Princess Eugenie and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are supporting Princess Beatrice as she shares the anxiety around the preterm birth of her baby daughter, Athena Elizabeth Rose.
On March 23, British Vogue published a rare personal essay by Beatrice, 36, titled, “‘There’s So Little Control’: Princess Beatrice Opens Up About Daughter Athena’s Preterm Birth In Her Own Words.” In it, the British royal recounted the “overwhelming fear of the unknown” and “months of sheer worry” when it was confirmed her second baby would likely be born early, with her husband and sister sharing support for her candor.
“So much pride for my beautiful wife, who has bravely shared our story of Athena’s early arrival,” Edo, 41, wrote on Instagram on March 23. With it, he posted a tender picture of Beatrice holding Athena by photographer Nico Williams that accompanied the article.
“Also for her support and patronage for the incredible organisation @bornecharity, which provided us with invaluable help during that challenging time. 💕,” Edo wrote, shouting out the charity Beatrice has become patron of. Borne is a medical research charity endeavoring to end premature birth, and Princess Beatrice wrote for Vogue about her pride in taking on this “very personal appointment” today.
Princess Beatrice and her property developer husband welcomed their second child on Jan. 22, and the little one arrived several weeks ahead of the “early spring” due date that Buckingham Palace originally announced. It was, however, understood that baby Athena’s premature birth was not unexpected, and Beatrice said in the essay that her baby “arrived healthy” and “is now doing really well.”
Princess Eugenie also sent love to her sister Princess Beatrice on social media for her brave essay, and the timing coincided with her 35th birthday.
“Proud of you Beabea and mighty Athena,” Princess Eugenie wrote on her Instagram Stories on Sunday, sharing the new snap of Beatrice and Athena.
Eugenie similarly linked to the Vogue post, adding a solo photo of her sister, “And this is why Bea’s article is so important.” There, Eugenie tagged the Borne charity and Alice Naylor-Leyland, who Princess Beatrice said was one of her “oldest friends” and the new partner for a baby shower collection for her Mrs. Alice brand that will benefit Borne.
Princess Beatrice and Edo wed in July 2020, and their marriage made her a stepmom to his son Christopher Woolf, 8, from a previous relationship. The couple welcomed their first child, daughter Sienna Elizabeth, now 3, in September 2021, and they became parents again when Athena was born in January. Like her big sister, Athena’s middle name honors Princess Beatrice’s grandmother Queen Elizabeth, the royal family’s late matriarch with whom Beatrice was known to be especially close.
Beatrice opened up for Vogue about what her private life was like during her pregnancy with Athena, and how the experience has transformed into an advocate for other families whose babies might arrive preterm.
“Following routine scans we became aware our precious cargo needed close monitoring, and understood we needed to prepare for an early arrival,” Beatrice wrote. “What I learnt in this process has been humbling: understanding so much more about our remarkable human bodies, but also, more than anything, what we don’t know.”
Elsewhere in the essay, she acknowledged, “I’ve had a life that is out of the ordinary, but my joys and fears in pregnancy and motherhood are the same as those experienced by millions of other women around the world. Like countless other expectant mums, I lay awake in the weeks leading up to birth, trying to monitor each movement of the baby in my tummy and asking myself a thousand times: ‘What if this happens, or what if that happens?’ ”
After Athena was born, Princess Beatrice said that it took “more than a few weeks for the tears of relief to dry and for life with our healthy baby to feel real.”
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Now, the royal mom says she is fueled by a new mission to help others with questions about the complications that can cause premature birth, “questions that defined my days (and nights) during pregnancy.”
In a show of support for Borne, Beatrice and Edo’s first public appearance after Athena’s birth was to the organization’s Wonderland Gala in London on March 6, where the princess was announced as new patron.
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