HAPPY FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

How Princess Beatrice has grown in confidence while balancing motherhood and a successful tech career

- TRACY SCHAVERIEN

It has been five years since Princess Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, watched by just a handful of family members, including her grandparents Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh. But it's clear they are as in love as ever. Last week, Edo took to Instagram to post a photograph of them on a beach in Scotland with the caption: “Happy 5th Anniversary to my incredible partner, the most beautiful and amazing wife. I cherish every moment we've spent together and am deeply grateful for our journey. Here's to countless more years filled with laughter and tons of love!”

Their wedding ceremony, at Queen Victoria's Chapel, Royal Lodge, Windsor, took place during the first Covid lockdown, on 17 July 2020. Rather than postpone their big day, the couple decided to forgo a full-scale royal wedding in favour of a scaled-back affair with about 20 of their nearest and dearest.

The bride wore a Norman Hartnell gown lent to her by her grandmother and remodelled for the occasion, and the Queen Mary Fringe tiara. She said later: “Edo and I had a magical day filled with special moments with our families.” She added that the couple were “so excited to embark on this new chapter together.”

Since then, the world has watched as 36-year-old Beatrice balances her career with her role as a wife and now mother to Sienna, three, and six-month-old Athena, and as stepmother to Edo's son Wolfie, nine, who was a pageboy at the wedding.

Friends tell HELLO! that Beatrice has never been happier. They observe how much the once shy, slightly awkward young woman has grown in confidence over the years, particularly since finding love with her property developer husband and starting a family.