Prince Andrew ‘stays at Balmoral despite daughter Beatrice giving birth

The beleaguered Duke of York is yet to return from Scotland to meet his new granddaughter.

It was announced yesterday that his eldest daughter Princess Beatrice has become a mother for the first time, giving birth to a 6lb 2oz baby girl on Saturday.

The news, which comes only seven months after younger daughter Eugenie gave birth to her son August, has already been welcomed by Sarah, Duchess of York.

She is said to have returned from Balmoral on Friday and met her new grandchild over the weekend.

A friend of the duchess told the Mail: ‘She’s perfect and Sarah is absolutely smitten. She’s always very proud of both girls but to have two grandchildren in a year is a total joy.’

The friend smilingly suggested that Beatrice’s daughter might even have inherited her mother and grandmother’s flame-coloured locks, saying: ‘She’s got a hint of red… and a hint of gold.’

But it seems that Sarah’s troubled former husband has not returned with her.

Prince Andrew bolted back to the Queen’s Scottish estate just over a week ago – days before the first hearing into a US sex assault claim brought against him by long-term accuser Virginia Roberts.

Andrew, who has repeatedly denied the allegations, is currently in crisis talks about his legal strategy after a disastrous attempt to defer the case by arguing the papers had not been served properly.

The duke is said to be a doting grandfather to August and will undoubtedly be keen to meet his first granddaughter. But sources say they have no idea when he will return to Windsor.

Beatrice, 33, yesterday spoke of her ‘delight’ at becoming a mother for the first time, thanking London’s Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their ‘wonderful care’.

And she and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, said they cannot wait to introduce their as yet unnamed baby to half-brother Christopher Woolf – known as Wolfie.

The Queen, the Duke and Duchess of York and Mr Mapelli Mozzi’s family are all said to be ‘delighted’ for the couple.

Eugenie also congratulated her sister, writing on Instagram: ‘Congratulations on your new angel. I can’t wait to meet her and I’m so proud of you. We’re going to have so much fun watching our children grow up.’

A friend of the family said the Duchess of York returned from Balmoral on Friday and met her new grandchild over the weekend, adding: ‘She is absolutely over the moon.’

Chelsea and Westminster is an NHS hospital but houses the private Kensington maternity wing, which charges a starting price of £7,450 for a ‘platinum vaginal delivery package’ and £9,050 for a ‘platinum elective or emergency section package’.

The price includes meals and accommodation for the partner and a private room for the first night post delivery.

Buckingham Palace refused to comment on whether Beatrice was admitted to the Kensington Wing. It is understood she has since been discharged and returned to the St James’s Palace apartment she shares with Edo.

The baby, whose name has not yet been revealed, is the Queen’s 12th great-grandchild and 11th in line to the throne. Her Majesty is ‘delighted with the news’, the palace announced in a statement.

Although her mother is a princess, she will not have a royal title. Only grandchildren of the monarch through the male line are automatically entitled to the styling of HRH.

This means she will be Miss Mapelli Mozzi. The Queen could bestow a title on her great-grandchild if desired, but it is unlikely to be asked for.

While Beatrice tends to keep a low profile, she has been seen several times out and about in London over the summer, including attending Wimbledon with Edo, 38, in July.

It was reported yesterday Andrew had left Balmoral to fly to London to see his daughter in hospital however today his car was seen being driven on the estate.

He was at the Queen’s Aberdeenshire estate to hold crisis talks with his family and advisers over Miss Roberts’s bombshell sex abuse lawsuit after a ‘disastrous’ week trying to fight the damning allegations.     

Miss Roberts, now known as Virginia Giuffre, accuses him of sexually abusing her when she was a minor under US law after she was trafficked by billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The duke denies the allegations.

Prince Andrew’s legal team have contested whether he has been officially notified about Ms Giuffre’s claim for damages.

In a tweet from her official Twitter, Beatrice said she was delighted’ to ‘share the news of the safe arrival’ of the couple’s daughter, adding: ‘Thank you to the midwife team and everyone at the hospital for their wonderful care.’

Buckingham Palace said in a statement: ‘Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice and Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are delighted to announce the safe arrival of their daughter on Saturday 18th September 2021, at 23.42, at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.

‘The baby weighs six pounds and two ounces. The new baby’s grandparents and great-grandparents have all been informed and are delighted with the news.

‘The family would like to thank all the staff at the hospital for their wonderful care. Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well, and the couple are looking forward to introducing their daughter to her big brother Christopher Woolf.’

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall congratulated Beatrice and Edo on Twitter. The tweet said: ‘Congratulations to Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi on the happy news of the birth of their daughter.’

The baby is the fourth great-grandchild of the Queen to be born this year, following the arrival of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s son August in February, Zara and Mike Tindall’s son Lucas in March and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter Lilibet in June. 

Princess Beatrice has been seen several times in London throughout the summer as she enjoyed the lifting of restrictions ahead of the birth of her first child. 

Just last week she was spotted out and about in Mayfair as she dined out with friends in the city.  

Bookies have revealed that Sarah is a likely contender for the name of Princess Beatrice and her husband Edoardo’s newborn baby daughter – in tribute to the Duchess of York. 

Days ago, her mother Fergie fawned over her children, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, in a letter praising their ‘courage, strength and integrity’ and said she finds it ‘extraordinary’ that they’re both mothers.

In the letter, published in Good Housekeeping, Fergie, 61, said that she ‘smiles from her heart’ everyday knowing she’s a grandmother, and praised her two sons-in-law Edo and Jack. 

‘Being 61 makes me a young grandma, and I love it,’ she wrote. ‘I smile from my heart every day, because that is how it feels to be a granny.’

The Duchess of York has previously said she counts Edo’s son Wolfie as her grandchild. His mother is Edo’s ex, Dara Huang. 

American architect Dara remains on good terms with her ex and his new wife and Beatrice is a hands on stepmother.

Beatrice, who is not a full-time working royal, is vice president of partnerships and strategy at Afiniti, an artificial intelligence software firm.

She has a number of royal patronages including the Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, the Teenage Cancer Trust and the Helen Arkell Dyslexia Centre.

Sources previously claimed ‘doting stepmother’ Princess Beatrice had put up ‘loads of pictures’ of Edo’s son in their home so he ‘feels like he has two families’.

Insiders told The Telegraph‘s Camilla Tominey that the royal has been embracing her new role, saying: ‘Beatrice ensured there are loads of pictures of him up in their house, so he feels like he has two families, and they do get on well. She has instigated a lot of that, rather than Dara.’

Edo is said to enjoy an amicable relationship with Dara and prides himself on still being an active part of his son’s life. Friends of the royal said she talks about the youngster ‘all the time’ and has warmly embraced him into her life.

They added that he is ‘super little’ and ‘extremely cute’, adding that Beatrice will always make Wolfie’s happiness ‘her number one priority’ even when she and Edo decide to have children themselves.    

Previously speaking about her step-son, Beatrice said: ‘Homeschooling, that was definitely not my forte!  Not going to lie. Sadly, I can’t blame that on dyslexia. 

‘But I’ve felt very lucky to have had the chance to work with my bonus son (Wolfie) over the course of the school closures. It was a huge learning curve for all of us.’ 

Edoardo is the son of former Olympic skier Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi and Nikki Shale. He is a count himself, and had been a friend of the York children for some time before getting engaged to Beatrice. 

Known as Edo to friends, he helped mend Beatrice’s broken heart following her split from Dave Clark in 2016 after 10 years together. 

He was educated at the prestigious Radley school in Oxfordshire before studying for a Master’s in politics at Edinburgh.

Beatrice has long enjoyed a close relationship with her property developer husband’s father. 

The count is keen for the Italian lineage to continue, it seems. He told MailOnline last year: ‘Edoardo is the only male descendant taking the family into the next generation. 

‘He is a count — his wife will be a countess automatically and any of their children will be counts or nobile donna.’ 

Edo stands to inherit his father’s glamorous palazzo, Villa Mapelli Mozzi, which is a stone’s throw from Milan in Northern Italy. 

Nikki’s second husband, Edo’s step-father, was Christopher Shale, a senior Tory and a close friend of former prime minister David Cameron.

He collapsed and died in 2011 at Glasonbury Festival, after going missing for about 18 hours before he was found in a cubicle in the VIP area.

An inquest subsequently found he had been suffering from undiagnosed heart disease resulting from high blood pressure. 

So devoted was Edo to his stepfather that he named his son Christopher after him.

Beatrice and the rest of her family attended the funeral, with Nikki eventually becoming engaged for the third time to sculptor David Williams-Ellis.