HaveUHeard

Jennifer Gates is expecting her first child with husband Nayel Nassar.

The 26-year old daughter of billionaire Bill Gates and his ex wife Melinda revealed the happy news on Thanksgiving as she debuted her bump while posing with fellow equestrian Nayel, 31.

The star captioned the snap ‘Thankful’ while cradling her growing bump in an emerald green dress. 

The pair posed in the backyard of the family’s 142-acre estate in North Salem, New York.

A second snap showed a radiant snap of Jennifer staring down at her blossoming bump while posing in a garden. 

Proud grandmother-to-be Melinda, 58, wrote: ‘I couldn’t be more excited to meet this little one and watch you two become parents.’

Jennifer and Nayel’s baby will be the first grandchild for Bill and Melinda – who divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. 

Both Bill and Melinda were there to walk Jennifer down the aisle on her big day last fall, putting differences aside in the midst of their high-profile divorce.

Melinda shared one of the first photos shortly after the nuptials, showing the moment she and Nayel walked back up the aisle on October 16 2021, moments after being pronounced husband and wife.

The photo was taken after the couple’s second set of vows, which followed a smaller religious Muslim ceremony in the garden of the family’s 142-acre estate in North Salem, New York. 

Jennifer proudly posted the wedding photo on Instagram early Monday afternoon, adding the caption: ‘My universe 10.16.21.’  

Meanwhile, Jennifer’s mother also shared a new photo from the special day. 

‘What a joy to celebrate the light and love of @jenniferkgates and @nayelnassar this past weekend. So grateful we were able to find a way to safely gather for this special day,’ she wrote, captioning a photo of Jennifer and Nayel posing together outdoors. 

The couple hosted 300 guests for the occasion. 

In paparazzi photos, Jennifer was seen clutching a bouquet ahead of the ceremony, her veil lifted over her face. She wore her auburn hair half up and half down and wore a pair of earrings to accent her dress.

The wedding weekend also involved a wind-down brunch, catering by renowned New York City restaurants, and performances by Coldplay. Event planner Marcy Blum took the reins for the weekend. 

The bride had nine bridesmaids dressed in evergreen. All appeared to be smiling and laughing as they posed for pictures, and one of the bridesmaids was seen holding up Gates’ long veil. 

The ceremony was performed by a longtime family friend, and the bride and groom wrote their own vows.

Following the ceremony, the couple, who began dating in 2017 – made a quick getaway to have some private wedding photos taken on the estate, while guests headed into a specially constructed ‘botanical garden’ where the cocktail hour was being held.

Jennifer and Bill danced to Elton John’s Can You Feel The Love Tonight, while her first dance with her new husband was Yellow Lights, a song ‘which was written and performed by their friend and artist Harry Hudson.’

Coldplay also performed at the reception. 

The guest list mostly consisted of friends and family, with few celebrities or politicians invited. Georgina Bloomberg, the daughter of billionaire Michael Bloomberg and a fellow professional equestrian who owns a horse farm nearby.

The rehearsal dinner — which secretly served as a reception for the private religious ceremony — was catered by Jean-Georges and included a lobster dish and pasta.

The extravagant two-day event, costing an estimated $2 million, was orchestrated by famed wedding planner Marcy Blum, whose elite client list includes Kevin Bacon, LeBron James, and Billy Joel. 

In an interview with Vogue, Jenn said it had been ‘challenging’ planning the event through the pandemic and while her family was ‘going through transitions.’ 

‘It’s been a challenging year, both collectively with the pandemic and for our families going through transitions. But our love for one another has been a constant. Being able to celebrate our wedding with our closest friends and family was a dream come true,’ she said. 

Jennifer, who is in medical school, said it was ‘no small feat’ putting it all together.  

‘Planning a wedding while I was in medical school rotations and Nayel was preparing for the Olympics was no small feat,’ she said. Nassar competed for Egypt during this year’s Olympics.

Jennifer also told Vogue she required all 300 of their wedding guests to be vaccinated and take COVID tests, she said, in order to ensure everyone’s safety.

‘We made the decision that all guests must be fully vaccinated and receive a negative test result prior to the wedding. We also made masks available. We feel incredibly fortunate to be able to gather with our loved ones safely. We know others aren’t as lucky, especially as the pandemic continues to devastate communities in the United States and around the world,’ she said.

‘One piece of advice we were given [throughout the planning process] was to remember that this day is about us and our love,’ she went on. 

‘I think we really kept that at the center of our minds while planning, and we also tried to ensure that our families and friends were able to enjoy themselves.’

After Bill and Melinda’s divorce, the pair reportedly split their joint $130 billion net worth, but it has not been made public how exactly they divided their many assets and large fortune. 

The couple owned homes in five different states, a fleet of cars including a rare $2 million Porsche, an art collection that includes a $30 million book of writings and sketches by Leonardo Da Vinci, and a series of private jets.

The Gates had a string of luxury mansions across the US – including Florida, California, and Wyoming – but their main family home was in Washington, near the Gates Foundation headquarters. 

Last month Melinda opened up about her ‘unbelievably painful’ divorce from Microsoft billionaire Bill  explaining that she ‘just couldn’t stay in that marriage anymore’, while sharing her struggle to continue working alongside her former spouse even as they were in the midst of splitting up. 

Now, the computer scientist has opened up about her decision to leave her husband-of-nearly-three-decades, telling Fortune magazine in a new interview that the COVID-19 pandemic helped give her the ‘privacy to do what she needed to do.’

‘I had some reasons I just couldn’t stay in that marriage anymore,’ she explained. ‘But the odd thing about COVID is that it gave me the privacy to do what I needed to do. 

‘It’s unbelievably painful, in innumerable ways, but I had the privacy to get through it.’

While they were together, the pair welcomed three children over the years – Jennifer, 25, Rory, 23, and Phoebe, 19.

They also founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation together in 2000, and even after going their separate ways, the former couple continued to run the foundation together – which Melinda said helped her get through it.

‘I kept working with the person I was moving away from, and I needed to show up and be my best self every single day,’ she continued. 

‘So even though I might be crying at 9am and then have to be on a video-conference at 10am with the person I’m leaving, I have to show up and be my best.’

She added that her ‘main concern’ was always ‘protecting her kids’ and that she is thankful that she and Bill have now ‘gotten to the other side.’