BEA & EDO'S BLISS

They’ve put family drama behind them and the loved-up pair are now focusing on tying the knot.

- NICI DE WET

SHE was always the one everyone worried about – the princess unable to find lasting love, the rather lonely figure trailing behind her little sister at her no-holds-barred wedding last year.

As maid of honour to Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice was followed by whispers of “always the bridesmaid, never the bride”. Poor Bea, people said – and it didn’t help that her longtime romance to American Dave Clark had ended in heartache after he was unable to commit.

But just look at the queen’s 31-year-old granddaughter now: not only has she found her prince charming – in the form of a dashing Italian count, no less – she’s also showing the world she intends doing things her way.

Not for Beatrice the Harry-and Meghan copycat wedding her sister went for, complete with open carriage ride through the streets of Windsor. Eugenie’s nuptials to Jack Brooksbank raised many an eyebrow for costing the state £2 million (R37m) – and this for a “lowlier” royal with next to no chance of ascending the throne, critics said.

When Beatrice marries Edoardo “Edo” Mapelli Mozzi (35) next year, it will be a relatively understated affair with little or no public appearances – and perhaps even a backyard reception.

Bea is mindful of the circumstances leading up to her engagement, friends say, and a flashy wedding with all the trimmings would be insensitive.

The “circumstances” include a good dose of drama, most of which revolves around Edo’s former fiancée, glamorous American-Chinese design architect Dara Huang, mother of his two-year-old son, Christopher Wolfe – or Wolfie, as everyone calls him.