Princess Beatrice has been seen heading to the pub with friends to celebrate her daughter Athena’s christening – but her parents disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson were absent
Princess Beatrice celebrated her daughter’s christening with a trip to the pub – but her disgraced parents were nowhere to be seen. Beatrice and husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi had their youngest daughter Athena baptised at the Chapel Royal in St James’ Palace this morning in front of close family and friends.
Her parents shamed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson left exile to attend their first major royal event since they were stripped of their titles. The former prince arrived at St James’s Palace in London in a green Range Rover this morning, quickly entering via a side gate away from waiting media.
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Meanwhile, Fergie arrived separately, crouching forwards in the back of a Mercedes people carrier with blacked out windows. The christening appeared to feature just immediate family, and no senior royals were present. Beatrice’s sister Princess Eugenie, her husband Jack Brooksbank and their two sons August and Ernest were spotted arriving.
Also joining them was the singer James Blunt and his wife, Sofia Wellesley, who were seen arriving on foot at the venue. After the service, Beatrice was seen arriving at a pub with her husband, sister Eugenie and a group of pals including Princess Nina of Greece to celebrate her daughter’s big day.
Beatrice could be seen carrying a large bag in a red dress with a long navy coat, while husband Edo held a large white box. Eugenie was seen making her way into the pub as was singer-songwriter Blunt. But Andrew and Fergie did not join them.
The King officially stripped his disgraced brother Andrew of both his HRH style and his prince title because of his “serious lapses of judgment” over his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Fergie, who is also embroiled in the scandal, lost her Duchess of York courtesy title too.
Athena is Andrew and Fergie’s fourth grandchild and is the second daughter of Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. She was born several weeks early in January, with her middle name Elizabeth paying tribute to her late great-grandmother, the Queen.
The couple also has an older daughter called Sienna, while Edo has a son, Christopher Woolf, from a previous relationship. The christening marks the first royal event attended by Andrew and Fergie since the funeral of the Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral in September.
Weeks later, the King officially stripped his disgraced brother of his HRH style and his prince title, and removed his dukedom from the Roll of the Peerage over Andrew’s “serious lapses” of judgment.
The move followed the publication of a posthumous memoir by Andrew’s accuser, Virginia Giuffre, and the US government’s release of documents from Epstein’s estate.
It emerged that Andrew had emailed Epstein in 2011 saying “we’re in this together”, three months after he claimed he had broken all contact with the paedophile. Andrew denies all wrongdoing.
As well as being stripped of his titles, he has also been forced to give up his sprawling Royal Lodge mansion and will move to a much smaller property on the King’s private Sandringham estate in the New Year.
Fergie also got caught up in the Epstein scandal after it emerged that she sent the paedophile financier an email calling him a “supreme friend” – despite previously publicly condemning him.
In September, it was revealed that she apologised to the sex offender in April 2011 after publicly disowning him in the media. Her spokesman alleged that she had sent the email as the disgraced financier had threatened to sue her for defamation
It led to the former Duchess being dropped as patron by numerous charities, including the Teenage Cancer Trust and the British Heart Foundation.
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