Bella’s twin brother Angel passed away tragically shortly after his birth in April 2022.
Cristiano Ronaldo is congratulating his eldest daughter Bella Esmeralda.
The friendly dad, 38, marked Bella’s 1st birthday on Instagram on Wednesday and shared a sweet snap of his little girl sitting on his lap.
“Parabés pelo teυ primeiro ano de vida, meυ love. O papá ama-te mυito!️,” the soccer star captioned the father-daughter photo, which translates into English as “Happy first year of life, my love. Dad loves you very much! ️.”
In the last photo, the Al-Nassr FC star is dressed casually in a white T-shirt and blue shorts, while Bella sports a white lace collar, navy sweater and gray leggings to hug dad.
The athlete’s longtime girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez first shared the adorable photo in February.
“Bella Esmeralda. That look, so strong and delicate, that God gave. Love them,” Rodrígυez, 29, captioned the snap.
“So much like dad. My love 🥰,” the Portuguese football star wrote in the comments section.
Bella’s twin, a boy, died last year shortly after birth. Ronaldo and Rodriguez recounted the tragic news in a heartbreaking social media post on April 18, 2022.
“We must announce with the deepest sadness that our little boy has passed away. It is the greatest pain any father can feel,” Ronaldo wrote. “It is the birth of our baby girl that gives us the strength to live this moment with some hope and happiness.”
Ronaldo rewrote the post by thanking their doctors and nurses for “all their support and expert care.”
“We are all saddened by this loss and we kindly ask for privacy at this very difficult time. Hey boy, you are my angel. We will always love you,” he accompanied the post.
The couple also shares 5-year-old daughter Alana Martina, while Ronaldo is father to 12-year-old Cristiano Jr. and 5-and-a-half-year-old twins Eva Maria and Mateo.
In November, Ronaldo disputed an interview with Piers Morgan about the moment he told his eldest child that while Bella was born healthy, her twin brother had passed away.
“Gio got home and the kids started asking, ‘Where’s that baby, where’s that baby?’” Ronaldo said.
“The kids started saying ‘Mom, where is that baby…?’ ” he agreed. “After a week, I said, ‘Be frank, and be kind to the children – say Áпgel, his name, he’s coming to Heaveп.’ ”
Ronaldo also told the British TV host how difficult it was to cope with the loss. “Piers, probably the worst moment I’ve had in my life, since my father passed away… It was difficult… we had a lot of difficult moments because we didn’t understand why it happens again with υs,” he said.
Adding that he had struggled with living and the other dying, Ronaldo said sadly: “I have never felt happy and sad in the same moment. I have never felt. It’s hard to explain.”
