The Queen has received some very happy news in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. It has been revealed that close family friend Alexandra Knatchbull and her husband Thomas Hooper have welcomed their second child together. The couple, who were married in June 2016, are now the proud parents to son Alden Peter Theodore Mountbatten, who arrived on 27 March. He is a younger brother for Inigo Norton Sebastian Mountbatten, who was born on 21 December 2017.
Alexandra Knatchbull and Thomas Hooper have welcomed their second baby
Alexandra is the daughter of Prince Charles's very close friends, Lord and Lady Brabourne. A forensic accountant and theology graduate of Regent's Park College Oxford, she is the great granddaughter of the late Lord Mountbatten, who was killed in 1979 by an IRA bomb, and the goddaughter of the late Diana, Princess of Wales. The two families have a long history together; Lord Brabourne is also Prince Philip's godson, and is godfather to Prince William. Prince Charles was best man at his wedding, while his son Nicholas was good friends with Prince William at school, acting as a peer mentor throughout his studies at Eton. So close is their bond that Prince Charles also gave away Alexandra at her wedding, with her father too ill to take on the role himself.
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Alexandra and Thomas were married in a beautiful ceremony held at Romsey Abbey in Hampshire, dubbed the ‘society wedding of the year’. Among the guests in attendance were the Queen and Prince Philip and Princess Anne, along with royal family members from around the world, including Queen Sophia of Spain, Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan and the former King Constantine II and Queen Anne-Marie of Greece.
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Prince Charles had the honour of giving Alexandra away on her wedding day
Speaking before the ceremony, Rev Canon Timothy Sledge told the congregation that Alexandra and her family had been "looking forward to the big day". "They've put in a huge amount of effort, thought and care into it. It’s got that personal touch," he remarked. "It's very much what they wanted and what the bride wanted." Alexandra and Thomas met through her work at the consultancy firm FTI Consulting, and were in a relationship for several years prior to their marriage.