Beatrice’s very well-connected in-laws! Edo’s mother found love again with a prestigious sculptor after her second husband’s tragic death at Glastonbury – while his step-sister designed sets for The Crown
- Edo’s mother has married three times – and each husband is very impressive
- READ MORE: Princess Beatrice is all smiles as her husband’s step-sister ties the knot in Cumbria
When she married Edoardo Mappelli-Mozzi in 2020, Princess Beatrice became the first of Queen Elizabeth’s descendants to become a step-mother.
And it’s clear the royal, 34, is committed to being a blended family proudly watching as step-son Wolfie, seven, walk down the aisle as a pageboy at Edo’s step-sister’s wedding to Raoul de Lantsheere on Sunday.
Beatrice’s 22-month-old daughter daughter, Sienna, was a flower girl to her step-aunt Phoebe Williams-Ellis, but the royal family were not the only very well-heeled guests at the Oswald’s church in Kirkoswald, Cumbria.
Phoebe, is the daughter of Edo’s mother’s third husband David William-Ellis, a very accomplished sculptor.
But Beatrice isn’t Phoebe’s only tie to royalty, as she previously worked as a set designer on The Crown.
Phoebe, is the daughter of Edo’s mother’s third husband David William-Ellis, a very accomplished sculptor (pictured together)
Nikki with new husband sculptor David William-Ellis; she became engaged to the sculptor in 2016, with Edo congratulating the couple on social media, writing ‘I’m over the moon for you both’
Family affair: Beatrice has known Edo’s parents since childhood and is said to be comfortable in the company of her new in-laws
Pictured: Princess Beatrice, 34, seen attending the wedding of Phoebe Williams-Ellis, 29, and Raoul de Lantsheere in Cumbria over the weekend
The bride works also works as a costume and production designer and has worked on Netflix’ Matilda and The King among many others.
But most notably she helped designed sets for drama about the Windsor dynasty, which has been less than favourable to her step-sister-in-law’s family.
Meanwhile, David – who is ‘Nikki’ Williams-Ellis’s third husband- has become the go-to sculptor for high society, with Tatler calling one of his pieces ‘the ultimate marker of taste’.
The Northern Ireland born artist, who was educated at the Stowe School in Buckinghamshire, is also the great-nephew of Clough Williams-Ellis, the Welsh architect known chiefly as the creator of the Italianate village of Portmeirion in North Wales – famed as where The Prisoner was filmed.
An artistic flair clearly runs in the family – Phoebe’s mother Serena Williams-Ellis is also a designer with her pieces beloved in aristocratic circles.
Meanwhile, Nikki’s first husband, Edo’s father, is a member of Italian nobility and former British Olympic skier his dual Italian and British citizenship.
Edo’s stepfather and Nikki’s second husband was Christopher Shale (pictured), a senior Tory and a close friend of former prime minister David Cameron. He died in 2011
Well-connected: Nikki was married to Christopher Shale, a senior Tory and a close friend of former Prime Minister David Cameron, before his death at Glastonbury Festival (pictured, Edo with Nikki and David Cameron in 2011 after the memorial service)
Christopher, who was the second husband of Edo’s mother Nikki and a senior Conservative, died from heart disease at Glastonbury Festival in 2011
Beatrice and her Italian property developer husband, who tied the knot on 17 July last year, recently announced they were expecting their first baby together. Pictured, one of the photos shared by Edo
His former wife, three-times married Nikki, who mixes in English high society and gained an MBE for ‘political service’ when David Cameron announced his honours list after leaving Number 10 in 2016.
The couple divorced when their son and his sister Natalie were young, with Nikki now on her third marriage to sculptor David, following the tragic death of her second husband Christopher Shale in 2011 at the age of 56.
Edo’s VERY high achieving family
Mother: Nikki Williams-Ellis, a property developer with an MBE for political services
Father: Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, an Italian Count and Olympic skiier
Late Stepfather: Christopher Shale, a senior member of the Conservative party
Stepfather: David Williams-Ellis, an accomplished sculptor
Stepsister: Phoebe Williams-Ellis, a set designer for The Crown
Half-brother: Alby Shale, entrepreneur and founder of Life is Meeting
Sister: Natalie Yeomans, an entrepreneur
Great grandfather: Robert Burrows, a Liberal MP
Ex-fiancee (and Wolfie’s mother): Dara Huang, an architect
Christopher was a senior Tory and a close friend of former prime minister David Cameron. He collapsed and died in 2011 at Glastonbury Festival, after going missing for about 18 hours before he was found in a cubicle in the VIP area.
An inquest subsequently found he had been suffering from undiagnosed heart disease resulting from high blood pressure.
So devoted was Edo to his stepfather that he named his son Christopher, with ex partner Dara Huang, after him.
At the time, a distraught then- Prime Minister David Cameron said: ‘A big rock in my life has suddenly been rolled away.’
‘Sam and I were devastated to hear the news about Christopher. He was a great friend and has been a huge support over the last decade.
‘Christopher was one of the most truly generous people I’ve ever met – he was always giving to others, his time, his help, his enthusiasm and above all his love of life.’
Mr Cameron praised Mr Shale’s ‘massive contribution to the Conservative Party both locally and nationally’.
Taking to Instagram on the 10th anniversary of his stepfather’s passing, Edo shared a collection of images – including one of his mother, Nikki, and Christopher on their wedding day, with Beatrice’s mother Sarah Ferguson pictured alongside them.
Edo wrote in the emotional post: ‘Chrisdog, Pups, I can’t believe it has been 10 years. Not a day goes by without me thinking of you and leaning on all the lessons you taught me.
‘You once said on my 18th birthday that being my stepfather was the greatest honour and privilege of your life. I echo this, being your stepson is the greatest honour of my life and I would never be standing here today without you.
‘I know how proud you would be of us all today and so wish you had got to meet your three and soon-to-be four grandchildren. What joy they would have brought you.
‘I was just Wolfie’s age when you came into my world and changed everything. You always believed in me, with unconditional love. You taught me honestly, laughter, hard work and empathy. I love you today and always,’ he concluded.
Edo’s mother Nikki Shale hosted the happy couple during lockdown at her £1.5 million home in Chipping Norton. A close friend of former PM David Cameron, she was awarded an MBE for ‘political services’ when Mr Cameron left Downing Street in 2016
Property developer Edoardo is the son of Alessandro Mapelli, a count and a former alpine skier, who competed for Team GB, and three-times-married Nikki.
Alessandro is an Italian count now 72 and known informally as Alex.
He skied for Great Britain at the 1972 Winter Olympics in Japan, and is a firm fixture in European high society. He was educated at Downside School in Somerset and is currently married to his third wife, Ebba; the couple live in a luxurious home in Provence.
Beatrice has long enjoyed a close relationship with her property developer husband’s father.
Beatrice’s new father-in-law holds both British and Italian citizenship and competed for Great Britain as a skier at the 1972 Winter Olympics. He resides mainly in Provence, with his third wife Ebba, but Edo stands to inherit his Italian palazzo, Villa Mapelli Mozzi, which is just outside of Milan
While Edo is descended from Italian nobility, he was born in London and is a British citizen. Their son Christopher Woolf – who goes by Wolfie, was also born in the UK
The count is keen for the Italian lineage to continue, it seems. He previously MailOnline: ‘Edoardo is the only male descendant taking the family into the next generation. He is a count — his wife will be a countess automatically and any of their children will be counts or nobile donna.’
Edo stands to inherit his father’s glamorous palazzo, Villa Mapelli Mozzi, which is a stone’s throw from Milan in Northern Italy.
Beatrice’s new husband also has a very close relationship with his mother, with the then soon-to-be-marrieds spending recent months at Shale’s £1.5 million country house near Chipping Norton.
Nikki has been a friend of the Yorks – particularly Sarah Ferguson – for decades and is considered well connected in high society – she once owned a successful property company.
Edo’s mother split from Alessandro when her son was young, keeping custody of Edo and his sister Natalia, while her former husband moved to France to live.
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