Their Second Child : Fergie, Andrew Expecting

The Duchess of York is expecting a second baby in March, Buckingham Palace announced today.

“It is great news,” said the red-haired wife of Prince Andrew, who is the second son of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.

The former Sarah Ferguson, popularly known as “Fergie,” and Andrew were “very pleased” to make the announcement, a palace statement said.

The new baby will be the monarch’s sixth grandchild. If the baby is a boy, he will supersede his sister, 13-month-old Princess Beatrice, to become fifth in line to the throne. A girl would follow Beatrice as sixth in line.

Andrew, 29, a navy lieutenant, was attending a refresher helicopter course at Portland navy base in southern England when the announcement was made.

The duchess, who will be 30 in October, was attending a literary luncheon. She told reporters, “I am very pleased that the news did not leak out. . . . I didn’t want it splashed all over the front page.

“Andrew is away flying helicopters, and I decided to announce it because it is three months.”