Princess Beatrice's future revealed after stepping in to help slim monarchy

Princess Beatrice has carried out several high-profile royal outings in recent months leading to speculation she could help to bolster King Charles' slimmed-down monarchy - and an insider has revealed what her royal future is set to look like

Princess Beatrice may be ninth in line to the throne - but she holds down her own job as she's not on the list of official working royals.

However, the 36-year-old, who is expecting her second child with husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, often juggles her career with a smattering of royal outings and engagements. And in recent months, she's stepped out to represent both her uncle King Charles and cousin Prince William on official outings.

Back in May, she joined William and her other royal cousins to help him host a Buckingham Palace garden party while just several weeks ago Beatrice, who is a counsellor of state, attended an exhibition at the invitation of the King's Foundation.

It comes as the number of working royals has dramatically reduced since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle quit their royal roles and Beatrice's dad Prince Andrew was also forced to give up public life. This year both the King and Princess of Wales have also had to scale back their duties due to cancer diagnoses.

This has led to calls for Charles to call upon one of his younger relatives to help pick up the slack, with Beatrice the most senior of the non-working royals. But a source has told HELLO! what her royal future looks like - but it doesn't seem full-time engagements are on the cards soon. They explained: "She might help out at things occasionally, such as the Prince of Wales's garden party earlier this year. But it's not a phased introduction into royal duties – it's just her supporting the family."

In recent weeks, Beatrice has also been on her travels visiting Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi for work. It had led to suggestions she had been on these trips as an unofficial representative of the UK. But palace sources called these claims "make-believe".

It comes as it was just two months ago that Beatrice announced that she and Edo were expecting their second child. The late Queen's granddaughter, 36, and her husband, 40, are set to welcome their new addition to their family next year in early spring and announced the news with two adorable family snaps.

The royal baby will be a little brother or sister for the couple's three-year-old daughter Sienna, and Mr Mapelli Mozzi's son and Beatrice's stepson, eight-year-old Wolfie. Beatrice is the eldest daughter of the Duke of York and his ex-wife Sarah, and the new baby will be the Yorks' fourth grandchild. The baby, who will not be an HRH, will be born 11th in line to the throne, with Beatrice's younger sister Princess Eugenie moving down to 12th place.

He or she will also be the 14th great-grandchild of the late Queen Elizabeth II, and the second to be born since her death in 2022, following the arrival of Eugenie's second child Ernest last year. Eugenie also has an older son called August.

Edo is the son of former Olympic skier Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi and Nikki Williams-Ellis. His son Christopher Woolf, nicknamed Wolfie, was born in 2016 to his then-girlfriend, American architect and designer Dara Huang. Beatrice has described Wolfie as her "bonus son" and he joined the Mapelli Mozzis at Kate’s Together At Christmas carol service in Westminster Abbey last December, holding hands with his stepmother as he arrived.