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Who is Princess Beatrice of York?

Princess Beatrice Elizabeth Mary of York was born on 8 August 1988, as the first child of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and his wife, Sarah, Duchess of York. Beatrice has a younger sister, Eugenie, who was born in 1990.

Princess Beatrice was named after Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter, and her middle names come from her grandmothers.

After Princess Charlotte of Cambridge’s birth in 2015, she is the second female in the line of succession to the British throne and is seventh overall.

Princess Beatrice began her education in 1991 at the Upton House School in Windsor, followed by Coworth Park School in 1995. From 2001-2007, she attended St George’s School, where she was Head Girl in her final year.

The Princess suffers from dyslexia and put off taking GSCE exams for a year. Her gap year was spent abroad in Australia, Brazil, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, and the United States.

In 2008, she attended Goldsmith College, London, and graduated three years later with a BA in History and History of Ideas.

Princess Beatrice is not a full-time working royal, despite the Duke of York’s request that his daughters become so. She does not receive any allowance from the Queen and currently lives in an apartment at St James’s Palace with her sister (although Princess Eugenie will be moving to Kensington Palace shortly).

Princess Beatrice was in a relationship with Dave Clark, a businessman with Virgin Galactic, for ten years before the relationship ended in 2016.

Princess Beatrice is perhaps best known to the world for the kooky pale pink fascinator she wore to the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on 29 April 2011. The next month, she listed the Phillip Treacy creation on eBay, where it sold for £81,000. The Princess split the proceeds between UNICEF and Children in Crisis.

Although she is not a full-time working royal, Princess Beatrice supports several charities and organisations pertaining to child welfare and education. She has also travelled to the Isle of Wight, and to Germany and the United Arab Emirates with her sister and father to promote British interests overseas.

The Princess’s first patronage came in 2007 when she became a global ambassador for Children in Crisis, which was founded by her mother, Sarah, Duchess of York in 1993.

She founded The Big Change Charitable Trust with several friends, which supports charitable projects that work to improve the lives of children.

Princess Beatrice’s patronages included the Teenage Cancer Trust (her sister and mother are both involved as well), the Berkshire Community Foundation, Broomwood African Education Foundation, English National Ballet School, Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre, The Sick Kids Friends Foundation, The York Theatre Royal and The York Musical Society.

Princess Beatrice holds several “firsts” for the Royal Family. She is the first royal to appear in a non-documentary film, when she appeared in 2009’s The Young Victoria, about her ancestor’s early reign. She is also the first royal to complete the London Marathon, which she did in 2010 to raise money for charities. She also climbed Mont Blanc in 2012, to fundraise for The Big Change Charitable Trust.

Princess Beatrice suffers from dyslexia and supports charities that promote awareness and education.

She appeared on a podcast for the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre in 2016, and said, “Being diagnosed with dyslexia was the greatest thing that ever happened to me because it allowed me to become part of this community of people that really are championing young people’s education and making sure that we protect our young people in school and in life.”

 

About author

Jess Ilse is the Assistant Editor at Royal Central. She specialises in the British, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish Royal Families and has been following royalty since Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee. Jess has provided commentary for media outlets in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Jess works in communications and her debut novel THE MAJESTIC SISTERS will publish in Fall 2024.

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