Princess Beatrice highlights her support for women’s health(Image: PA)
In January, Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, welcomed their second daughter, Athena, a baby sister for their three-year-old, Sienna.
The couple’s announcement was filled with joy, but behind the scenes, Beatrice had learned that Athena could arrive preterm, and the uncertainty surrounding the pregnancy left her with countless questions about her daughter’s health.
In a candid essay penned for British Vogue, the princess shared how nothing truly prepares you for the possibility of a premature birth. She said: “There’s so little control. Will she arrive healthy? Will there be complications?”
Beatrice with husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and CEO of Borne David Badcock(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Thankfully, Athena arrived healthy, albeit a few weeks earlier than expected. Beatrice describes the moment of relief when she first held her daughter, noting how tiny Athena’s feet were almost the same size as the paws on one of Sienna’s stuffed bunnies.
Beatrice described the unknown when it comes to pre-term births as “humbling” and the uncertainty of the pregnancy has left her with a sense of determination to support research into the challenges that can come with preterm births.
Beatrice says nothing feels more vital than facilitating progress for women’s health challenges (Image: PA)
This connection between Beatrice’s own pregnancy journey and the health struggles faced by her family, particularly her mother, Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, seems to have become a key turning point in Beatrice’s growing commitment to women’s health advocacy.
Beatrice wrote: “Maybe it’s to do with getting a little older, and hopefully a little wiser or maybe it’s something to do with my mother’s breast and skin cancer diagnosis last year but for me, nothing feels more vital than facilitating the necessary research into the health challenges that women face daily.”
Sarah Ferguson with daughter and grandsaughter (Image: Instagram/sarahferguson15)
In the summer of 2023, Sarah was diagnosed with breast cancer, which led to a mastectomy and reconstructive surgery. Just months later, during recovery, Sarah discovered a malignant melanoma after a routine mole removal.
In a public Instagram post, Sarah Ferguson shared her emotional response but reassured her followers that she was in “good spirits.” She used the platform to stress the importance of early detection.
Sarah Ferguson was diagnosed with cancer last year(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
In her essay, Beatrice describes herself as a “technology optimist,” believing in the power of data and research to uncover answers to the many unknowns that women face in pregnancy and healthcare.
With her personal experiences of preterm birth and her family’s health challenges, Beatrice seems determined to make sure that the next generation of women, including her two daughters, will have the resources and knowledge they need to overcome similar challenges.
In her first public engagement since giving birth earlier this month, Princess Beatrice underlined her dedication to ending premature births by revealing her new patronage of Borne at the Wonderland Gala in London.
Reflecting on her role she said: “The work that Borne is undertaking is something that is incredibly close and personal to me following the recent birth of my daughter. Every year in the UK, 60,000 babies are delivered too soon, with little information or research as to why this is. That is why I am really looking forward to supporting Borne and its programme of groundbreaking research.”
In her Vogue essay shared this weekend, Beatrice wrote, ” Women’s health has been left off the agenda,” but added that she took much “pride” in patronage and hoped “to do as much as possible to support others like me.”
Beatrice is also a patron and supporter of various organisations, including but not limited to The Teenage Cancer Trust, The Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre, Big Change (a charity she founded) and The York Musical Society.
