Princess Beatrice pregnant with first child, Buckingham Palace announces

19 May 2021, 10:16 | Updated: 19 May 2021, 13:29

Pregnant Beatrice to welcome first child, Palace announces

Princess Beatrice is pregnant with her first child, Buckingham Palace has announced.

A statement from the palace said: "Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice and Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are very pleased to announce that they are expecting a baby in autumn of this year.

"The Queen has been informed and both families are delighted with the news."

The child will be welcomed a few months after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's daughter, who is arriving in early summer.

It will be eleventh in line to the throne and the Queen's twelfth great-grandchild.

The announcement comes six weeks after the death of the Duke of Edinburgh, the baby's great-grandfather.

The couple married in July 2020 in a private ceremony held at the Royal Chapel of All Saints at Royal Lodge, Windsor, with just family and close friends present.

However, due to coronavirus restrictions in place, the pair were unable to have a public event like Princess Beatrice's sister, Eugenie, who recently welcomed a child of her own with husband Jack Brooksbank.

This will be Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi's second child, after having had a son named Christopher from a previous relationship.

Beatrice is stepmother to Christopher - who goes by Wolfie - but this will be the couple's first child together.

They first met because their parents were good friends with each other, but Beatrice and Edoardo were said to have begun dating after meeting again at Princess Eugenie's wedding in 2018.

The princess is Prince Andrew and Sarah Duchess of York's eldest daughter.