Royal Visit to Prematurity Research Labs
Princess Beatrice has made her first public charity appearance in the UK since the controversy surrounding her father, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, intensified. The royal visited the Borne research laboratories at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on Monday afternoon, describing the cause as "incredibly close and personal to me" following the premature birth of her second daughter, Athena, earlier this year.
A Deeply Personal Cause
Beatrice toured the facilities of Borne, a charity dedicated to ending premature births, where she met scientists and clinicians leading groundbreaking research. The princess, who became patron of Borne after Athena's birth, witnessed projects investigating the causes of preterm labour and the development of new treatments. Athena was born several weeks prematurely in January, weighing just 4lb 5oz, with Beatrice previously revealing her daughter was "so tiny it took more than a few weeks for the tears of relief to dry".
She was joined by Good Morning Britain's weather presenter Laura Tobin, whose own daughter Charlotte arrived three months early in 2017 weighing only 2lb 8oz. Tobin, now a Borne ambassador, described the visit as a "deeply personal" experience that gave her "real hope for the future".
Royal Focus Amid Family Scandal
The visit marks Beatrice's first UK-based public charity engagement since her father was stripped of his prince title and dukedom over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. King Charles took the unprecedented action against his younger brother due to "serious lapses of judgment", with Andrew now preparing to move from Royal Lodge to the King's private Sandringham estate in the new year.
Despite the ongoing scandal, which could see MPs debate Andrew's conduct this week and US Congress members requesting he sit for a transcribed interview about his Epstein connections, Beatrice and her sister Princess Eugenie retain their princess titles.
In a statement released during her visit, Beatrice expressed optimism about Borne's work: "Today's visit was not only insightful but has given me so much hope for pregnant mothers in the UK that this topic is being taken incredibly seriously."
The charity revealed that 60,000 babies are born prematurely in the UK every year - representing one in every 13 births - while complications from prematurity remain the leading cause of neonatal death and lifelong disability worldwide. Shockingly, less than 2% of medical research funding is dedicated to pregnancy and childbirth.
Beatrice and Borne founder Professor Mark Johnson will host an event at Battersea Power Station next Monday to mark World Prematurity Day, bringing together supporters, researchers, and families affected by premature birth.
