Throughout the year, we've reported on various members of the Royal Family and their business endeavors. However, there are some members of the family who are forced to work jobs unrelated to the House of Windsor's royal duties. This is because full-time opportunities to represent the Crown are often reserved for senior members of the family.
In Princess Beatrice's case, the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson works in the private sector as an accomplished technology executive and philanthropist. According to the Global Thinkers Forum, Beatrice is the Vice President of Partnerships and Strategy at Afiniti. The full-time position gives the royal a chance to influence the future of artificial intelligence in her own way without having to be involved directly in politics.
An advocate for gender equality in the technology sector
Princess Beatrice's role at Afiniti gives her the platform needed to comment on issues related to artificial intelligence, technology, and the ethics of the tech industry. In 2024 alone, Beatrice contributed to the Spotify x Journal House panel at Cannes Lions 2024 and the ADIPEC Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi. At Cannes Lions, Beatrice focused on the use of emotional intelligence when deploying AI technologies. This makes sense, as the Princess is known to use her technological and managerial experience when advocating for women in the workplace.
According to Hello! Magazine, Beatrice's time at Afiniti showed her the contributions women make to businesses throughout their careers. Despite these contributions, however, many women are unable to excel in the workplace because of archaic gender norms. This reality motivates Beatrice to advocate for women in business and express why they should be given more opportunities to serve at the top of their organizations.
In 2019, the Princess spoke at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona and delivered a speech entitled "Scaling Your Business for Success." According to E! Online, Beatrice's speech reflected on her fight against gender norms in the technology industry and how she overcame them. In the same speech, she also highlighted how the technology sector was a bit of a boys club when she began her career.
Since her speech in Barcelona, Beatrice has been on the front line as a major voice for women in technology, business, and leadership. The Princess attends conferences to promote sound ethics, widespread gender equality, and the positive use of emerging technologies. These efforts are amplified by Beatrice's work in the numerous charities she patronizes.
Beatrice's philanthropic endeavors
Like other members of the Royal Family, Beatrice has an immense list of charities she supports when she is outside the office. According to various sources, the Princess is a patron of the Berkshire Community Foundation, the Franks Family Foundation, and the Northwood African Education Foundation. The Global Thinkers Forum also states that the Princess is the founder of the Big Change Charitable Trust.
These reports show that Princess Beatrice is just as busy as everyone else in the Royal Family despite being a member of the private sector. We're sure she gets a few more perks than the average Joe because of her affiliations, but Beatrice is an accomplished professional whose earned most of what she has through hard work and a passion for helping women gain more equity in the technology sector.
Recent history shows that Beatrice is not done making her industry a better place. We can't wait to see what she does next!