The Princess Royal's son Peter Phillips and his wife are expecting their second child, Buckingham Palace confirmed last night.
Canadian Autumn Phillips is due to have her baby in March. The couple already have a daughter, Savannah, who is 12th in line to the throne.
A spokesman for Buckingham Palace said: 'The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, as well as Autumn's family, have been informed and are delighted with the news.'
Their first child, and the Queen's first great-grandchild, a daughter named Savannah, was born on 29 December 2010 at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
Mr and Mrs Phillips attracted media attention when they sold their wedding photos to Hello! magazine in May 2008 for a reported £500,000.
The episode provoked claims the couple had exploited their Royal status.
At the time Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb called the move 'a serious error of judgment'.
And Labour MP Ian Gibson said that the British public would have been shocked to see their monarch in the magazine, saying: 'She is the Queen, not a footballer's wife'.
Photos of the couple on honeymoon on safari in South Africa were also released to the press, arising suspicion they received the £1,000-a-night accommodation for free - or at least at a knock-down rate - in return for their co-operation.
Although he is 11th in line to the throne, Peter does not have a royal title as his mother declined to give her children the HRH title at birth.
The Phillipses lived in Hong Kong after he moved jobs within the Royal Bank of Scotland to head their sponsorships activities in the region. They now live in London where he continues to work for the bank.
Autumn was born and brought up a Roman Catholic but renounced her faith shortly before their wedding so her husband-to-be did not have to give up his claim to the throne.
Savannah Phillips was baptised on Saturday, 23 April 2011, at Holy Cross Church in Avening, Gloucestershire, near the Princess Royal's home, Gatcombe Park, with the Queen present at the happy event.
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