Royal family member India Oxenberg is pregnant with her and husband Patrick D’Ignazio’s first baby.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Oxenberg, 32, told People of the moment she found out she was expecting. “It took a little bit to fully sink in because you’re sort of in disbelief. You’re like, ‘Really? What is happening? Are we really doing this?’”
She continued, “I felt really emotional about it, and really blessed, and just like, ‘Wow, this really is something that I’ve always wanted, that I in a way told myself I didn’t want for so long.’ Because it was so vulnerable to think about having my own family, and what that means to me.”
India is the daughter of Catherine Oxenberg and William Weitz Shaffer. Catherine, 62, is a second cousin to King Charles III. (Catherine, best known for her role on Dynasty, is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Serbia.)
‘Top Chef’ Alum Michael Voltaggio Expecting 3rd Child, 1st With Wife Bria
“I’m not part of the inner circle,” Catherine previously said during a 2019 interview with Studio 10 before detailing her relatives’ reaction to her role as Princess Diana in the 1982 TV movie The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana. “There was a certain king of a certain country, who sent me a letter saying that I was a disgrace and then mom’s feathers were ruffled. She was very worried how her family would take it.”
Elizabeth, now 87, had reached out to Charles, now 75, directly since they are “very close.”
Catherine added at the time, “[My mother] said, ‘My daughter is playing Diana in this film and I just wanted to let you know and ask for your blessing.’ He was wonderful actually, he said, ‘Look, they’re going to make this film regardless. At least she can bring dignity to the role.’ And I thought that was a very gracious way to respond.”
A Breakdown of the Royal Line of Succession
India has also followed in mom Catherine’s footsteps as an actress. Years later, she was involved in the NXIVM cult. India’s 2021 memoir, Still Learning, documents her experience leaving the organization.
Since then, India found love with chef D’Ignazio in 2018. They got engaged in October 2019, one year before tying the knot. They have since moved to Key West where D’Ignazio runs his own restaurant, Eaton Good.
Once they settled into their new coastal life, they were ready to expand their family.
“This next phase of life for me is really about living and being able to have a joyful life,” she told People. “Because even though I know being a parent is going to be challenging at times, I feel like it’s giving me permission to put a lot of what I went through in the past and be present with this new future that I’m creating.”
