Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are "overflowing with love" for their newborn daughter, who arrived several weeks early from her anticipated due date.
On Jan. 29, Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's elder daughter welcomed her second child, daughter Athena Elizabeth Rose Mapelli Mozzi, last week on Jan. 22. The happy news meant the baby was born prematurely, as the palace initially announced a due date in early spring. The update came with the first photo of baby Athena, credited to Edo, and he honored his new daughter with love in a tribute on Instagram.
"We welcomed Baby Athena into our lives last week. She is tiny and absolutely perfect. We are all (including Wolfie and Sienna) already completely besotted with her," Edo continued, referring to his older children, daughter Sienna, 3, and son Christopher Woolf, 8. "Our hearts are overflowing with love for you, baby Athena."
"A massive thank you from my wife and I goes out to all the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their exceptional care and support during this incredibly special time," he wrote, adding prayer, heart and angel emojis.
Princess Beatrice, 36, and Edo, 41, become a family of five with the birth of baby Athena. Her first middle name honors Beatrice's late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, and creates a special connection to her big sister Sienna, whose middle name is also Elizabeth. Beatrice and Edo wed in July 2020, and his son Christopher Woolf (from a previous relationship) adorably served as a page boy at their wedding. The couple went on to welcome their first child, Sienna, in September 2021, and baby Athena makes the family a party of five.
Buckingham Palace announced that Beatrice was pregnant in October 2024, relaying that the couple was expecting their second child together in "early spring." Though the princess' exact due date wasn't disclosed in alignment with the palace's tight-lipped approach to medical information, Beatrice and her family shifted their Christmas plans at the last minute in light of her pregnancy. Doctors advised the princess to avoid long-distance travel and she instead spent the holidays in the U.K., pivoting from plans to celebrate in Italy with her in-laws.
The King and Queen's office was first to announce the news about Athena's arrival with a statement on social media, and Princess Beatrice's younger sister, Princess Eugenie, sent salutations on Instagram.
Princess Eugenie, 34, reposted the first photo of baby Athena from the palace to her Instagram Stories and added a festive sticker. "Welcome baby girl!" the message read in sparkly pink text, with a bow.
Little Athena makes Prince Andrew and Ferguson, the Duchess of York, grandparents once more, and the child is expected to enter as 11th in the official line of succession to the British throne.
