Princess Beatrice is expecting her second child with husband Edoardo "Edo" Mapelli Mozzi this spring—and while we don't know her exact due date or if the baby will be a boy or girl, there's a York family naming tradition that she might decide to follow this time.
When Sarah Ferguson gave birth to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, her two daughters with Prince Andrew, she chose to honor one of her favorite royal historical figures with their names. The Duchess of York—who has long been interested in Queen Victoria and her reign—used the name Beatrice, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, for her first child, and Princess Eugenie was named after the Victorian Beatrice's daughter, Victoria Eugenie.
Princess Eugenie followed in her mom's footsteps when it came to her own two children with husband Jack Brooksbank, naming her first son August, which was one of Prince Albert's middle names, and her second son Ernest, which was Prince Albert's brother's name.
However, Princess Beatrice chose not to use a Victorian moniker for her first child, 3 year-old Sienna Elizabeth.
"They were looking for an Italian name which started with an S for Sarah, to honor the duchess and also reflected the golden rust color of both the duchess's hair color and Beatrice's, which the new baby shares," a source told Hello! when Sienna was born in 2021. Princess Beatrice and Edo did use a royal name for Sienna's middle name, choosing to honor Beatrice's grandmother, Queen Elizabeth.
If the tradition continues, perhaps Beatrice—who recently broke down in tears after hearing the inspirational stories of teenage cancer patients—could decide to honor her father, Prince Andrew, with an Italian "A" name. But it's possible she could look to her mother and sister for inspiration, using Victorian names like Albert or Alice.
Considering Queen Victoria had nine children, 42 grandchildren and nearly 90 great-grandchildren, Princess Beatrice certainly has a wealth of options to choose from if she goes that route.
No matter what the baby's name is, he or she will inherit a European royal title due to their dad's Italian lineage. "Edoardo is the only male descendent taking the family into the next generation," Edo's father, Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, told the Daily Mail in 2020. "He is a count—his wife will be a countess automatically and any of their children will be counts or nobile donna."
Of course, Princess Beatrice and Mapelli Mozzi don't use these titles for their children and likely never will, but either way, they'll hold the unique distinction of having both Italian and British noble blood.
