Princess Eugenie: 11 fast facts to know before her wedding
Queen's third-youngest grandchild went to school with Kate Middleton and had a unique christening
It is less than two days until Princess Eugenie ties the knot with boyfriend Jack Brooksbank.
The ceremony will be held on Friday at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, where Prince Harry married Meghan Markle in May, and will likely be a “lavish affair”, says the Daily Express.
Eugenie follows many other royals who have said “I do” in the chapel, including her cousin Peter Phillips and Autumn Kelly in 2008 and her uncle Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999.
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The couple are understood to be inviting 1,200 members of the public to attend the ceremony, in a similar move to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Buckingham Palace has announced that Prince George and Princess Charlotte will be among the pageboys and bridesmaids, while Eugenie’s sister, Princess Beatrice, has been confirmed as the maid of honour.
Here are a few facts you might not know about Princess Eugenie.
She is the Queen's third-youngest grandchild
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Eugenie, 27, born Princess Eugenie Victoria Helena of York, is the youngest daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York - the Queen's second-youngest child - and his former wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. She is the younger sister of Princess Beatrice. She has two younger cousins and four older cousins, including Princes Harry and William.
Her christening was unique
Eugenie’s christening was held in Sandringham on 23 December 1990, and to date she is the only member of the royal family whose christening was made public.
Former royal butler Grant Harold told the Daily Express that the decision to bring Eugenie’s christening into the limelight might have been considered “a very modern way of doing things” at the time, and that it was a “personal choice” for the Duke and Duchess of Yorkshire.
She once revealed how amicable her parents’ divorce was
The London Evening Standard writes that although the Duke and Duchess of York split up when Eugenie was just six years old, they have “famously remained friends”, prompting Eugenie to at one point describe her parents as “the best divorced couple I know”.
She went to the same school as Kate Middleton
Eugenie intitially attended Upton House School in Windsor, before moving to Marlborough College, a private boarding school founded in the early 1800s.
Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, also attended the school, as did poets John Betjeman and Siegfried Sassoon, author Dick King-Smith and Samantha Cameron, the Standard adds.
She’s ninth in line for the throne
Princess Eugenie is ninth in line for the throne, having been bumped back following the birth of each of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s three children.
She campaigns for charities related to her own struggles
“When she was 12, Eugenie underwent back surgery to correct her scoliosis, and to this day has metal rods in her back after the procedure,” Town and Country Magazine says. “Ever since then, she has made it a goal to support others with similar conditions.”
She is a patron of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, the Elephant Family, the Teenage Cancer Trust, the Coronet Theater and the European School of Osteopathy.
She works in the art world
She graduated from Newcastle University in 2013 with degrees in art history and English literature before spending two years living in New York and working as a specialist at online auction house Paddle8, according to Harper’s Bazaar.
More recently she has worked in London as an associate director of Hauser & Wirth, a contemporary art gallery. “I’ve loved art since I was very little,” she told the magazine. “I knew I definitely wouldn’t be a painter, but I knew this was the industry for me. I love being able to share my passion for art with people.”
She does not carry out public duties
Unlike her cousins Princes William and Harry, Princess Eugenie does not carry out any public duties, and therefore does not receive an allowance from the Privy Purse, and her independent activities are not listed in the Court Circular, according to Royal Central.
She is still worth millions
Princess Eugenie and her sister Beatrice “have always been somewhat of a mystery when it comes to their job, salaries and wealth – given that they do not work in an official capacity for the Queen in the same way that Catherine, William, Meghan and Harry do”, says Woman and Home, “but their estimated worth is certainly nothing to sniff at – and is actually gathered from lots of different places”.
The magazine estimates Eugenie’s gallery job could net her as much as £110,000 a year, but most of her wealth derives from two trust funds set up by her great-grandmother, the Queen Mother, and her parents.
According to Cosmopolitan: “Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s divorce had a silver lining, because Eugenie ended up getting yet another trust fund out of it. Apparently, the Duchess of York and her daughters received £3 million from the royal family as part of the 1996 divorce settlement – supposedly, £1.4 million of which was given with the intention of setting up a trust for Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie”.
All these mean Eugenie’s total net work its estimated to be £3.6million. While substantial, this pales in comparison to her cousins Prince William and Harry who are worth around £30 million each.
She met her fiancee while skiing
Mutual friends introduced Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank during a ski trip in Verbier, Switzerland. He proposed in Nicaragua in early January, Town and Country Magazine reports.
Eugenie will remain a princess
It has been announced that Eugenie will remain a Princess and retain her HRH title after her wedding when she marries Brooksbank, taking the title HRH The Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank.
According to Town and Country Magazine, Brooksbank will not be granted a title, and will remain a member of the public.