15 Things You Didn’t Know About Princess Beatrice
Updated: Sep. 01, 2023
Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice has been maintaining a somewhat lower profile than her sister, HRH Princess Eugenie, which makes these fun facts about Princess Bea even more interesting.
She’s a natural ginger
Like her mum, Sarah, Duchess of York (the ex-wife of Prince Andrew, Duke of York), Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice is a natural redhead. Her younger sister, Princess Eugenie, appeared to have red hair at her wedding, but that’s because she dyed it shortly before the big day. Find out 14 things you may not have known about Princess Eugenie.
Eight is clearly her lucky number
The firstborn child of Prince Andrew, Duke of York and his then-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, Princess Beatrice was born on the eighth day of August in 1988 and is currently the eighth in the line of succession to the throne of the United Kingdom and its 15 other Commonwealth realms.
She’s been bumped down in line… quite a few times
When she was born, Princess Beatrice was the fourth in the line of succession to the throne and the first female. But when Prince William began having children, Beatrice lost her spot first to Prince George, then to Princess Charlotte, and then to Prince Louis. When the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have their first baby in the spring, Princess Beatrice will be ninth in line to the throne.
She’s not a “working member” of the royal family
While Princess Beatrice is a grandchild of the Queen (the fifth, after Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall, Prince William, and Prince Harry), and can often be seen at important royal family events, she doesn’t carry out duties in the Queen’s name (nor does her sister, Princess Eugenie). Rather, “Bea York,” as she is known on LinkedIn, has a full-time career in business, working at Afiniti.com. Here’s more about the everyday jobs of royal family members.
Even so, she finds it challenging to strike a balance
Being a royal with a full-time career outside the royal family can be “hard to navigate,” Princess Beatrice has been quoted as saying. “There is no precedent, there is no protocol.” The same applies to her sister, Eugenie, but both princesses seem to be handling it seamlessly thus far.
She’s close with the Queen
Princess Beatrice’s mum, Sarah, is the ex-wife of Prince Andrew and has had somewhat of a contentious relationship with some members of the royal family. But Bea’s grandmum, Queen Elizabeth II, does not hold that against her and is actually quite close with the princess. For example, the Queen was on hand to help Princess Beatrice celebrate her 30th birthday at Balmoral in Scotland this past August.
She’s named after an aunt of the Queen
Princess Beatrice, baptized Princess Beatrice Elizabeth Mary of York, was named after Queen Victoria’s youngest child (out of nine) and dearest companion in her later years as well as the editor of her personal diaries: Princess Beatrice, who later became Princess Henry of Battenberg, and whose only daughter was Princess Victoria Eugenie. Of course, Bea’s was given her first middle name, Elizabeth, after Queen Elizabeth II and her second middle name, Mary, after Queen Mary of Teck (the mother of King George VI and Elizabeth II’s grandmother).
She’s had a role in a Hollywood film
Princess Beatrice played a lady-in-waiting in the 2009 film, The Young Victoria, starring Emily Blunt as Queen Victoria. The film was produced by Martin Scorsese and by Sarah, Duchess of York, and it drew the ire of Queen Elizabeth II for perpetuating certain historical inaccuracies. Here’s how Queen Elizabeth II and her husband, Prince Philip, are related (hint: Queen Victoria is involved).
She powered through a learning disability
Princess Beatrice is dyslexic and as such is interested in charities involved with dyslexia and learning difficulties. Beatrice’s openness in discussing her learning disability has proven an inspiration to many, including Tina Turner, who speaks about Bea’s important influence on her here. Her struggle with dyslexia was pivotal not only in her choice to support charities involved with learning disabilities but also in educating the needy.
She has struggled with her weight
Princess Beatrice’s mum, Sarah, is famous for her struggles with her weight and even worked as a Weight Watcher’s spokesperson. “I think over-eating sort of runs in the family,” Sarah told the press in reference to the fact that she had put Princess Beatrice on a diet at the age of eight. And Princess Beatrice has admitted to struggling with her weight and body image issues in her teen years.
She’s a marathon-runner
In 2010, Princess Beatrice became the first royal to complete the London Marathon. “She and a group of friends wore colorful tutus and legwarmers for the race to draw attention to ‘Team Caterpillar,'” according to Best Life, which ran to support several children’s charities, including Children in Crisis, which was founded by Sarah, Duchess of York.
She’s an Uber user
Princess Beatrice has been spotted taking Ubers, but that shouldn’t be surprising considering she had a ten-year romantic relationship with former Uber executive Dave Clark, which ended in 2016. Don’t miss these completely crazy royal conspiracy theories.
She has quite a few famous friends
Princess Beatrice not only takes Ubers, but she has also shared an Uber with Hollywood couple Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, whom she met through her ex, Dave Clark. She even vacationed with them in St. Tropez. Beatrice is also close with model Karlie Kloss. Find out about 14 unlikely royal friendships that will surprise you.
You can find her “finsta” on “Instagram”
When Karlie Kloss announced her engagement to Josh Kushner, Princess Beatrice took a reaction shot of herself and posted it on her secret Instagram account in response. Then Karlie tagged the photo as @beayork, which is Princess Beatrice’s “finsta” (slang for a secret Instagram account). Oops.
She has a new boyfriend
Princess Beatrice has a new boyfriend since her split from Dave Clark. His name is Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, an Italian businessman who is the son of a longtime family friend. Next, don’t miss these 23 rarely seen photos of the royal family through the years.
Originally Published: December 19, 2018
