a way he didn’t before.’
While Eugenie has reportedly cut off ties with their father, Beatrice has been attempting to tread a finer line – offering her support to Andrew and her mother, Sarah Ferguson, while maintaining her links to the wider Royal Family.
Both daughters have been dragged into the scandal through their mentions in the millions of documents relating to Epstein, such as suggestions that they were introduced to the paedophile socially after his 2009 conviction, including at a lunch reportedly arranged by her mother.
While there is no evidence Beatrice was involved in any wrongdoing, there have been questions over the source of her finances, while Prince William is said to have been frustrated that both sisters have so far refused his suggestion to subject their personal investments to an ‘ethics check’.
Beatrice is said to be ‘desperate to hold things together’ with Edo, while sources add that dealing with the fallout from the crisis, not to mention being a mother to two small children, has left her with little head space to give her husband the attention he ‘needs’.
‘He needs attention, he’s one of those men,’ a well-placed source told the Daily Mail. ‘Beatrice feels very raw and beside herself on so many levels.’
Meanwhile, the Daily Mail has also discovered that Edo’s design company, Banda, faced previous financial difficulties.
Prior to that, the company Edo started aged 23 had enjoyed moderate success, with annual profits in the tens of thousands. Yet his new life as a member of the Royal Family coincided with a period of spectacular growth.
In 2020, Banda was a niche concern specialising in locating and developing upmarket homes for the rich, mainly in and around London.
Today, it grandiosely calls itself a ‘multi-disciplinary property practice, covering property search and acquisition, development, project management, architecture and interior design all over the world’ and employs some 60 members of staff, more than three times the figure six years ago.
Indeed, the latest records from Companies House show that Banda Design Ltd, its interior design arm, reported a turnover of £2.2million in 2024, and retained profits of £774,353. Yet the year before Edo and Beatrice wed, it was £244,000 in the red.
Friends have insisted that Edo is singularly driven and has made a success of his business through dedication and talent. Yet it is also true that his name, or rather his royal connections, afforded him access to new platforms to promote his work..
Post-wedding, it seemed his every project was given acres of space in newspapers and magazines.
‘It was the kind of publicity money can’t buy,’ says a source. ‘There were references in the likes of Vogue and Hello! to him joining the Royal Family. It didn’t exactly do his business any harm, did it? Would he have got it if he wasn’t her [Beatrice’s] husband? Of course not.’
