Queen Elizabethmight be a tricky person to buy gifts for, but her granddaughterPrincess Beatriceand Beatrice’s husbandEdoardo Mapelli Mozzionce handpicked the perfect present.
“I made the maquette of the Queen and the horse for a project which didn’t actually happen, and Edo and Beatrice saw it and fell in love with it,” David, a professional sculptor, told the outlet.
Cast in bronze, the effigy depicts Queen Elizabeth wearing a scarf around her hair (as she typically did in the countryside) and patting the suspended head of a horse with her signature handbag slung over her arm. David recapped the project onInstagramin September 2022, two days after Queen Elizabeth’s death.
Alove of horseshas run in the royal family for generations, and the late matriarch Queen was a great horsewoman — a passion shepassed downto some of her children and grandchildren.
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Shedding light on what the maquette meant to Beatrice, 35, and Edo, 40, David continued, “They thought that it captured the real spirit of the Queen, Beatrice’s grandmother. It’s always odd talking to someone whose grandmother is the Queen and especially when you’ve done a sculpture of them.”
“Edo decided that he wanted to give one to Beatrice and to give one to the Queen. So, he had them commissioned to be cast,” added the artist, who is married to Edo’s mother, Nikki Williams-Ellis. “They love it,” he said.
David Williams-Ellis.Jonathan Wong/South China Morning Post via Getty
Jonathan Wong/South China Morning Post via Getty
A friend of Princess Beatrice and Edo previously told PEOPLE that the Beatrice and Queen Elizabeth shared an “exceptionally close” relationship.Prince Andrew’s eldest daughter memorably wore Queen Elizabeth’swedding tiaraandone of her dresseswhen she married Edo in July 2020.
“Beatrice talks about her grandmother often, and it’s clear there’s a strong bond there — the dress and the tiara could not have been more perfect,” the friend said at the time of Beatrice wearing the Queen Mary diamond fringe tiara and a refashioned Norman Hartnell gown.
Queen Elizabeth was also the “guest of honor” when Princess Beatrice married the property developer in asmall, private ceremonyat the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge on July 17, 2020. The coupleannounced their engagementin September 2019, about a year after news of their relationship surfaced. They intended to wed in May 2020 butpushed back the planafter the pandemic began and said “I do” in a small wedding that heeded government safety guidelines amid the public health crisis.
Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were among the 20 loved ones in attendance and posed for asocially distanced photowith the newlyweds.
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi on their July 17, 2020 wedding day.Benjamin Wheeler/PA Wire
Soon after Sienna was born, a source toldHello!that the hair color she shared with her mother and grandmotherSarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, inspired Beatrice and Edo, in part, when choosing her name.
While Sienna has so far been raised outside of the spotlight, Edo shared a new photo with a celebratory tribute for her second birthday in September. Thenever-before-seen shotshowed Sienna from behind, strolling outside while sporting a floral dress (one of her mom’s go-to patterns!) and a sombrero.
source: people.com
