Fans have noticed a newly released photo of Princess Beatrice’s premature baby in her latest announcement.
In January, the royal family shared the news that Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, had welcomed their second child—a baby born several weeks early.
Now, three months later, Beatrice has spoken openly about their newest family member, Athena Elizabeth Rose Mapelli Mozzi, reflecting on her experience as a mother navigating the challenges of having a premature baby.
In an essay published in Vogue last Sunday (March 23), she opened up about the emotional turmoil of realizing her baby would be arriving earlier than expected, admitting that “nothing quite prepares you for the moment when you realise your baby is going to arrive early.”
The 36-year-old mother of two described feeling an overwhelming lack of control, consumed by “an overwhelming fear of the unknown,” as countless worries raced through her mind.
“Will she arrive healthy? Will there be complications? How will you juggle the rest of family life while trying to keep a tiny human safe and well?” she recalled questioning at the time.
Beatrice went on to say, “You know that when your baby arrives the doctors and midwives are going to be there, doing everything they can to ensure she makes it through those challenging first few days.
“But you have no idea how these things will play out, what happens next.”
Since then, Beatrice has partnered with businesswoman Alice Naylor-Leyland to introduce a baby shower collection, with proceeds going to Borne, a charity where the Princess serves as a patron.
Alice announced the collaboration on Instagram, sharing a carousel of three images. The second photo seemed to feature a never-before-seen moment of Athena wrapped in a soft pink blanket beside a plush bunny.
In her caption, she wrote: “It has been both a pleasure & a great honour working with my dear friend Princess Beatrice on our new Baby Shower Collection in aid of @bornecharity.”
Expressing her admiration, she continued: “I’m so proud of the awareness @beayork has brought to Premature Birth & I’m delighted we were able to create this together celebrating both Motherhood & Friendship.”
Xem bài viết này trên Instagram
In her essay for Vogue, Beatrice shared that she “learnt so much” from her pregnancy with Athena, revealing that these thoughts were constantly running through her mind during the final stages.
She went on to explain, “Following routine scans we became aware our precious cargo needed close monitoring, and understood we needed to prepare for an early arrival.” Reflecting on the experience, she described it as deeply humbling.
Thankfully, despite arriving a few weeks early, baby Athena was completely healthy. Beatrice expressed her overwhelming emotions upon meeting her tiny newborn for the first time.
“Athena arrived healthy, a few weeks before her due date,” she wrote. “She was so tiny it took more than a few weeks for the tears of relief to dry and for life with our healthy baby to feel real.
“Her feet were so small – almost the same size as the paws on one of my older daughter’s soft bunnies.”