Princess Beatrice, who turned 37 this week, was almost given a very different name at birth - one her parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, reportedly favored but that the late Queen Elizabeth II is said to have rejected as "too yuppie."
According to contemporaneous reports from The Sun in 1988, the Duke and Duchess of York initially wanted to name their firstborn Annabel, meaning "lovable." In keeping with royal custom, they shared their choice with the Queen in what was described as an informal discussion while the family was on their annual summer holiday at Balmoral.
The late monarch, while not required to approve royal baby names, was often consulted before they were publicly announced. In this case, she is said to have expressed disapproval of Annabel and proposed Beatrice instead - a name linked to Queen Victoria's youngest daughter, Princess Beatrice, later Princess Henry of Battenberg.
Beatrice, meaning "bringer of joy," became the chosen name, with her full name - Beatrice Elizabeth Mary - announced two weeks after her August 8, 1988 birth. The middle names honored both her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, and great-grandmother, Queen Mary. At the time, she was fifth in line to the throne; she is now ninth, behind her father.
The royal family frequently incorporates family names into new generations. Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi gave both their daughters, Sienna and Athena, the middle name Elizabeth. Other female royals - including Princess Anne, Princess Charlotte, Zara Tindall, and Lady Louise Windsor - also share the name in tribute to the late Queen.
Beatrice's sister, Princess Eugenie, chose the name August Philip Hawke Brooksbank for her eldest son, incorporating Philip as a tribute to their late grandfather, Prince Philip.
Beatrice herself gained another title when she married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in 2020. Due to his position as a count, she became a countess upon marriage, and their daughters hold the Italian courtesy title of nobile donna. Edoardo's father, Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, told the Daily Mail before the wedding, "Edoardo is the only male descendent taking the family into the next generation... his wife will be a countess automatically and any of their children will be counts or nobile donna."
