Eugenie's parents divorced when she was six years old.[5] The Duke and Duchess of York agreed to joint custody of their two children.[6] After the divorce, the Queen provided her parents with £1.4 million to set up a trust fund for her sisterBeatrice and her.[7] Eugenie and her sister frequently travelled abroad with one or both of their parents.[8]
In October 2002, the 12-year-old Eugenie underwent back surgery at theRoyal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London to correctscoliosis;[9] two 300-millimetre (12 in) titanium rods were put in her back.[10][11] After the operation the princess was not required to undergo any further spinal surgeries.[12]
Eugenie began her education at Winkfield Montessori School, which she attended from 1992 to 1993. She then joined her sister at Upton House School inWindsor, where she studied until 1995. From 1995 to 2001, she attended Coworth Park School (now Coworth Flexlands School), followed bySt George’s School nearWindsor Castle until 2003. She subsequently boarded atMarlborough College inWiltshire for five years.[13] During her time at Marlborough, Eugenie completed threeA-levels, earning 'A' grades inArt andEnglish Literature, and a 'B' inHistory of Art. After taking a gap year, she enrolled atNewcastle University in September 2009, graduating in 2012 with a 2:1 degree inEnglish Literature andArt History.[14][15]
In 2013, Eugenie relocated toNew York City for a year to work as a benefit auctions manager at the online auction housePaddle8. In July 2015, she returned to London to join the contemporary art galleryHauser & Wirth as an associate director and was promoted to director in 2017.[16][17][18]
In theChannel 5 documentary Beatrice and Eugenie: Pampered Princesses, royal commentator Richard Kay stated that Eugenie received taxpayer-funded security while travelling internationally during her gap year.[19]In January 2022, reports emerged that Princess Eugenie lost her taxpayer-funded police security in 2011, reportedly following an intervention by her uncle,Charles III (then Prince of Wales). The decision was driven by concerns over the high cost of providing security for non-working royals. During her gap year, Eugenie’s taxpayer-funded security reportedly cost over £100,000. Charles considered the expense excessive, as Eugenie and Beatrice were unlikely to take on major royal duties. The move is said to have angered the Duke, who argued to the Queen that his daughters should be treated as full members of the royal family.[20]
In July 2023, Eugenie joined theadvisory board of Goals House, a community dedicated to advancing theUnited Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.[21]
Buckingham Palace announced the engagement of Eugenie andJack Brooksbank on 22 January 2018. The couple had been dating for seven years, and were introduced by friends in a ski break inVerbier,Switzerland, where Brooksbank was working.[22] They were engaged on vacation inNicaragua.[23] In April 2018, the couple moved fromSt James's Palace and took up residence inIvy Cottage atKensington Palace.[24] Thewedding took place atSt George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 12 October 2018.The wedding dress was designed by the British fashion designer Peter Pilotto and Belgian Christopher de Vos of British-based label Peter Pilotto,[25] and was designed to display her surgical scar. Eugenie chose to show her scar to honour those that helped her, and to inspire others with the condition of scoliosis.[26][27]
The Brooksbanks have two sons. The first, August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, was born on 9 February 2021 at thePortland Hospital in London, born bycaesarean section due to his mother's childhood scoliosis operation.[28][29] At birth, he was eleventh in line to the throne and is now thirteenth. He is named after his great-grandfatherPrince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and two of his five-times great-grandfathers: Reverend Edward Hawke Brooksbank, andPrince Albert, whose given names included "Augustus".[30] August was christened at theRoyal Chapel of All Saints,Windsor Park, on 21 November 2021, alongside his second cousin,Lucas Tindall.[31] Eugenie gave birth to a second son, Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank, on 30 May 2023. He is named after his great-great-great-grandfatherGeorge V, whose third given name was Ernest, his grandfather George Brooksbank and his great-grandfatherMajor Ronald Ferguson.[32] Ernest was born thirteenth in line to the throne and is now fourteenth.[33]
From November 2020 to May 2022, the couple's main residence wasFrogmore Cottage, which was leased to Eugenie's cousinPrince Harry. In May 2022, it was reported they had moved to Portugal, where Brooksbank works forMichael Meldman, and that they would once again stay at Ivy Cottage while in the UK.[34]
Eugenie receives no allowance from thePrivy Purse.[35] She does, however, undertake occasional public engagements, which are usually connected with the charities she supports, including theTeenage Cancer Trust andChildren in Crisis. In 2018, Children in Crisis merged with Street Child, a children's charity active in multiple countries, with Eugenie still serving as an ambassador.[36]
Eugenie and her sister represented their father at a service of thanksgiving for her aunt,Diana, Princess of Wales, in 2007. In 2008, she performed her first solo public engagement, opening aTeenage Cancer Trust's unit for young cancer patients inLeeds.[37]
On 2 June 2011, Eugenie visited theRoyal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) with her father as one of her first official engagements. In April 2012 she agreed to be patron for the hospital's Redevelopment Appeal,[10] which was her first patronage. In 2014, Eugenie re-opened the children's unit at the RNOH.[38] In 2014, she partnered withDaisy London Jewellery to create a limited edition charity bracelet to benefit the RNOH's Appeal.[39] Eugenie became patron of the RNOH Charity in March 2019.[40] In the same year she was named patron of Horatio's Garden, a charity that creates gardens for patients inNHS spinal injury centres.[41]
Princess Eugenie (left) with her sister Beatrice atTrooping the Colour in 2013
In January 2013, Eugenie and her sister promoted Britain overseas in Germany.[42] In 2016, Eugenie, along with her mother and sister, collaborated with British contemporary artistTeddy McDonald. The painting on canvas, titled Royal Love, was painted at Royal Lodge and exhibited in London prior to being sold with all proceeds from the sale of the painting donated by McDonald to the charity Children in Crisis.[43] Eugenie and her sister became Patrons of theTeenage Cancer Trust in June 2016.[44] She is also Patron of the Coronet Theatre, the European School of Osteopathy, the Tate Young Patrons and, alongside her mother, theElephant Family,[45] of which her uncle and aunt, theKing andQueen, are joint presidents.[46] In 2016, Eugenie visited a safe house run byThe Salvation Army and met with victims of sexual abuse and modern slavery.[47]
In 2017, Eugenie became the ambassador for the Artemis Council of theNew Museum, a by-invitation membership initiative focused solely on supporting female artists.[48] Eugenie also became an ambassador of Project 0 in 2018, a charity which in partnership with Sky Ocean Rescue, focuses on protecting the ocean fromplastic pollution.[49][50] In July 2018, in her capacity as co-founder and director ofthe Anti-Slavery Collective, Eugenie spoke at theNEXUS Global Summit at theUN headquarters in New York to discuss endingmodern slavery.[51][52] She and Julia de Boinville founded the collective in 2017 after a trip toKolkata in 2012, where they first became familiar with the subject.[53] In September 2018, she travelled to Serbia to visit ASTRA and ATINA, two grantees of the UN Trust Fund which fight against the issues of human trafficking and violence against women.[54] In August 2019, it was announced that she would launch a podcast, the first member of the royal family to do so. Together with Julia de Boinville, co-founder of the Anti-Slavery Collective, they highlighted and discussed issues related to modern slavery.[55] The first episode of the podcast, titledFloodlight, was released in April 2022.[56] In July 2019, Princess Eugenie, with the help of theUniversity of Hull's Wilberforce Institute, hosted an event atWestminster Abbey to understand the scale of the plight of modern slavery.[57] In October 2019, Eugenie became patron ofAnti-Slavery International.[58] In April 2019, Eugenie accompanied her grandmother to theRoyal Maundy service atSt George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.[59]
In May 2020, it was revealed that Eugenie and her husband were helpingThe Salvation Army with packing foods amidst theCOVID-19 pandemic.[60] In October 2020, Eugenie became patron of the Scoliosis Association UK.[61] In June 2021, Princess Eugenie became an ambassador for the Blue Marine Foundation, and met with environmentalists atSomerset House.[62] In October 2021, Princess Eugenie visited The Salvation Army's outreach hub as part of her work with the Anti-Slavery Collective. She took part in an art therapy class alongside modern slavery survivors.[63] In June 2022, Eugenie launched theOcean Advocate Series, which features conversations with ocean advocates and experts on how to preserve the seas and the environment.[64]
As a male-line grandchild of the sovereign, Eugenie was known as "Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie of York",[67] with the territorial designation coming from her father's former title,Duke of York. Since her marriage, she has been styled "Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank" in the Court Circular.[68]
Coronet of a male-line grandchild of the sovereign.
Escutcheon
Quarterly 1st and 4th gules three lions passant guardant in pale Or 2nd Or a lion rampant gules within a double tressure flory counterflory gules 3rd azure a harp Or stringed argent. The whole differenced by a label of five points argent, the first, third and fifth points charged with a Scottish thistle.
Supporters
Dexter a lion rampant gardant Or imperially crowned proper, sinister a unicorn argent, armed, craned and unguled Or, gorged with a coronet Or composed of crosses patée and fleurs de lis a chain affixed thereto passing between the forelegs and reflexed over the back also Or.
Banner
The Princess'spersonal standard is that of the sovereign in right of the United Kingdom, labelled for difference as in her arms. (in Scotland)
Symbolism
As with the Royal Arms of the United Kingdom. The first and third quarters are the arms of England, the second of Scotland, the fourth of Ireland. The use of thistles in her Arms continues the trend in royal heraldry (cf. the Arms ofWilliam, Prince of Wales) of using charges from the maternal line, as her mother's coat of arms has a thistle as the main charge.
^Her godparents wereJames Ogilvy (her paternal second cousin once removed); Captain Alastair Ross; Susan Ferguson (her maternal step-grandmother); Julia Dodd-Noble; and Louise Blacker.
^Castle, Stephen (4 February 2008)."From Prince Andrew, critical words for U.S. on Iraq".The New York Times.Archived from the original on 12 September 2024. Retrieved16 March 2018.We have managed to work together to bring our children up in a way that few others have been able to and I am extremely grateful to be able to do that.
The generations indicate descent fromGeorge I, who formalised the use of the titlesprince andprincess for members of the British royal family. Where a princess may have been or is descended from George I more than once, her most senior descent, by which she bore or bears her title, is used.
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