Princess Beatrice of York

Princess Beatrice
Princess Beatrice at the wedding of Lady Melissa Percy, 22 June 2013
Full name Beatrice Elizabeth Mary[1]
House	House of Windsor
Father	Prince Andrew, Duke of York
Mother	Sarah Ferguson
Born	(1988-08-08) 8 August 1988 Portland Hospital, London, England
Religion	Church of England

Royal Family of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms
HM The Queen HRH The Duke of Edinburgh HRH The Prince of Wales HRH The Duchess of Cornwall HRH The Duke of Cambridge HRH The Duchess of Cambridge HRH Prince George of Cambridge HRH Prince Henry of Wales HRH The Duke of York HRH Princess Beatrice of York HRH Princess Eugenie of York HRH The Earl of Wessex HRH The Countess of Wessex HRH The Princess Royal
HRH The Duke of Gloucester HRH The Duchess of Gloucester HRH The Duke of Kent HRH The Duchess of Kent HRH Prince Michael of Kent HRH Princess Michael of Kent HRH Princess Alexandra

Princess Beatrice of York (Beatrice Elizabeth Mary; born 8 August 1988) is the first child and elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. She is sixth, and the first female, in the line of succession to the thrones of the sixteen Commonwealth realms. Beatrice worked at Sony Pictures Television from January 2014 to January 2015.^[2][3]

While studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, Princess Beatrice was not expected to undertake regular royal duties, although she did make appearances at some events; for instance, she and her sister, Princess Eugenie, represented their father at a service of thanksgiving for her aunt, Diana, Princess of Wales, in 2007.

Early life

Beatrice was born on 8 August 1988, at 8:18 pm at the Portland Hospital, the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York, and fifth grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. She was baptised in the Chapel Royal at St James's Palace on 20 December 1988, her godparents being: Viscount Linley (her father's cousin); the Duchess of Roxburghe (now Lady Jane Dawnay); Peter Palumbo The Hon Mrs John Greenall; and Mrs Henry Cotterell.^{[4] [5]} She was named Beatrice after Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Beatrice; Elizabeth after her paternal grandmother the Queen; and Mary after Queen Mary and her maternal grandmother's second name.^[6] Her name, an unexpected choice, was not announced until almost two weeks after her birth.^[7] As a male-line grandchild of the Sovereign, Beatrice was styled Her Royal Highness with the title Princess Beatrice of York.

Education

Beatrice began her early education at the independent Upton House School in Windsor, in 1991. From there, she and her sister both attended the independent Coworth Park School from 1995. Beatrice continued her education at the independent St. George's School in Ascot, where she was a pupil from 2000 to 2007. Having been diagnosed with dyslexia as a child,^[8] she delayed sitting her GCSE exams for one year. She remained at St. George's to take her A-Levels, gaining a grade A in drama, and B grades in history and film studies.^[9] She was elected Head Girl in her final year.^[10]

In September 2008, Beatrice began studying history at Goldsmiths, University of London^[11] and graduated in 2011, with a 2:1 degree (BA) in History and History of Ideas.^[12]

After leaving her job at Sony Pictures Television in January 2015, Beatrice began a finance course in America. It is unknown where she is studying or for how long. ^[13]

Personal interests

In an interview to mark her 18th birthday, Princess Beatrice said that she wanted to use her position to assist others through charity work; she had already undertaken charitable duties alongside her mother through the various organisations the Duchess supported. In 2002, Beatrice visited HIV-infected children in Russia, and, in Britain, she supported Springboard for Children (a literacy project for primary-school children with learning difficulties) and the Teenage Cancer Trust. During the summer of 2008, Beatrice volunteered as a sales assistant at Selfridges, and it was reported Beatrice and a friend had plans to found a fashion label.^[14] In April 2010, running to raise money for Children in Crisis, she became the first member of the Royal Family to complete the London Marathon.^[15]

Beatrice has also been involved in the film industry, becoming the first member of the Royal Family to appear in a non-documentary film when she made a brief non-speaking appearance as an "extra" in The Young Victoria (2009), based around the accession and early reign of Beatrice's ancestor, Queen Victoria. Beatrice had a minor, non-speaking role in a number of scenes.^[16]

Beatrice is in a long-term relationship with the 31-year-old Virgin Galactic businessman Dave Clark.^{[17][18][19][20]}

Official duties

Princess Beatrice with her sister at Trooping the Colour, June 2013.

Princess Beatrice has been present at a number of official Royal occasions, such as Trooping the Colour in London, and the Queen's eightieth birthday. She and her sister were also guests at the Concert for Diana, in memory of their late aunt organised by their cousins, Princes William and Harry. Both princesses attended the service of thanksgiving for Diana on 1 September 2007, representing their father, who was on an official visit to Malaysia. Beatrice was present at the wedding of her cousin Peter Phillips to Autumn Kelly in 2008, and the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. At the wedding, Beatrice's hat designed by Philip Treacy was remarked upon by some as an odd choice of fashion. Nonetheless, in May 2011, the hat was offered for sale on the internet auction site eBay with the proceeds going to charity:^[21] it was sold for £81,000 ($123,325), with the money split between Unicef and Children in Crisis.^[22] A few months later Princess Beatrice was seen at the wedding of her cousin Zara Phillips to Rugby player Mike Tindall.

Princess Beatrice performed her highest profile royal duties to date when she accompanied her grandmother, the Queen, to the traditional Royal Maundy services on 5 April 2012 in York. Other than the Duke of Edinburgh, she was the sole member of the Royal Family to attend the Maundy Thursday services at York Minster with the Queen. There, Beatrice interacted with parishioners, received flowers from the public, and assisted the Queen as she passed out the official Maundy money to the pensioners.^[23] In the lead up to the 2012 Summer Olympics Princess Beatrice welcomed the Olympic flame on the steps of Harewood House near Leeds.

In November 2012, Beatrice became the first royal patron of the York Musical Society.^[24]

In April 2013, Beatrice became royal patron of The Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre, a charity that she credits with helping her overcome her own academic challenges resulting from dyslexia.^[25]

Titles, styles and arms

Titles and styles

While the announcement of the Princess's name as Beatrice was made some two weeks after her birth, she was from birth a British princess entitled to the style of Royal Highness. Her style and title in full is: Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice Elizabeth Mary of York. She has no official surname, but she uses the name of the area over which her father holds dukedom York (as Prince Harry – who is formally Prince Henry of Wales – uses Wales, per his father, Charles, Prince of Wales). Upon her marriage, if applicable, she will have the option of taking her husband's surname/title, although she is entitled to retain her royal status and be styled as a Royal Highness throughout her life.

Arms

Arms of Princess Beatrice of York

Notes The Princess' personal coat of arms is the shield of the arms of the sovereign in right of the United Kingdom, differenced by a label of five points bearing three bees in reference to her forename and maternal arms. Adopted 18 July 2006 Coronet A coronet composed of four crosses formy and four strawberry leaves. Escutcheon Quarterly 1st and 4th gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or 2nd Or a lion rampant gules within a double tressure flory counterflory gules 3rd azure a harp Or stringed argent. Supporters Dexter a lion rampant gardant Or imperially crowned proper, sinister a unicorn argent, armed, crined and unguled Or, gorged with a coronet Or composed of crosses patée and fleurs de lis a chain affixed thereto passing between the forelegs and reflexed over the back also Or. Other elements The whole differenced by a label of five points argent, the centre and exterior points each charged with a bee volant proper. Banner The Princess' personal Royal Standard is that of the sovereign in right of the United Kingdom, labelled for difference as in her arms. Symbolism As with the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom. The first and fourth quarters are the arms of England, the second of Scotland, the third of Ireland. The use of three bees in her arms continues the trend in royal heraldry (cf. the arms of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge) of using charges from the maternal line (The Ferguson arms feature a crest bearing a bee). It can also be considered a pun on the name Beatrice, an unusual example of canting in modern royal arms.

Ancestry

References

External links

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