UK: Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank have become parents again

Princess Eugenie of York announced on her Instagram account today, 5 June 2023, that she gave birth to her and her husband Jack Brooksbank's second son on 30 May 2023:

Jack and I wanted to share the news that we had our little boy, Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank on 30th May 2023 at 8.49 weighing 7.1lbs.

He is named after his great great great Grandfather George, his Grandpa George and my Grandpa Ronald.

Augie is loving being a big brother already.

The couple's first son, August, was born on 9 February 2021. The (almost) newborn baby boy, who is 13th in line of succession to the British throne, has, if I understand it correctly, been named Ernest after his great-great-great-grandfather King George V (1865–1936), whose full name was George Frederick Ernest Albert, George after his grandfather George Brooksbank (1949–2021), father of Jack, and Ronnie after his great-grandfather Ronald Ferguson (1931–2003), father of Sarah, Duchess of York. 

The announcement doesn't say anything about where the baby boy was born, but I would guess that Portland Hospital in London, where August was born, is the most likely place of birth.

UK: Princess Eugenie of York's pregnancy announcement

Princess Eugenie of York announced at her official Instagram account earlier today that she and her husband Jack Brooksbank are expecting their second child in the summer of 2023.

Princess Eugenie, the younger daughter of the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, née Ferguson, married Jack Brooksbank on 12 October 2018 at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. They became parents to their first child, August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, on 9 February 2021. 

The Brooksbank baby will enter the line of succession to the British throne as no. 13. He or she will be the Duke of York's third grandchild and the 13th great-grandchild of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

UK: Name of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's son has been announced

Buckingham Palace issued the following statement through social media today concerning the name of Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank's child:

Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank have announced that they have named their son August Philip Hawke Brooksbank. 

The couple have been touched by the well wishes they have received on the birth of their first child, and are delighted to share this first photo as a family.

The photo can be viewed by following the link above.

Baby boy August Brooksbank was born at the Portland Hospital in London on 9 February 2021. The name August might come as a surprise, but not the second given name Philip after his great-grandfather. According to Peerage News, the name Hawke is from the Brooksbank family. It should be added that there are quite a few members of the British royal family named Augustus throughout history, and I guess that could be one explanation? The other would of course be that the parents just happen to like the name!

Postscript 20 February 2021 at 5.55 p.m.): Princess Eugenie has been quoted as writing that her son was named after «both of his great x5 grandfathers», i.e. Rev. Edward Hawke Brooksbank, as mentioned by Peerage News, see link above, and Prince Albert (Francis Albert Augustus Charles Emmanuel), husband of Queen Victoria. It seems that the quote was posted on Princess Eugenie's Instagram account as an «Instagram Story». I have seen the quote, but have no idea how to make a link to it. However, a screenshot has been published at among others  Gert's Royals' Twitter account. 

Updated on 20 February 2021 at 5.55 p.m. (postscript added).

UK: Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's first child

In the early evening today Buckingham Palace announced the birth of Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank's first child:

Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie was safely delivered of a son today, 9th February 2021, at 0855hrs at The Portland Hospital. Jack Brooksbank was present.

The baby weighs 8lbs 1oz.

The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Duke of York, Sarah, Duchess of York, and Mr and Mrs George Brooksbank have been informed and are delighted with the news.

This is Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s first child, The Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York’s first grandchild, and the ninth great-grandchild for The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh. Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well.

The baby boy, whose name has yet to be announced, entered the world as no. 11 in the line of succession to the British throne.

Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank were married at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on 12 October 2018.

UK: Foreign royals at York Brooksbank wedding

Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank got married at St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on Friday 12 October 2018, and I posted a short blog article later the same day.

In the article I listed the following foreign royals attending the wedding:

• Crown Prince Pavlos of Greece
• Crown Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece
• Princess Maria-Olympia of Greece
• Prince Philippos of Greece (with his partner Nina Flohr)
• Prince Ernst August of Hannover
• Princess Ekaterina of Hannover
• Prince Christian of Hannover
• Princess Alessandra of Hannover

Yesterday (13 October) The Telegraph published the article «Royals, sheikhs, supermodels and oligarchs - what Eugenie and Jack's wedding guest list in full reveals» which adds the following guests:

• Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain
• Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, former Emir of Qatar
• Sheikh Suhaim Al Thani of Qatar
• Sheikh Fahad Al Thani of Qatar

Now, The Telegraph writes that «The inclusion of the Crown Prince of Bahrain is bound to raise an eyebrow after the Duke of York’s friendship with the King of Bahrain has attracted negative headlines due to the regime’s poor track record on human rights.» and «Qatari rulers Sheikh Hamad, Sheikh Suhaim and Sheikh Fahad also made it onto the guest list, also a reflection of Prince Andrew’s middle-eastern ties.»

I am quite certain that The Telegraph by Sheik Hamad means the former Emir, but I am not 100 % sure. And there are several sheikhs named Suhaim and Fahad (Fahd), as the genealogy website The Royal Ark demonstrates, so it is not easy to make a well-educated guess. But Fahad (Fahd) might be the elder brother of the current Emir, Tamim, while Suhaim is one of the nephews of Sheik Hamad and thus a cousin to Tamim.

The Telegraphs also adds the Hereditary Prince and Princess of Oettingen-Oettingen and Oettingen-Spielberg to the party, i.e. Franz-Albrecht and Cleopatra. They were also present at the Sussez wedding in May.

Not a royal, but Count Nikolai von Bismarck was also present, accompanied by his girl-friend, the well-known model Kate Moss.

Concerning members of the British Royal Family not attending the wedding, I mentioned in my Friday article that the Duchess of Cornwall was absent due to other commitments, while Princess Alexandra, the Hon. Lady Ogilvy had a broken arm and had cancelled (well, I didn't mention the reason then). It seems that the Duchess of Kent was not present either, for reasons I don't know, even if she was said to be listed in the Court Circular (yesterday's can't be found at the official website as of now as far as I can tell). Very well, I will leave the rest of the more or less complete guest list to Nobiliana and other forums ...

UK: The marriage of Princess Eugenie of York and Jack Brooksbank

The wedding of HRH Princess Eugenie of York, youngest daughter of HRH The Duke of York (Prince Andrew) and Sarah, Duchess of York, née Ferguson, and Jack Brooksbank, eldest child of George Brooksbank and Nicola Brooksbank, née Newton, took place at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle today 12 october 2018 at 11 a.m. local time.

The Dean of Windsor, David Conner, officiated the ceremony. Princess Eugenie's elder sister Princess Beatrix served the role as maid of honour, while Jack's brother Thomas was his best man. The order of service can be viewed here.

Bridesmaids were Princess Charlotte of Cambridge, Savannah and Isla Phillips (daughters of Peter and Autumn Phillips, the former the son of the Princess Royal (Princess Anne) and thus a first cousin of the bride), Mia Tindall (daughter of Mike and Zara Tindall, the latter the daughter of the Princess Royal and thus another first cousin of the bride), Maud Windsor (goddaughter of the bride and daughter of Lord Frederick and Lady Frederick Windsor, née Sophie Winkleman, the former a second cousin of the bride) and Theodora Williams (daughter of the artist Robbie Williams and his partner Ayda Field).

Page Boys were Prince George of Cambridge and Louis de Givenchy (son of Olivier and Zoe De Givenchy, friends), while special attendants were Lady Louise Mountbatten-Windsor, who took good care of the bridal party, and Viscount Severn, both children of the Earl and Countess of Wessex and thus first cousins of the bride.

Most members of the British Royal Family attended the wedding, including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, the Princess Royal (Princess Anne) and Sir Timothy Laurence, the Duke of York (and hs former wife Sarah, Duchess of York), Princess Beatrix of York, the Earl and Countess of Wessex. Also present were the Phillips and the Tindalls and most of the Kents and Gloucesters. Absent were the Duchess of Cornwall, who had other official commitments decided before the wedding date was set (for the tabloids and some royal watchers who think this was a snub: you have won the competion of sillyness) and Princess Alexandra, Lady Ogilvy.

As for other guests, and based on comments on Twitter and Nobiliana, members of the Greek Royal Family included Crown Prince Pavlos, Crown Princess Marie-Chantal, Princess Maria-Olympia and Prince Philippos with his partner Nina Flohr, while the Hannovers were represented by Prince Ernst August and Princess Ekaterina and Prince Christian and Princess Alessandra.

Present were also representatives of various charities which Princess Eugenie is associated with as well as many other relatives and friends. 850 people were invited to attend the ceremony and the reception, and judging from the various news reports, lots of celebrities were in attendance. As the wedding took place in the middle of the day while I was at work, I have not been able to watch much, and  will therefore not comment on all the guests. I am sure a list will be compiled at Nobiliana in the near future.

The wedding ceremony was followed by a reception in  St George's Hall hosted by the Queen and later a party at The Royal Lodge.

UK: HRH Princess Eugenie of York engaged

Buckingham Palace announced today the engagement between Princess Eugenie of York, youngest daughter of HRH The Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York, and Jack Brooksbank. As has become the tradition recently, the engagement was first made public on Twitter, this time via the Duke of York's account:

«The Duke and Duchess of York are delighted to announce the engagement of Princess Eugenie to Mr Jack Brooksbank.

Her Royal Highness and Mr Brooksbank became engaged in Nicaragua earlier this month. 

The wedding will take place in the Autumn of 2018 at George's Chapel in Windsor, with further details to be announced in due course.»

This will be the second wedding in the British Royal Family this year, as Prince Harry will tie the knot with Meghan Markle on 19 May 2018. As Princess Eugenie is currently no. 8 in the line of succession to the British throne, she will not need to seek the consent from her grandmother Queen Elizabeth, cf. the Succession to the Crown Act 2013 Section 3.

According to the official website, Princess Eugenie, b. 23 March 1990, has got a Combined Honours BA in English Literature, History of Art and Politics at Newcastle University in September, 2009, graduating with a 2:1 degree in 2012, and is currently working «full time in the art world», or to be more precise, she is a director at the contemporary art gallery Hauser and Wirth in London.

Eugenie and Jack has been a couple for seven years. Jack, born in 1986, the eldest child of George Brooksbank and Nicola Brooksbank, née Newton, is working in the hospitality industry. He used to be the manager of the nightclub Mahiki in Mayfair, London, and according to the Daily Express, he is now working as «the Brand Ambassador of Casamigos Tequila, the award winning brand owned by George Clooney, Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman that recently sold to Diageo for $1Billion.»

The Duke of York expressed in a statement released on Twitter later today that «We are overjoyed at the news today that Eugenie and Jack have got engaged. Jack is an absolutely outstanding young man and Eugenie and he have got to know each other over a number of years, and I'm really thrilled for them.» His ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York made several tweets, first writing just «Total joy!!» as well as posting a photo of the happy couple, then she followed up with «They float with laughter and love .. although a boat helps!» paired with yet another photo of the couple, before signing off with her third tweet, saying «I always say that the river flows well to it’s destiny because of the guidance of a solid rock», with another photo to follow. In another statement, Jack Brooksbank's parents George and Nicola Brooksbank said that they were «'completely over the moon' and 'very excited' for the couple. 'We could not be more delighted with the news of the engagement».

Following the engagement, three photos were released: (1), (2) and (3). The couple later appeared on BBC The One Show for a short talk about their engagement and the private blessings from the Queen.

As for Jack Brooksbank's ancestry, the genealogist and QVD author Marlene Koenig wrote on the subject in a blog article in 2016. The article reveals that Jack has several nobles among his ancestors, including his great-great grandfather the 2nd Earl of Leicester. Editor of the blog Peerage News, Michael Rhodes, wrote today on Twitter that «The groom to be is armigerous, & descends from the Coke Earls of Leicester, as does Eugenie, and that other royal consort the late Sir Angus Ogilvy.» His blog article on the engagement can be viewed here.

Postscript 7 February 2018: It was announced on 2 February 2017 that the wedding will take place on 12 October 2018.

Updated on 7 February 2018 at 14.20 (postscript added).