Princess Beatrice is expecting her first baby in Autumn, Buckingham Palace has announced.

He or she will be the fourth royal baby to arrive this year and the Queen’s 12th great-grandchild.

The Princess and her husband - Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi - are “very pleased” to be welcoming their first child, according to The Palace.

The news has reportedly brought joy to the monarch and the royal family who are mourning the loss of the Duke of Edinburgh.

The Palace said: “The Queen has been informed and both families are delighted with the news.”

Beatrice, 32, and Mozzi married last July in a secret lockdown wedding after their planned ceremony was postponed because of the pandemic.

The baby will be the Queen’s 12th great-grandchild following the arrival of the Sussexes’ second child in the summer.

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Beatrice’s younger sister Princess Eugenie welcomed a baby boy, named August, in February.

Her cousin Zara Tindall also welcomed her third child, Lucas, in March - while Harry and Meghan will welcome a daughter in the next few months.

However, Beatrice will be hoping for a more straightforward delivery than Zara, who gave birth on the bathroom floor as she was unable to make it to hospital in time.

Beatrice is already stepmother to Mozzi’s young son Wolfie, from his previous relationship.

Mozzi, also nown as Edo, is a millionaire property tycoon and the son of former Olympic skier Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi.

The Herald: Princess Beatrice and husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Credit: PAPrincess Beatrice and husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Credit: PA

The princess is the eldest daughter of the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York.

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Ninth in line to the throne, she will move to 10th place when the Sussexes’ baby arrives and her baby will enter the line of succession in 11th place.

Beatrice is vice president of partnerships and strategy at Afiniti, an artificial intelligence software firm.

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

The Queen’s other grandchildren include Savannah and Isla Phillips; Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis of Cambridge; Mia and Lena Tindall; and Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.

Upon meeting George in 2013, it was the first time in almost 120 years that a reigning monarch had met a future king three generations ahead.