NADINE DORRIES: My church encounter with Edo made it clear exactly what kind of man he is. This is what he gets up to, what those in the Cotswolds really think of him… and the only way Beatrice can save their marriage

This past weekend, the Cotswold Set has been positively buzzing with concern and intrigue following hints that the six-year marriage of a local couple may have hit troubled waters.

According to The Mail on Sunday, there has been a notable ‘distance’ between Princess Beatrice and Edo Mapelli Mozzi of late, as Edo tries to protect his luxury interior design consultancy from the toxic fallout of the Epstein Files.

The claim was underlined by a flurry of snaps on Edo’s own Instagram feed that showed him living it up in the luxury hotspots of Palm Beach, Florida, on a business trip recently.

Like the flamingo pink suit and loafers he was wearing, it wasn’t a good look for the Italian aristocrat. Not when his wife – and mother of his two young daughters – is enduring the toughest time of her life.

I wasn’t surprised though. I’ve had some experience of Edo myself. At a church service organised by a mutual friend, I found Beatrice and Eugenie and their husbands seated behind me.

Edo was laughing loudly and generally behaving like a disrespectful teenager so that, at one point, I turned round and gave him the evil eye that only a woman my age – and a mother – can bestow.

To his credit, he got the message, pronto. But there was an arrogance there that smacked of immaturity.

‘He needs attention, he’s one of those men,’ a source told the MoS. That figures, I thought when I read it yesterday.

Of course, one could legitimately ask what marriage wouldn’t hit a rocky patch with all Beatrice and Edo have been through of late.

The collapse of the House of York, her father’s arrest and the sustained humiliation over her parents’ links to a convicted paedophile; the fact that Beatrice herself is mentioned hundreds of times in the Epstein Files. And perhaps, most brutally of all, the isolation of herself and sister Eugenie from the wider Royal Family – it has been reported that they will not attend some of this year’s most illustrious public events.

Then there is the pressure on both girls here and in the US to tell all about their own association with Epstein. All of this would surely take its toll on the strongest of marriages.

But this is no ordinary pairing. When Edo married Beatrice in 2020, neither she nor her sister were strangers to scandalous headlines generated by their parents over many decades.

From toe sucking to cash for access and dodgy business deals, Edo – whose own parents were long-time friends of the Yorks – knew exactly what kind of family he was marrying into.

Of course, none of the numerous sins of the parents can be held against the girls. But some might say that for Edo to suddenly decide that his business is in danger of being tainted by the ongoing scandals, just as Beatrice needs him the most, is a bit rich.

I’ve met Beatrice, too, and she strikes me as a very sweet and earnest young woman.

People who know her well describe her as ‘incredibly kind, if a little naive’. No doubt she’s making the best of it by trying to navigate the ‘distance’ Edo is reportedly creating in their marriage with his various work trips while loyally supporting both her parents. She wants to keep the show on the road.

The truth is that, her children aside, Beatrice is a far better person than those she loves and supports but who appear to let her down repeatedly.

A friend of mine sat next to her and Edo on the train from Paddington to the Cotswolds late last year as they worked on the guest list for the Christening of their youngest daughter, Athena.

‘They seemed very together, as they compared names and numbers from their phones. But it was Beatrice doing the work.

‘Neither looked like they had had a good day,’ my friend added. ‘But she was stoically cracking on with the job in hand.’

Those who know the Princess appear to have little time for Edo.

‘Beatrice herself is very likeable and a kind person but, Edo, he’s smarmy,’ says one.

‘He’s a little p***k,’ says another bluntly.

It seems to me that Beatrice has two choices. The first is to make her marriage work and for that to happen, she should follow in the footsteps of her sister – Eugenie is based in Portugal with her husband Jack Brooksbank and their two sons – and leave the UK.

Their daughters are young and if Edo’s business interests are mainly in the US, then that should be the destination. If the marriage is hard-going now, then it is only going to get trickier if they are apart for long periods.

As for her parents, it is possible for Beatrice to love them and to hold onto the fond memories of her childhood, whilst cutting herself free from their toxic influence. She should, as her sister has reportedly done, let them go.

Not with rage – from everything I hear, that is not Beatrice’s style. She is an emotional individual who wants everyone to be happy. But she needs to understand that if her marriage is her priority, that she and her family deserve better.

She can step away and begin to reconcile what she has been through whilst understanding that she is not accountable for the behaviour of others.

I think I understand enough about Beatrice now to know she’ll put her family first, herself last.

There isn’t a person I have spoken to who isn’t rooting for her. The time has now come for her to start doing the same for herself.