Who is Dara Huang, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi's ex-fiancée? Here's how Princess Beatrice is the first royal stepmum
Princess Beatrice married property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a small, hush-hush ceremony on the morning of July 17. The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh along with their other close relatives were present at the wedding. The couple had originally hoped on typing the knot on May 29, but the global pandemic postponed their plans.
The Princess and Mozzi have known each other since childhood — even their families are close to each other — but it was after his split from the mother of his first child that the two began their romantic engagement. The couple is said to have started the relationship in October 2018 after meeting again at Beatrice's sister Princess Eugenie's wedding to Jack Brooksbank.
While this may be the Princess' first marriage, she is already a step mum to a child Edoardo has had from his first marriage to Chinese-American architect and designer, Dara Huang. This makes her the first princess in the Queen's family to be a stepmother. Christopher Woolf, who is also called 'Wolfie', was born to Huang and Edoardo in 2016. At the time, Huang and Edoardo were engaged to be married.
Who is Dara Huang?
36-year-old Huang lived with Edoardo in London. She is a highly successful architect with her own design company Design Haus Liberty. She is also the co-founder of Vivahouse, which converts disused commercial properties into co-living spaces. Following her graduation from Harvard University, she went on to work at architectural firms Herzog de Meuron in Switzerland and Foster + Partners in London.
A close friend of Edoardo was reported saying that the couple split six months before he started dating Beatrice. As it turns out, Edoardo and Huang are amicable exes and he is a very present father for Wolfie, playing an active role in his son's life. "I take [Christopher] to school a couple of mornings a week and finish in time to put him in bed three or four evenings," he was reported saying last year.
Even the Princess is friendly with Huang welcoming her into her life and taking over the role of stepmother without any qualms. Huang, who has been isolating in West London for the last few months, is now with 37-year-old London-based financier, Filippos Kodellas de la Morena.