Britain's Princess Beatrice is pregnant with her second child, Buckingham Palace has announced.
The late Queen’s granddaughter, 36, and husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 40, are preparing to welcome a new addition to their family in early spring.
The royal British baby will be a little brother or sister for the couple’s three-year-old daughter Sienna, and Mr Mapelli Mozzi’s son and Beatrice’s stepson, eight-year-old Wolfie.
Two new pictures from the family were shared to mark the announcement, with one showing blonde-haired Sienna from behind as she walks along a country lane, holding hands in the middle of her father and big brother Wolfie.
The youngster, with a red bow in her hair, is kitted out in bright yellow wellies and an all-in-one blue waterproof puddlesuit decorated with cloud and bird motifs.
The British King has been informed and both families are “delighted”, the Palace said on Tuesday.
The news comes during one of the royal family’s most personally challenging years.
Beatrice is the eldest daughter of the Duke of York and his ex-wife Sarah, and the new baby will be the Yorks’ fourth grandchild.
The baby, who will not be an HRH, will be born 11th in line to the throne, with Beatrice’s younger sister Princess Eugenie moving down to 12th place.
He or she will also be the 14th great-grandchild of the late Queen Elizabeth II, and the second to be born since her death in 2022, following the arrival of Eugenie’s second child Ernest last year.
The Mapelli Mozzis’ daughter Sienna, whose has the second name Elizabeth in honour of the late Queen, was born at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, weighing 6lb 2oz, on September 18 2021.
👣 We are delighted to share that we have named our daughter Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi.
We are all doing well and Wolfie is the best big brother to Sienna. pic.twitter.com/6abMIXDSLT— Princess Beatrice of York (@yorkiebea) October 1, 2021
Last month, Andrew’s controversial Newsnight grilling over his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein hit the headlines once again, with Prime Video’s new dramatisation A Very Royal Scandal featuring Michael Sheen as the duke and Ruth Wilson as interviewer Emily Maitlis.
Beatrice, who attended a negotiation meeting with her father ahead of the interview, was played by Honor Swinton Byrne.
The princess topped the list of Tatler’s best dressed people in 2024, and was praised for being “a beacon of sartorial elegance” by “pairing vintage-inspired cuts with fresh-from-the-catwalk glamour”.
She married millionaire property tycoon Mr Mapelli Mozzi in a secret lockdown wedding in 2020 attended by her grandparents the Queen and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, after her planned ceremony was postponed because of the pandemic.
Princess Beatrice and Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi celebrated their wedding with their closest family.
📷 The happy couple are pictured with Her Majesty The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. Photograph by Benjamin Wheeler. pic.twitter.com/Ztw1Kk0eRy— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) July 18, 2020
Known as Edo, Mr Mapelli Mozzi is the son of former Olympic skier Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi and Nikki Williams-Ellis.
His son Christopher Woolf, nicknamed Wolfie, was born in 2016 to his then-girlfriend, American architect and designer Dara Huang.
Beatrice has described Wolfie as her “bonus son” and he joined the Mapelli Mozzis at Kate’s Together At Christmas carol service in Westminster Abbey last December, holding hands with his stepmother as he arrived.
The princess, who is not a full-time working royal, is an adviser for Afiniti, an artificial intelligence software firm, and a co-founder of The Big Change Charitable Trust.
In 2011, she hit the headlines with the unusual Philip Treacy “pretzel” hat which she wore to the then-Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding.
It was likened to everything from a toilet seat to a cat flap and Facebook pages sprung up in its honour, attracting thousands of followers.
But she later auctioned the headwear on eBay for charity, raising more than £81,000 for good causes.
