As Princess Eugenie prepares to walk down the aisle and marry fiancé Jack Brooksbank at St George's Chapel, it's the perfect time to catch up on trivia about the Queen's second youngest grand-daughter...
1. You’ve probably been pronouncing her name all wrong
It’s ‘Yoo-junnee’ (with the emphasis on yoo) rather than ‘You-JAY-nee,’ though the royal claims to be ‘used to every pronunciation’ of her name, so she’d probably forgive you.
2. She was born with scoliosis
When she was just 12, the Princess underwent back surgery at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London to correct the curvature of her spine. The procedure was successfully, with Eugenie making a full recovery; in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in 2016, she discussed the condition, revealing ‘I have metal roads in my back keeping me straight […] those rods live with me permanently.’
3. She’s officially the ‘most intelligent royal’
With two As and a B at A Level (in art, English literature and history of art respectively) and a 2:1 combined honours degree from Newcastle University (encompassing English literature, history of art and politics), Eugenie is officially the smartest member of the royal family.
4. Her pet dog has the same name as her new husband
Her Norfolk terrier is also named Jack, though the Princess claims it’s a ‘total accident’ that her dog and her partner share a name. Luckily, Jack seems to be better behaved than one of her sister Beatrice’s terriers, who ‘relieved himself on the ruffled hem of [her] cape’ during the pair’s recent Vogue photoshoot.
5. She broke royal tradition as a baby
Eugenie was the first – and only – royal to have a public christening. The ceremony, which took place on December 23rd 1990 at St Mary Magdalene Church at Sandringham (where Princess Charlotte was also baptised), was broadcast by loudspeaker across the estate. Since then, royal christenings have taken place behind closed doors. Eugenie is also the only one of the Queen’s grandchildren not to be baptised in the traditional Lily Font.
6. She attended the same school as Kate Middleton
Both Beatrice and Eugenie began their schooling at Upton House School in Windsor, before moving on to Coworth Park School (from 1995 until 2001) and to St George’s School. But while her elder sister stayed on at St George’s, eventually completely A-Levels there, Eugenie moved on to Marlborough College in Wiltshire, the Duchess of Cambridge’s alma mater, in 2003. She stayed there for five years, but, given the eight year age gap between the now-relatives, she won’t have crossed paths with Kate in the dining hall. At Marlborough, Eugenie became the first royal to attend a co-ed boarding school.
7. She has no official surname
As a titled member of the royal family, Eugenie does not need a surname, though she tends to go by ‘York’ in a nod to her father’s dukedom (much as Prince George uses the surname Cambridge at school). When she marries Jack, it’s thought that she might choose to be styled as Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie, Mrs Jack Brooksbank.
8. She and Jack spent two years in a long distance relationship
When Eugenie moved to New York in 2013, in order to work for online auction house Paddle8, the pair decided to give the long distance thing a go, while Jack stayed in London, where he worked at Mahiki. Clearly, things worked out well; the couple later revealed that they would keep in touch via Skype.
9. She’s distantly related to her fiancé
The pair actually share a common ancestor, the 19th century aristocrat Thomas William Coke, the 2nd Earl of Leicester. Coke is Eugenie’s great-great-great-great grandfather on her mother Sarah Ferguson’s side; thanks to his second marriage, Coke is also Jack Brooksbanks’ great-great grandfather. That makes them third cousins once removed (that’s hardly uncommon, especially in aristocratic circles: the Queen and Prince Philip are third cousins that share a connection to Queen Victoria).
10. She was named after two princesses
Her full name Eugenie Victoria Helena is a nod to two Princesses, Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg and Princess Helena, the grand daughter and daughter of Queen Victoria. This makes her one of the few members of the royal family to follow the that Queen’s ‘order’