Princess Beatrice 'cried for weeks' after baby daughter Athena's premature birth
Athena is Beatrice and Edoardo's second child together
Princess Beatrice has opened up about the emotional turmoil she faced following the premature birth of her second daughter, baby Athena Elizabeth Rose, in a moving personal essay.
The 36-year-old royal revealed that baby Athena arrived weeks before her due date in January.
The experience left her feeling overwhelmed, frightened, and deeply emotional.
Princess Beatrice opens up about baby Athena’s premature birth
“Nothing quite prepares you for the moment when you realise your baby is going to arrive early.” Princess Beatrice wrote candidly. “There’s so little control. 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?”
Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, who also share three-year-old daughter Sienna, welcomed Athena on January 22, weeks ahead of schedule.
The newborn weighed 4 pounds and 5 ounces. Beatrice described her as so tiny that “her feet were almost the same size as the paws on one of my older daughter’s soft bunnies.”
“She was so tiny,” she admitted in the Vogue piece. “It took more than a few weeks for the tears of relief to dry and for life with our healthy baby to feel real.”
Although Athena is now thriving, Beatrice confessed that she still doesn’t have all the answers.
“I have a few more answers as to what happened, but still no precise explanation.” She wrote. “Looking back over those months of sheer worry, I am filled with a sense of determination that more can be done to help others find answers to those questions around the complications that can lead to preterm birth.”
She credited the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and the oversight of Professor Mark Johnson for their exceptional care, adding that she learned about their work through friends involved with Borne, a charity focused on ending premature birth. Beatrice has since become a patron of the organisation.
Princess Beatrice supporting Borne
Beatrice says her experience, along with her mother Sarah Ferguson’s breast and skin cancer diagnoses last year, has fuelled her mission to improve women’s health research.
She wrote that “nothing feels more vital than facilitating the necessary research into the health challenges” women around the world face each day. Adding she hopes with medical research her daughters won’t have to “face these challenges when they grow up”.
Beatrice also announced a new collaboration with longtime friend Alice Naylor-Leyland, founder of lifestyle brand Mrs. Alice. The two have created a baby shower collection in support of Borne, with proceeds going toward research.
Edoardo’s emotional tribute
Following the release of the essay, Beatrice’s husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi took to Instagram to publicly praise his wife.
“So much pride for my beautiful wife, who has bravely shared our story of Athena’s early arrival,” he wrote, alongside an image of Beatrice and Athena. “Also for her support and patronage for the incredible organisation @bornecharity, which provided us with invaluable help during that challenging time.”
Meanwhile, Beatrice hopes that sharing her story will help remove the stigma around discussing complications during pregnancy.
She said: “So often we don’t take the time to share – especially when it comes to our pregnancy or our health in general. Once you start, you quickly come to realise that everyone has a story, and often, on some level, a shared experience of birth. It brings people together.”
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