Princess Beatrice has given birth to her second child, a daughter named Athena. She was born several weeks prematurely, weighing only 4lb 5oz, however a statement from Buckingham Palace says she is healthy and doing well.
In Athena’s first official portrait, the royal family Instagram account shared a picture of her wrapped in a pink blanket with her hand covering her face. ‘Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice and Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are delighted to announce the safe arrival of their daughter, Athena Elizabeth Rose Mapelli Mozzi,’ the caption reads.
‘Princess Beatrice and Mr Mapelli Mozzi would like to thank all the staff at the hospital for their wonderful care. Her Royal Highness and her daughter are healthy and doing well, and the family are enjoying spending time together with Athena’s older siblings, Wolfie and Sienna.’ Mapelli Mozzi added that ‘she is tiny and absolutely perfect’ and the family is ‘completely besotted with her’.
The fact they chose a picture where Athena’s face cannot be seen, likely due to concerns about privacy, is perhaps telling of how the royal couple plan to approach social media moving forward.
In 2012, The Wall Street Journal coined the term ‘sharenting’ to describe the phenomenon of parents sharing photos and videos of their children on social media. As social media has expanded and evolved over the past decade, becoming an almost unavoidable part of everyday life, a growing number of parents are coming to realise the dangers that come with sharing your child’s image online. As well as the simple fact that children cannot consent to ‘sharenting’ themselves.
A 2021 survey by Security found that more than three quarters of parents in the US have shared stories, videos, or images of their children on social media. In these posts, more than 80 per cent use their children’s real names, and nearly a quarter of parents have public settings on social media meaning anyone can see what they post.
While in an ideal world these posts would only reach trusted friends and family, we do not live in an ideal world. With sharenting comes a risk of identity theft and cyberbullying, amongst other things. It's hard to know if this is behind Princess Beatrice's decision.
Given the celebrity and reach of the royal family, it would be surprising if Princess Beatrice did not have some of these concerns in mind. While she is the first member of the working royal family to announce the birth of her child with a picture where you cannot see the baby’s face, she is not the first to change tack on this subject.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, for their part, have been judicious about whether images of their children are shared online for years. In their recent six-picture digital Christmas card, Archie and Lilibet, who are five and three years old respectively, can be seen from a distance and have their backs facing the camera.
It is the first time their image has been seen since Harry and Meghan’s eponymous Netflix documentary in 2022, where the couple shared a photo with their children at the end of the final episode. Even then, the pictures were considered ‘rare’ and did not show either child’s full face.
Harry is reportedly particularly ‘reluctant’ to have images of his children in the public sphere given how freely his image was shared during his childhood, and the negative impact it had on his life. Last summer, a source told People that Harry is prioritising safeguarding his children’s privacy to help them ‘lead as normal a life as possible’.
In August, the couple launched the Parents’ Network, an online initiative through their Archewell Foundation that aims to create a ‘safe and supportive community [that] is available to all caregivers navigating the complex digital world’. The initiative offers resources to help families protect children from online harm.
It is possible, then, that Beatrice is following suit. Unlike the Prince and Princess of Wales’s three children, who are arguably the most public facing children in the royal family and have little choice about whether they are recognised, it is possible for less senior royals to make a judgement call.
When Beatrice’s first daughter Sienna was born, they did not share a picture at all. In fact, when Kensington Palace released a picture of Queen Elizabeth with her great grandchildren to mark her 97th birthday in 2023, Sienna was notably absent, with fans noticing a photograph with her on the Queen's table in the background. She has since been pictured facing away from the camera, rather like Archie and Lilibet, but it does not seem as though that precedent will change anytime soon.
While it is unlikely that sharenting will cease anytime soon, there is certainly a growing, collective feeling of unease about its implications. Not only is Beatrice’s decision to share a slightly concealed picture of Athena a sign of respect for her daughter’s privacy, but it challenges the idea that public figures have to share pictures of their children in the first place.
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).