Who is Princess Beatrice? Prince Andrew’s daughter who features in Netflix’s Scoop
The eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York is said to be wanted as a working royal
Princess Beatrice, the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew, was left ‘devastated’ after her father’s car-crash Newsnight interview which is the subject of new Netflix drama Scoop.
The 35-year-old royal featured momentarily in the new movie starring Gillian Anderson which has plunged the scandal back into the limelight.
Beatrice, played by Charity Wakefield, starred in an important scene where several BBC Newsnight journalists met with the Prince to persuade him to agree to the interview where he would discuss his relationship with the convicted sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
The drama follows Sam McAlister, played by Billie Piper, a producer, as she goes against the grain to land the exclusive interview with the royal for Emily Maitlis, played by Gillian Anderson.
In McAlister’s memoir, she reveals the Princess “asked sensible questions” about the proposal, which her father ultimately went ahead with.
The bombshell interview led by Maitlis led to the complete demise of Prince Andrew’s reputation, who made outlandish and meme-worthy responses - including an alibi trip to Woking Pizza Express and an apparent inability to perspire. He was later forced to step back from his royal duties.
Shortly after the 2019 interview, Beatrice held a 36th birthday dinner for her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and a source told the Mail on Sunday she was “tearful at times” and had been in tears ever since it broadcasted.
Birth and line of succession
Following her grandmother’s death in 2022, Beatrice became a Counsellor of State, a senior position in the royal family appointed to the first four in the line of succession who are over the age of 21, as well as the monarch’s consort.
Born in Portland Hospital on 8 August 1988 to Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Beatrice is the fifth grandchild of the late Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
Beatrice, 35, is the elder daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. She is married to Italian noble Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, with whom she shares a daughter, Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi.
She is ninth in the line of succession to the throne. Prince William is the current heir to the throne after his father, King Charles III, ascended, followed by his children Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis of Wales.
They are followed by Prince Harry and his children, Archie and Lilibet. Beatrice’s father, Andrew, is eighth in line to the throne.
Education
Beatrice and her sister Eugenie attended the independent Coworth Park School, which is now known as Coworth Flexlands School, before going to the independent St George’s School in Ascot.
She later undertook a BA in history and history of ideas at Goldsmiths, University of London, and studied there from 2008 to 2011.
Beatrice was diagnosed with dyslexia at the age of seven but only made it known publicly in 2005 at the age of 17.
She has spoken candidly about having dyslexia and campaigns for awareness around the learning difference, having described it as a “gift” in a Hello! magazine interview published in August 2021.
Jobs and work
The York sisters are considered “non-working royals” as they are not paid to represent the royal family, and therefore hold their own jobs. They make some appearances at official events as members of the Queen’s family.
Beatrice has a full-time job as vice president of partnerships and strategy at Afiniti, an American multinational data and software company.
She also champions the work of the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre, which she has been patron of since 2013.
When her father became involved in a civil sex assault lawsuit brought against him by Virginia Giuffre, a victim of sex trafficking by convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, Beatrice and Eugenie distanced themselves publicly from him.
Prince Andrew controversy
She has never spoken publicly about the case. Andrew has vehemently denied the allegations and claims he has never met Giuffre. Both parties came to a multi-million pound settlement this year to stop the case from proceeding to trial.
Beatrice married Mozzi in a private ceremony at the Royal Chapel of All Saints in the Royal Lodge at Windsor on 17 July 2020.
Andrew walked her down the aisle, but photographs from the wedding do not feature him.
During the ceremony, Beatrice wore a Norman Hartnell dress loaned to her by the Queen, as well as the Queen Mary Fringe Tiara, which the late monarch wore at her own wedding in 1947.
She gave birth to Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi on 18 September 2021 at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London. Beatrice also has a stepson, Christopher Woolf, from Mozzi’s previous relationship.
Could Beatrice take on royal duties?
Charities are “crying out” for Princess Beatrice and her sister Eugenie to become working royals amid a shortage of people available to carry out palace duties, a royal expert claimed.
Royal commentator Phil Dampier suggested that Beatrice, 35, and Eugenie, 34, would be perfect to give the royal charities a helping hand.
It comes as King Charles, 75, and Princess Kate, 42, have both stepped back from working as they recover from their shock cancer diagnoses.
“They just need to be given the green light. Many organisations and charities are crying out for a royal patron and would welcome them,” Mr Dampier told the Daily Mail.