Beatrice’s husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi praises Kate after Three Peaks Challenge in surprise message of support amid princesses’ ‘awkward’ relationship

The Princess of Wales‘s recent accomplishment sparked praise and admiration from around the world, but one message of support stood out in particular after fans noticed Princess Beatrice‘s husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, had also congratulated her.

Property developer Edo, 41, praised Catherine, 44, on social media after she revealed she had completed the arduous Three Peaks Challenge to spread her message about life after cancer.

Writing under Catherine’s Instagram post, Edo left a series of applause emojis alongside a red heart, following speculation that the future Queen is not particularly close with either of the York princesses.

While the Prince of Wales, 44, is believed to get on reasonably well with Edo, royal sources have claimed Catherine is cautious of both Beatrice and Eugenie amid the fallout over their parents’ friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

A body language expert also told the Daily Mail how Beatrice showed ‘awkwardness and dislike’ towards the Waleses following the Christmas Day service at Sandringham last year.

Following Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s exile from the Royal Family over his association with the late paedophile, both his daughters joined the Royal Family for the traditional walkabout and service at St Magdalene Church.

While others, including Zara and Mike Tindall, were seen happily chatting to William and Catherine, Beatrice and Eugenie showed ‘no sign of any socialising or any intent of catching Kate’s eye to make the smiles more sociably friendly,’ Judi James noted.

Meanwhile, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams previously told the Daily Mail that neither William nor Catherine is likely to ‘miss the York sisters’ if the future King has to ‘take the hard line’ with his cousins amid the Epstein fallout.

The release of the US Department of Justice’s files related to Epstein raised serious questions about how much the former Duke and Duchess of York’s daughters knew of their parents’ dealings with the paedophile financier.

One email sent by Epstein in 2015 – after he was convicted for soliciting sex from a girl under 18 – boasted to a friend that Beatrice ‘liked’ him.

It also emerged that Beatrice helped advise her mother on how to placate Epstein after Fergie called him a paedophile while apologising for accepting a £15,000 bailout from the convicted sex offender in a 2011 interview. She also played a key role in facilitating her father’s 2019 Newsnight interview.

Despite the controversy, both Beatrice and Eugenie, who is expecting her third child with husband Jack Brooksbank, attended Peter Phillips’ wedding to Harriet Sperling in the Cotswolds last month. 

Princess Anne’s son, 48, and his NHS nurse bride, 45, attracted several members of the Royal Family, including the daughters of the disgraced ex-Duke of York. 

Ms James highlighted how Edo demonstrated ‘gallant confidence’ as he led the group to All Saints Church, adding: ‘While Beatrice, Eugenie and Jack all wore tense facial expressions as they got nearer to the cameras, Edo’s rituals suggested a state of gallant confidence plus a desire to appear irrepressible.

‘He strode out as his wife inclined slightly towards him, closing his brolly in a dramatic gesture before pushing a hand through his hair and very deliberately holding his left hand out to clasp Beatrice’s as though keen to give her a sense of support and encouragement.’

She added that at one stage, Edo, 42, ‘puffed his chest in a gesture of power and threw a beaming smile at the ushers, calling out a “hi” and waving his closed brolly in the air in a signal of upbeat celebration’.

‘His greeting rituals were emphatic: he threw his arm around the neck of one usher to pull him tight in a joyful embrace,’ noted Ms James.

Writing under Catherine’s Instagram post, Edo left a series of applause emojis alongside a red heart

It comes after Catherine said ‘don’t tell anyone’ when a young paraplegic boy, who completed the Three Peaks Challenge with her, recognised her as royalty.

Ted Haslam, from Sutton Coldfield, and his father, Pete, appeared on ITV‘s This Morning to discuss their surreal interaction with Catherine, after she made a private donation to support the 11-year-old’s fundraiser. 

Discussing their chance meeting with the future Queen, Ted, who was pushed and carried up Ben Nevis by his father and 14 other friends and relatives, said it was ‘incredible’. 

Meanwhile, Pete revealed that Catherine had asked them to keep her participation a secret, as a video of the group chatting was shown alongside. 

‘When we asked her “Are you doing the challenge?”, she said, “Yeah, but don’t tell anyone,”‘ Pete recalled, explaining how Catherine held a finger up to her lips to signal it was a secret.

Afterwards, it was revealed that Catherine made a private donation to support 11-year-old Ted Haslam’s fundraiser for Molly Olly’s Wishes, a charity supporting children with terminal and life-threatening illnesses.

Writing on his JustGiving page, Catherine said: ‘One of the real highlights of the Three Peaks Challenge was meeting inspiring people like you along the way. Huge congratulations to the entire team for raising money for such a wonderful cause. C.’

While she chose to hide the exact amount, the Daily Mail understands Catherine’s donation was in the region of £1,000 to £2,000. Kate took on the gruelling ‘personal’ expedition last weekend to raise money for a cancer charity and ‘explore life beyond diagnosis’.

She carried out the challenge solo, supported en route by Mountain Rescue, and was greeted at the end by her husband the Prince of Wales, her children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, her parents Carole and Michael Middleton and brother James Middleton.

Kensington Palace said they believed the expedition was a royal first, with the princess being the first member of the Royal Family to complete the Three Peaks.