Princess Beatrice was born 37 years ago this week, but her parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, originally had another name planned out for her.
As is customary in the Royal Family, the Duke and Duchess of York told the late Queen Elizabeth what they planned to name their eldest daughter in an “informal chat”, where they hoped the late monarch would give her blessing. However, as Andrew and Fergie picked a different name for the young princess, Her Majesty was quick to step in and offer an alternative moniker. Born on August 8, 1988, the royal couple originally wanted to call their first daughter Princess Annabel. Fergie reportedly had her heart set on the name for her firstborn child, but allegedly, the late Queen thought the name was “too yuppie” for a member of the royal family.
Despite the Queen’s dislike of the name, she was said to be quick to suggest the name Beatrice, believed to have taken inspiration from the name of Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter, and the rest is history. Beatrice’s full name is Beatrice Elizabeth Mary, with her middle names paying tribute to both her grandmother and great-grandmother.
The royals are known for picking sentimental names for their children. Her younger sister, Princess Eugenie, picked August and used Philip as the middle name, a tribute to her late grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh.
Beatrice passed on her middle name, and the late Queen’s legacy, to her own daughter, whom she named Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi, after giving birth in 2021.
Princess Beatrice’s birthday comes just weeks after she celebrated her fifth wedding anniversary to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, which signalled five years since she had another royal name change.
When the couple tied the knot in a scaled-back ceremony in Windsor in 2020, Princess Beatrice inherited another royal title that she received from her husband’s family.
Due to Edo’s status as a count, Beatrice became a countess on the day of their wedding, in addition to her other royal title. It also means that their daughters, Sienna, who turns four in September, and Athena, who was born in January, also have the title of nobile donna.
Speaking to the Daily Mail before their wedding, Edo’s father, Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, said: “Edoardo is the only male descendant taking the family into the next generation. He is a count, his wife will be a countess automatically and any of their children will be counts or nobile donna.”
The couple’s low-key nuptials were attended by only 20 guests, after their original wedding plans were abandoned and scaled down due to the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions at the time.