After Princess Beatrice wrote about her daughter Athena’s premature birth for the first time, her friend Alice Naylor-Leyland has shared a previously unseen photo of the baby.
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 41, and Princess Beatrice, 36, became parents again on January 22, 2025. Buckingham Palace announced the news a week later, on January 29, along with the first photo of the little girl, personally taken by her father, Edo. “Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice and Mr. Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are delighted to announce the safe arrival of their daughter, Athena Elizabeth Rose Mapelli Mozzi, who was born on Wednesday, January 22, at 12:57 PM,” read the official statement from the Royal Family’s account.
“Nothing really prepares you for the moment…”
However, for a long time, it was uncertain whether little Athena would arrive safely. Princess Beatrice had to prepare for a premature birth in the final stages of her pregnancy and was closely monitored from that point onward. She recently revealed this in an emotional essay for British Vogue. “Nothing really prepares you for the moment when you realize that the baby will arrive too early. You have so little control. Will they be born healthy? Will there be complications? How will you juggle the rest of family life while trying to keep a tiny human safe and well?” the 36-year-old writes. Alongside her reflections, she also shared two more photos of herself and her husband Edoardo with their daughter.
New Patronage for Princess Beatrice
Because of this experience, the princess took on the patronage of Borne in early March. The medical research charity is dedicated to ending premature births. “The work that Borne does is very close to my heart after the recent birth of my daughter. Every year, 60,000 babies in the UK are born too early, and there is very little information or research about why this happens. That’s why I’m so excited to support Borne and its groundbreaking research program, which I hope will help thousands of parents and children in the future,” Beatrice said about her new role.
New Project After “Long, Late-Night Discussions”
In this spirit, Princess Beatrice also collaborated with author Alice Naylor-Leyland on a baby shower collection. “In the spirit of togetherness, I teamed up with one of my oldest friends, Alice Naylor-Leyland, to design a new baby shower collection for her brand Mrs. Alice, with proceeds going to Borne,” the royal reveals in her Vogue essay. She emphasizes: “Mrs. Alice is about bringing people together around a table to celebrate joyful moments, and this collection was born out of long, late-night discussions about fertility, surrogacy, pregnancy, and motherhood. We hope it will spark conversations about women’s health.”
Here Sleeps Baby Athena
Alice Naylor-Leyland has now given a first glimpse of the collection on her private Instagram account. “It has been a joy and a great honor to work with my dear friend Princess Beatrice on our new baby shower collection in support of @bornecharity. I am so proud of the awareness that @beayork has raised about premature birth, and I am thrilled that we were able to create this together to celebrate both motherhood and friendship,” the author writes, sharing three images, one of which features a new photo of baby Athena.
The second photo shows a framed picture in a pink frame, seemingly taken in the same setting as Athena’s first official portrait. In the previously released palace photo, the little girl held her tiny hand in front of her face. However, in this new snapshot, she is peacefully sleeping—revealing her adorable face to the world.
