UK's Prince Edward and wife expecting 2nd child

LONDON, July 2 (Reuters) The youngest son of Britain's Queen Elizabeth, Prince Edward, and his wife Sophie are expecting their second child later this year, Buckingham Palace said today.

The couple were said to be ''thrilled and excited'' by the news, while the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were delighted, a spokeswoman said.

The Edward and his wife, who are also known as the Earl and Countess of Wessex, already have a daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, who was born prematurely in 2003.

''The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and members of both families are delighted with the news,'' the palace said in a statement. The baby will be the Queen's eighth grandchild.

The 43-year-old Edward is seventh in line to the throne. He met his wife Sophie, 42, at a charity event in 1993 and they married in Windsor six years later.

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