What a difference a year can make in the life of a royal.

Just a year ago, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was making plans to renovate Royal Lodge, even seeking design input from his son-in-law, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, according to reports at the time.

However, those renovation plans have been shelved, as Andrew is now preparing to vacate the lavish 30-room estate. King Charles recently revoked his prince title and asked him to leave the residence due to his connections with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, the husband of Princess Beatrice and a property developer who celebrates his 42nd birthday today, was spotted visiting the royal estate in Great Windsor Park, Berkshire, on several occasions last November.

At that time, the Mail on Sunday noted that despite his uncertain status, Andrew was thrilled to remain at the Great Windsor Park home, so much so that he was contemplating significant renovations.

Sources told this newspaper that Mr Mapelli Mozzi was advising Andrew, 65, on how to modernise the sprawling 17th-century property that he and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have called home since 2008. 

Edo, who is the founder and creative director of Banda Property, was certainly well-suited to help Andrew, under whose care the manor fell into a state of extraordinary disrepair. 

Ahead of the Mail on Sunday’s report that the pair were discussing plans for a new and improved Royal Lodge, this newspaper reported that the £30 million property was in a sorry state – with cracks and mould appearing on the outer wall. 

This time last year, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor (not pictured) was planning to give Royal Lodge a makeover – and sought his son-in-law Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi’s design advice. Edo, as he prefers to be known, is seen here with Beatrice at a London event in July 2019

Andrew (centre left) will no longer be sampling paint swatches but, rather, packing up his belongings after King Charles stripped him of his prince title and ousted him from the sprawling 30-room mansion over his ties to paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. From left to right: Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, Andrew, Mike Tindall, Sarah Ferguson, the Princess Royal and Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence at a thanksgiving service for the life of King Constantine of the Hellenes at St George’s Chapel last year 

A royal source was reported as admitting there is ‘a lot of work that needs doing’ to the property in Windsor Great Park, and the cost of repairs is likely to affect the amount of compensation he receives. 

The alleged renovation plans will have since been abandoned, as Andrew prepares to move out of the Royal Lodge and begin his new chapter as a commoner. 

He will move into a private residence on the King’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk after Charles issued a rare Letters Patent formally removing the ex-duke’s titles and HRH.  

As the father-of-three turns a year older, it is likely the family’s celebrations will be subdued ahead of Andrew’s banishment from Royal Lodge. 

Edo shares two daughters with Beatrice – Sienna, who turned four in September, and baby Athena, who was born several weeks pre-term in January this year. He also shares son Christopher Woolf – known affectionately as Wolfie – with his ex Dara Huang. 

Beatrice often refers to Wolfie as her ‘bonus son’. 

Since the scandal surrounding his father-in-law crescendoed into a full-blown crisis for the Royal Family, Edo has made just one public appearance. 

On November 13, he accompanied Beatrice to Battersea Power Station in London for an event for Borne, a birth research charity. 

Edo and Beatrice smile in their sweet engagement photograph that was released on September 26, 2019 

They tied the knot at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge on July 19, 2020. The couple are seen here with the late Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip on their wedding day in a handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace 

 It was Beatrice’s second outing since her father’s disgrace, after the royal toured Borne’s research laboratories at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. 

The hospital, and the charity, hold a special place in her heart as it’s where she gave birth to Athena in January, weighing 4lb 5 oz. 

If his social media feed is anything to go by, Edo also remains steadfastly focused on his work, as Banda Property’s founder and creative director continues to promote the firm’s recent, multi-million dollar developments online. 

During the early days of his relationship with Princess Beatrice, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi kept a relatively low profile. 

Royal fans would have to wait a whole year before the couple’s first photos together, taken on their engagement, were shared by the Italian property developer in September 2019. 

He shared a tasteful series of black and white pictures taken by Misan Harriman, the Meghan Markle-approved photographer who immortalised many of the Sussexes’ milestones.

Edo shared a heartfelt message with the pictures, which read: ‘You will never be alone my love, my heart is your home. Hand in hand, today, tomorrow and forever,’ adding a ring emoji to signal their engagement.

Soon after he shared the engagement pictures, Edo resumed posting sleek pictures of his interior design projects.

The property tycoon shared his wedding pictures on July 19 2020, two days after he and Beatrice tied the knot in front of the Queen and the late Duke of Edinburgh in Windsor.

When their engagement was announced six years ago, Andrew and Fergie (centre) described their future son-in-law as ‘a completely devoted friend and loyal young man’

Even after that, Edo, as he prefers to be known, rarely shared any personal updates – preferring, instead, to showcase the multi-million pound homes that are part of Banda’s portfolio. 

The news that Beatrice was pregnant was announced by the Royal household, and Edo made no mention of it on his Instagram account.

However, on July 17 2021, he shared a selfie of him and Beatrice to mark their first wedding anniversary, followed a month later by another selfie, this time in black and white, to mark her 32nd birthday.

Edo’s posts about his royal life were few and far between on social media, up until September 2021, when his and Beatrice’s daughter Sienna was born.

He wrote in the caption: ‘Our life together has just begun, and I can’t wait to see all the amazing things that await us.

Slowly, the son of former Olympic skier, Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, and English mother, Nikki Williams-Ellis, became less guarded about his personal life online and frequently used Instagram to gush about his family. 

When his and Beatrice’s second daughter Athena Elizabeth Rose was born at the start of 2025, the proud father declared ‘we are all completely besotted with her’ in a sweet post.

They welcomed their second child together, Athena Elizabeth Rose in January this year 

Their first child, daughter Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi was born on September 18, 2021 

In the wake of Andrew’s public expulsion from the royal fold, it appears Edo has reverted to his earlier social media policy, with more recent Instagram posts focusing solely on his company, Banda Property. 

In fact, Edo has kept his profile strictly business since August 8, when he wished ‘my BEAUTIFUL wife’ Beatrice on the occasion of her 37th birthday. 

While they have rarely been spotted together, Edo’s family had been friends with the Yorks for several years before his relationship with Beatrice began in 2018. 

When their engagement was announced six years ago, Andrew and Fergie described their future son-in-law as ‘a completely devoted friend and loyal young man’ in a statement to the BBC. 

Fergie, writing on X/Twitter, praised Edo and younger daughter Eugenie’s husband Jack Brooksbank as ‘great son-in-laws’ as she gushed ‘Andrew and I are just the luckiest people ever’. 

It comes amid reports Fergie is preparing to swap Windsor for Eugenie and Jack’s £3.6million mansion in the ‘Hamptons of Europe’ on Portugal’s Atlantic coast this winter – as the fallout over the Yorks’ ties with Epstein continues. 

Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank are said to have prepared a ‘grand suite’ in their oceanfront villa for the 66-year-old to settle down after getting kicked out of Royal Lodge.

‘The word here is that Fergie will be arriving sometime in January’, one wealthy neighbour of Eugenie and Jack has said. 

The former Duchess of York has lived with her ex-husband Andrew since 2008 despite the pair divorcing in 1996. 

But unlike Andrew, who will move into a property on the private Sandringham estate in Norfolk, Fergie will now go it alone and make her own living arrangements, it is understood.