Princess Beatrice

Beatrice was born at 8:18 pm on 8 August 1988 at the Portland Hospital in London,^[1] the elder child of the Duke and Duchess of York, and fifth grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.^[2] She was baptised in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace on 20 December 1988, her godparents being Viscount Linley (her father's cousin, now the 2nd Earl of Snowdon); the Duchess of Roxburghe (now Lady Jane Dawnay); Peter Palumbo (now Lord Palumbo); Gabrielle Greenall (the Hon. Mrs John Greenall); and Carolyn Cotterell.^[3] Her name, an unexpected choice, was not announced until almost two weeks after her birth.^[4] Her younger sister, Princess Eugenie, was born in 1990.^[5]

Beatrice's parents divorced amicably when she was seven years old^[6] and agreed to joint custody of their two children.^[7] After the divorce, the Queen provided her parents with £1.4 million to set up a trust fund for her and Eugenie.^[8] Beatrice and her sister frequently travelled abroad, always with one or both of their parents.^[9]

Beatrice began her early education at the independent Upton House School in Windsor, in 1991.^[10][11] She and her sister then attended the independent Coworth Park School (now Coworth Flexlands School).^[12] Beatrice continued her education at the independent St George's School in Ascot, where she was a pupil from 2000 to 2007.^[13] She was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of seven and went public with the diagnosis in 2005,^[14] delaying sitting her GCSE exams for one year. She remained at St George's to take her A-Levels, achieving an 'A' in drama, a 'B' in history, and a 'B' in film studies.^[15] She was elected Head Girl in her final year,^[12][16] and was a member of the school choir.^[17] Beatrice celebrated her 18th birthday with a masked ball at Windsor Castle in July 2006.^[18] Count Nikolai von Bismarck photographed her official birthday portrait.^[19]

In September 2008, Beatrice started a three-year course at Goldsmiths, University of London to read history and history of ideas, graduating in 2011 with a BA (2:1 degree).^[12][20]

During the summer of 2008, Beatrice obtained work experience as a sales assistant at Selfridges.^[21] She also worked unpaid in the Foreign Office's press office for a period of time.^[22] It was also reported in 2008 that Beatrice was interested in pursuing a career with the Financial Times website.^[23][24] Beatrice was the first member of the family to appear in a non-documentary film when she had a small, non-speaking role as an extra in The Young Victoria (2009), based on the accession and early reign of her ancestor Queen Victoria.^[25] For a while, she was a paid intern at Sony Pictures, but she resigned after the hacking incident which affected Sony Group in late 2014.^[26]

In April 2015, it was reported that Beatrice had decided to move to New York City.^[27] By April 2017, Beatrice had a full-time job and split her time between London and New York. Known as Beatrice York in her professional life, she is Vice-President of Partnerships and Strategy at Afiniti.^[28] She is also in charge of an Afiniti programme to engage senior business chiefs around the world to support women in leadership.^[29] She works with the programme through charity endeavours and speaking engagements.^[30] She has also held positions with Scale AI and LionTree Asset Management, and founded By-Eq Limited, an advisory group working to enhance emotional intelligence during the rise of artificial intelligence.^[31]

In January 2022, it was reported that Beatrice had lost her taxpayer-funded police security in 2011, supposedly after her uncle Charles (then Prince of Wales) intervened as part of a cost-cutting initiative.^[32] In 2025, Beatrice launched Purpose Economy Intelligence Ltd alongside Luis Alvarado Martínez, a Spanish-born executive who has worked at the World Economic Forum since 2021. She would serve as the director for the company which focuses on developing software for businesses and homes and offering management consulting services.^[33]

Beatrice and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh accompanied Queen Elizabeth II to the traditional Royal Maundy services on 5 April 2012 in York. There, Beatrice interacted with parishioners, received flowers from the public, and assisted the Queen giving Maundy money to the pensioners.^[34] In the lead up to the 2012 Summer Olympics, Beatrice welcomed the Olympic flame on the steps of Harewood House near Leeds.^[35] In 2013, Beatrice and her sister promoted Britain overseas in Germany.^[36] She visited the Isle of Wight in 2014, whose former Governor had been Beatrice's namesake Princess Beatrice, daughter of Queen Victoria.^[37][38] She also accompanied her father during an official engagement to the United Arab Emirates on 24 November 2014.^[39]

On 17 September 2022, during the period of official mourning for Queen Elizabeth II, Beatrice joined her sister and six cousins to mount a 15-minute vigil around the coffin of the late Queen, as it lay in state at Westminster Hall.^[40][41] On 19 September, she joined other family members at the state funeral.^[42][43]

Upon the accession of Charles III, her position in the line of succession made Beatrice eligible to be appointed a Counsellor of State. In this role she can potentially carry out official duties while the Sovereign is abroad or unwell.^[44]

In 2006, Princess Beatrice briefly dated Paolo Liuzzo, an Italo-American whose previous charge for assault and battery caused controversy at the time.^[45] For ten years, until July 2016, she was in a relationship with Virgin Galactic businessman Dave Clark.^[46][47]

In March 2019, Beatrice attended a fundraising event at the National Portrait Gallery, London, accompanied by the Anglo-Italian property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. The only son of former Alpine skier for the Great Britain Olympic team Alex Mapelli Mozzi, the title of Count of the Kingdom of Italy was awarded to legitimate male-line descendants of the Mapelli Mozzi family in 1913 by King Victor Emmanuel III with remainder to all male descendants of Edo's great-grandfather, Paolo Mapelli Mozzi (1854–1921).^[48] His hereditary title may continue to be used by social courtesy,^[49] its legal standing in Italy having ceased in 1948^[50] while having no formal recognition in the United Kingdom or Italy.^{[51][52][53][54][55]}

The couple are believed to have begun dating in September 2018. Together, they attended the May 2019 wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor, Beatrice's second cousin once removed.^[56] Princess Beatrice and Mapelli Mozzi became engaged in Italy in September 2019, their betrothal being formally announced by the Duke of York's Office on 26 September.^[57]

Their wedding was initially scheduled to take place on 29 May 2020 at the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace, followed by a private reception in Buckingham Palace Gardens,^[58] but first the reception and then the wedding itself were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.^[59][60] Beatrice finally married Mapelli Mozzi in a private ceremony on 17 July 2020, at the Royal Chapel of All Saints, Royal Lodge, Windsor.^[61] Her father's friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, an American financier and convicted sex offender also greatly impacted on Beatrice's wedding plans, after Andrew's ill-fated BBC interview prompted his retirement from royal duties, her wedding arrangements were scaled down.^[62] Although her father walked Beatrice down the aisle, the Duke of York did not feature in the official wedding portraits released by Buckingham Palace.^[63] Her wedding dress was a remodelled Sir Norman Hartnell dress that was lent by the Queen, and she wore the Queen Mary Fringe Tiara that was also worn by the Queen at her own wedding.^[64]

Beatrice, who has a stepson, Christopher Woolf ("Wolfie"^[65]) from her husband's previous relationship with architect Dara Huang,^[66] gave birth to a daughter, Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi,^[67] on 18 September 2021 at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London.^[68] At birth, Sienna Mapelli Mozzi was eleventh in line to the British throne but following the death of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September 2022, is now tenth in line.^[69] Sienna was christened at the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace, on 29 April 2022.

Beatrice and her husband lived at first in a four-bedroom apartment at St James's Palace, but reportedly moved to a Cotswolds manor house in late 2022.^[70]

Beatrice gave birth to their second daughter, Athena Elizabeth Rose, on 22 January 2025 at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London, several weeks prematurely.^[71] Athena Mapelli Mozzi ranks eleventh in line to the British throne.^[69]

In 2002, Beatrice visited children living with HIV in Russia. In Britain, she supported Springboard for Children (a literacy project for primary-school children with learning difficulties)^[72] and the Teenage Cancer Trust.^[73] In an interview to mark her 18th birthday, Beatrice said she wanted to use her position to assist others through charity work;^[74] she had already undertaken charitable duties alongside her mother through the various organisations the Duchess supported.^[12]

In April 2010, running to raise money for Children in Crisis, Beatrice became the first member of the British royal family to complete the London Marathon.^[75] Beatrice is the patron of Forget-Me-Not Children's Hospice, which supports children with life-shortening conditions in West Yorkshire and North Manchester.^[76] At the April 2011 wedding of her cousin Prince William, Beatrice's unusual fascinator, designed by Philip Treacy, received much attention and derision from the public and the media. The following month, the headpiece was auctioned for £81,000 on eBay, with the proceeds going to two charities:^[77] UNICEF and Children in Crisis.^[78]

In November 2012, Beatrice became a patron of the York Musical Society.^[79] In April 2013, she became royal patron of the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre, a charity that she credits with helping her overcome her own academic challenges resulting from dyslexia.^[20]

In 2016, Beatrice, her mother, and her sister Eugenie collaborated with British contemporary artist Teddy McDonald to create the first royal contemporary art painting. Titled Royal Love, it was painted at Royal Lodge and exhibited at Masterpiece London^[80] before being sold with all proceeds from the sale donated by McDonald to Children in Crisis.^[81] In 2018, Children in Crisis merged with Street Child, a children's charity active in multiple countries, with Beatrice serving as its ambassador.^[82] She is also a supporter of the Pitch@Palace initiative, a charity her father founded to amplify and accelerate entrepreneurs' business ideas.^[83]

Beatrice took part in a South Asia Tour 2016 that lasted nine days. She visited Nepal, India, and Bhutan on behalf of the Franks Family Foundation (FFF), and Jamgon Kongtrul Eyes Centres, a free micro-surgical cataract programme in technical collaboration with Nepal's Tilganga Eye Centre under Nepali eye surgeon Sanduk Ruit's direction.^[84] A few weeks later, she attended the 2016 Asia Game Changer Awards Dinner at the United Nations in New York City, which honoured Ruit and others. Beatrice and Charles Rockefeller presented Ruit with his Asia Society Asia Game Changer Award.^[85]

Beatrice is the founder of Big Change, a charity she established with six of her friends to encourage young people to develop skills "outside a traditional academic curriculum".^[12][86] In 2012, she climbed Mont Blanc in aid of the charity.^[12] In 2016, with Sir Richard Branson and his children, she participated in the fundraising challenge Virgin Strive Challenge, which involved climbing Mount Etna.^[87][88]

In 2017, Beatrice helped promote the anti-bullying book Be Cool Be Nice and gave an interview to Vogue at a House of Lords event, speaking about her own experiences with being bullied for her fashion choices in her early adulthood.^[89][90] Hello! magazine later named her one of the best-dressed royals.^[91] In May 2018, she attended the Met Gala in New York City.^[92] In October 2018, she undertook an extended tour of Laos to "raise the profile of the UK" there, and also participated in the Luang Prabang Half-Marathon for Children.^[93]

In March 2019, Beatrice was elected to the board of the UK charity the Outward Bound Trust as a trustee, after her father succeeded to the royal patronage from his father, the Duke of Edinburgh.^[94] In May 2019, she was honoured at a New York City gala for her work with Friends Without a Border.^[95] She has supported the Kairos HQ, a non-profit organisation of entrepreneurs at universities in China, Europe, India and the US.^[83]

In April 2022 and in her capacity as an ambassador for the charity Made By Dyslexia, Beatrice and her husband took part in the first World Dyslexia Assembly, which was hosted by Prince Carl Philip of Sweden.^[96]

In February 2023, Beatrice was named patron of the British Skin Foundation.^[97] In March 2025, she was named as a patron of the charity Borne, which funds research into the causes of premature birth.^[98] In July 2025, she was appointed patron of the Chartered College of Teaching, a role previously held by her grandfather Prince Philip.^[99]

As a male-line grandchild of the British sovereign, Beatrice was known as "Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice of York" at birth, the territorial designation coming from her father's title, Duke of York.^[100] Since marriage, she has been styled by the Court Circular as "Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi".^[101]

Coat of arms of Princess Beatrice

Notes The Princess's personal Arms are those of the Sovereign in right of the United Kingdom borne on a lozenge, differenced by a label of five points bearing three bees in allusion to her forename and maternal arms. Adopted 18 July 2006 Coronet Coronet of a male-line grandchild of the Sovereign. Escutcheon Quarterly, 1st and 4th Gules three Lions passant guardant in pale Or, 2nd Or a Lion rampant Gules within a double tressure flory-counter-flory Gules, 3rd Azure a Harp Or stringed Argent. Supporters Dexter a Lion rampant gardant Or imperially crowned Proper, Sinister a Unicorn Argent armed crined and unguled Or gorged with a Coronet Or composed of crosses patées and fleurs-de-lis a chain affixed thereto passing between the forelegs and reflexed over the back also Or. Other elements The whole differenced by a Label of five points Argent, the centre and exterior points each charged with a Bee volant Proper. Banner The Princess's personal standard is that of the Sovereign in right of the United Kingdom, labelled for difference as in her arms. (in Scotland) Symbolism As with the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom, the first and fourth quarters are those of England, the second of Scotland, the third of Ireland. The three bees in her Arms continue the trend in royal heraldry (cf. the Arms of Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex) of using charges from the maternal line: her mother's arms depict a bee. It can also be considered a pun on the name Beatrice, an unusual example of canting in modern royal arms. Other versions Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi's conjugal arms display side-by-side, Mapelli Mozzi on a shield to the dexter and hers on a lozenge to the sinister beneath their respective coronets, viz. and The Counts Mapelli Mozzi's escutcheon is blazoned (in Italian): Interzato in palo, nel 1° partito d'argento e di rosso caricato da una palma di verde in banda (Mapelli), nel 2° d'argento alla fascia d'azzurra col capo d'oro dell'Impero (Mozzi): .

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• Princess Beatrice (4 March 2021). "Getting into stories has been a gift I'm happy to have shared with lockdown life". Evening Standard.
• Princess Beatrice (23 March 2025). ""There's So Little Control": Princess Beatrice Opens Up About Daughter Athena's Preterm Birth In Her Own Words". British Vogue.