The British royal family has a happy occasion to look forward to amid a series of heartbreaks. Princess Beatrice, the fifth grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II, is expecting her first child with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.

Buckingham Palace announced the news through its Twitter account on Wednesday, May 19, writing alongside a wedding picture of happy couple: "Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice and Mr. Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are very pleased to announce that they are expecting a baby in autumn of this year."

Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice and Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are very pleased to announce that they are expecting a baby in autumn of this year.

The Queen has been informed and both families are delighted with the news.

? The couple on their wedding day in July 2020. pic.twitter.com/oCHZLBa8oT

— The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) May 19, 2021

The royal tot will be the twelfth great-grandchild for the Queen, and the fourth she will welcome this year. Her eldest granddaughter, Zara Tindall, welcomed her third child and first son, Lucas, with husband Mike Tindall in March, while Beatrice's sister Princess Eugenie welcomed her first child, son August, with husband Jack Brooksbank in February. The 95-year-old will welcome her 11th great-grandkid and sixth great-granddaughter in the coming weeks as Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are also expecting a baby girl.

The palace said in its announcement that the Queen has been informed of Beatrice's pregnancy, and both families are "delighted with the news." Incidentally, the statement came on the third wedding anniversary of Harry and Meghan, for which the royal family didn't greet them on any social media platform.

According to a report in The Sun, this could ignite a royal family row, similar to what happened after Harry and Meghan announced their first pregnancy to the family on Beatrice's sister Eugenie's wedding day three years ago. "Finding Freedom," a biography on Harry and Meghan, had claimed that Eugenie told pals the Sussexes should have waited instead of upstaging her at her wedding.

Angela Levin, Prince Harry's biographer, said about the timing: "It is a strange coincidence. We all know that Eugenie was upset that Harry and Meghan announced their baby news at her wedding."

"Beatrice is a lovely person and her [sic] and Edo are entitled to announce their happy news to the world whenever they choose. If Harry and Meghan don't like it, then tough," Levin added.

The baby news also comes just a day after Beatrice was spotted in Chelsea in a magenta frock and black jacket that gave a hint of her baby bump. The 32-year-old was accompanied by her property developer husband for the outing.

Edoardo, from Italian nobility, is also father to a four-year-old son, Christopher a.k.a. Wolfie, whom he shares with ex-fiancée Dara Huang.

Princess Beatrice and Mozzi wed in secret
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi tied the knot in a secret wedding in July last year. David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images
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