Princess Beatrice, the elder daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York has been the subject of a debate about working royals for years. But in 2024, with health issues changing the face of the Royal Family for several months, the question of whether the ninth in line to the throne could take on royal duties has been taken up with a new energy. Could we see the princess become a staple in the royal diary?

The past year has certainly seen a higher profile for Beatrice and a range of events that could be classed as royal engagements, were she to be seen as a working member of the family. From the moment that she attended the wedding of Crown Prince Hussein and Princess Rajwa of Jordan, in June 2023, her profile has continued to grow. As she turns 37, that’s led to new questions about whether she might take on a bigger role in the Royal Family of King Charles and, in turn, William.

Beatrice Elizabeth Mary was born on 8 August 1988 at the Portland Hospital in London. She was the first child of Andrew and Sarah, Duke and Duchess of York, and the fifth grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

Beatrice would complete her early education at Upton House School in Windsor before attending the independent Coworth Park School with her sister.

At the age of seven, she was diagnosed with dyslexia, around the same time that her parents divorced. However, Beatrice didn’t really go public about her dyslexia until 2005 when she decided to delay her GCSE exams. She stayed at St George’s to take her A-levels in drama, history, and film studies. In September 2008, she started a three-year course studying for a BA in history and history ideas at Goldsmiths, Univerity of London before graduating in 2011.

While her cousins Princes William and Harry took on more royal duties, Beatrice and her sister still worked normal jobs. As of April 2017, Beatrice had a full-time job and split her time between London and New York City. In her professional life, she’s known as Beatrice York and is the Vice President of Partnerships and Strategy at Afiniti. 

In March 2019, Beatrice attended a fundraising event at the National Portrait Gallery in London where she would meet her future husband, property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. The two became engaged that September and were set to marry in May 2020. Because of the pandemic, the wedding was pushed back to July and took place at the Royal Chapel of All Saints, Royal Lodge, Windsor.

The marriage made Beatrice a stepmum to Edoardo’s son Christopher Woolf (b. 2016.) The couple would welcome their first child together, Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi, on 18 September 2021. At birth, Sienna was eleventh in line to the throne. Following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, she became tenth in line.

Upon the accession of Charles III, Beatrice assumed a new role. The first four adults in the line of succession are counsellors of state. She could be called on to take up some of the monarch’s duties, in consort with another counsellor, if The King is temporarily unable to carry them out. However, Beatrice is yet to act as a Counsellor of State.

Throughout the years, Beatrice has taken an interest in charities helping people with dyslexia, in addition to founding Big Change. She established that charity with six of her friends to encourage young people to develop skills “outside a traditional academic curriculum.”

In April 2022, her role as an ambassador for the charity Made by Dyslexia allowed her and her husband to take part in the first World Dyslexia Assembly hosted by Prince Carl Philip of Sweden. In February 2023, she became patron of the British Skin Foundation. 

And in recent months, she has attended a range of events including a skin awareness campaign at a school. She was also named as Tatler’s best dressed person of 2024, increasing her profile further. Which leads us back to the question that’s been asked increasingly loudly in 2024. As Beatrice reaches her 37th birthday, could a new role as a working royal be about to unfold?