Who Is Princess Eugenie? 8 Facts You Didn't Know About the Royal
Compared to her cousins, Prince William and Prince Harry, Princess Eugenie leads a relatively low-key life for a royal.
As the daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York, and as the younger sister to Princess Beatrice, Eugenie has long been a mainstay of the British royal family.
Though she isn't technically a working royal, she still makes the occasional appearance at major royal events, like at Princess Kate's annual Christmas carol service or Queen Elizabeth II's funeral last year. Royal watchers can likely expect both her and Beatrice to be among the attendees at King Charles II's May 6 coronation.
If you're not familiar with the princess, read ahead for eight things you need to know about her.
She is tenth in line to the throne.
Born Eugenie Victoria Helena, the princess is currently the tenth in line to the British throne, following her father, Prince Andrew, and older sister, Princess Beatrice—although none of them are expected to reign. Eugenie is a niece of King Charles II and granddaughter of the late Queen Elizabeth.
She is married to Jack Brooksbank.
Eugenie married her longtime boyfriend, Jack Brooksbank, at St. George's Chapel (the same venue as Harry and Meghan's wedding) on October 12, 2018.
The couple, who met when Eugenie was 20 years old and Brooksbank 24 years old, were together for seven years by the time Brooksbank proposed. They first met during a ski trip in Switzerland, with Eugenie later revealing that it was "love at first sight."
For the big day, Eugenie wore an incredible portrait-neckline bridal gown by Peter Piloto and Christopher de Vos. She completed her bridal look with the Grenville Tiara, which was once owned by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.
Eugenie and Jack share one son—and have another baby on the way.
The couple welcomed their first child, a boy they named August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, on February 9, 2021. Eugenie announced the pregnancy of their second child in January 2023 via a sweet snap showing little August giving his mom's baby bump a kiss, which was taken by Brooksbank.
She's very close to big sister Beatrice.
Eugenie shares a close relationship with her older sister, Princess Beatrice. The sisters even took turns serving as each other's maids of honor at Eugenie's 2018 wedding and Beatrice's 2020 wedding.
She has a regular job.
Having studied art history and English literature at Newcastle University, Eugenie secured jobs in the art world after graduating. She first worked as a specialist at online auction house Paddle8 in New York, then later became the associate director at contemporary-art gallery Hauser & Wirth.
"I've loved art since I was very little," she previously told BAZAAR."I knew I definitely wouldn't be a painter [laughs], but I knew this was the industry for me. I love being able to share my passion for art with people. If someone doesn't understand something, you have the ability to suggest, 'Maybe you can look at it this way.' That's what I find most thrilling about working in a gallery."
She has many charitable endeavors.
Though she isn't technically a working royal, or a member of the royal family who undertakes official engagements on behalf of the sovereign, Eugenie still pursues plenty of charity work in her own time.
In 2017, she and best friend Julia de Boinville cofounded the Anti-Slavery Collective, which looks to eradicate the global practice of millions of people being forced into labor or marriage. Eugenie also helped set up Key to Freedom, an initiative that supports products made by human trafficking survivors.
A deeply personal experience also shaped Eugenie's charitable work. Suffering from scoliosis, the royal underwent a surgery that inserted metal rods in her back when she was just 12 years old. She has since became the Patron of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, where she looks to uplift others with the same condition. Of her scoliosis experience, Eugenie told BAZAAR, "I have metal rods in my back keeping me straight. ... Those rods live with me permanently."
The princess additionally holds ambassadorships and patronages with organizations such as the Blue Marine Foundation, Teenage Cancer Trust, the European School of Osteopathy, and the Elephant Family.
She is close with Harry and Meghan.
Eugenie has a tight-knit friendship with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. When the couple stepped down as senior royals in 2020, they offered their official U.K. residence, Frogmore Cottage, to Eugenie and her husband.
Meghan gave a glimpse into their close bond during a 2021 interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she revealed that she and Harry once went incognito at a Halloween party with Eugenie and Brooksbank.
"He came to see me in Toronto and our friends, his cousin Eugenie and now her husband, Jack, they came as well," Meghan said. "The four of us snuck out in Halloween costumes to just have one fun night on the town before it was out in the world that we were a couple."
She added, "It was a post-apocalypse theme. So we had all of this very bizarre costuming on. And we were able to just sort of have one final fun night out."
During the Sussexes' Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, Eugenie also made a brief cameo when she visited the couple in the U.S., where she was filmed in laidback attire while playing with their son, Archie.
Her name is pronounced as "yoo-juh-nee."
The royal's name is actually pronounced as "yoo-juh-nee," according to The Telegraph.
Eugenie explained to the outlet, "Whenever we used to meet foreign people who were struggling with it, my mum and I would help them by saying, 'It's like Use Your Knees.' But whatever. I am now used to every pronunciation."
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