Princess Beatrice Compelled to Sell Priceless Gift from Late Queen – What Happened?

Princess Beatrice, who turns 36 today, was gifted a very extravagant present by the late Queen Elizabeth II when she was just a youngster, however her mum Sarah Ferguson had concerns about it

As Princess Beatrice marks her 36th birthday today, she’ll likely be receiving some extravagant gifts.

She can probably count on some lovely presents from her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, but nothing will be able to beat a special gift that she once received from her late grandmother the Queen. Her Majesty was well-known for spoiling her grandchildren and in the past has treated both Prince William and Prince Harry to beautiful homes on their wedding days.

And it seems that the monarch also did the same for Beatrice as well as her younger sister Princess Eugenie. In 1997, it is believed she splashed out to buy Birch Hall – a seven-bedroom Georgian mansion in Surrey – that she gifted to the sisters, who were just seven and nine at the time.

The stunning house boasts a tennis court, swimming pool and a separate two-bedroom house on the five-acre site, so it sounds like it would have been the perfect home for the princesses and their mum Sarah Ferguson. However, Beatrice and Eugenie never moved in and it sat empty for two years.

That’s because Fergie reportedly refused to move in, saying she couldn’t afford the huge running and upkeep costs, reports the Mail. So two years after the Queen bought it, it was sold with estate agents saying the sale was “due to a change of circumstance”.

It was reported that the cash was put into a trust for the sisters to access when they were older. Speaking at the time of the second sale, Andrew Russell, from estate agents Strutt & Parker, told the Mail: “It is probably one of the very best of north Surrey’s village houses, there’s not many that come on the market.