Princess Eugenie at The Queen’s Gallery in 2018 – the royal is a fond art lover and gallery director. Photo: @princesseugenie/Instagram
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5 reasons why Princess Eugenie of York, Queen Elizabeth’s ‘favourite granddaughter’, is different than other British royals
- She may be most famous for her quirky outfit at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding, but there’s plenty more to know about her
- The daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson is married to a brand rep of the tequila company George Clooney founded, and makes bank as a gallery director
Princess Eugenie of York and Queen Elizabeth at Royal Ascot in 2013 – the princess has tried to live as normal a life as possible despite her royal status. Photo: Getty Images
The second daughter of Prince Andrew of York and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, Princess Eugenie made headlines when she found herself on several worst dressed lists for the ensemble she wore to Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011.
But what the rest of the world doesn’t know is that Eugenie, who some call the queen’s ‘favourite granddaughter’, leads a very different life to her cousins and other family members. We take a closer look at the princess ahead of her birthday on March 23, from her love of art to her involvement in charities.
She is not a working royal
While she may be the tenth in line for the throne, the 30-year-old makes her own living. This means that unlike her cousin Prince William, who must attend the queen’s royal engagements, Eugenie doesn’t get paid to represent the family as a “working royal” and thus doesn’t receive the sovereign grant.
The Sovereign Grant Act was established in 2011 and is handed out by the government annually to a monarch to fund their official duties. It includes travel costs, palace upkeep and more.
She’s passionate about art
Princess Eugenie married commoner Jack Brooksbank. Photo: AFP
With degrees in art history and English literature from Newcastle University, Eugenie relocated to New York between 2013 to 2015 and worked as an auction manager at online auction house Paddle8. After returning to London, she began working as a gallery director at Hauser & Wirth. “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 told Harper’s Bazaar.
The job seems to have paid off. According to Cosmopolitan UK, the princess earns £110,000 (over US$150,000) per year working as a gallery director.
She suffered from scoliosis
Princess Eugenie (middle) with her mother Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson and her sister Beatrice. Photo: AFP
At the age of 12, Eugenie was diagnosed with scoliosis (curvature of the spine) and had to undergo major surgery. However, what didn’t break her clearly made her stronger. Following that experience, she became involved with the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital and still serves as its patron today.
For her wedding day, she even had a gorgeous dress made to show her surgical scar. “I think you can change the way beauty is, and you can show people your scars and I think it’s really special to stand up for that,” she told the BBC. As someone who has lived with 12-inch metal rods in her back, she even decided to share an X-ray of them and post a heartfelt message on Instagram on International Scoliosis Awareness Day.
She married a non-royal
Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank had a son, August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, on February 9, 2021. Photo: Reuters
In 2018, she married her long-time boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, who doesn’t share the same royal pedigree. He currently serves as brand ambassador for Casamigos, the tequila company founded by George Clooney, in the UK. The lovebirds had a two-day wedding celebration at Windsor Castle and had been dating for seven years after meeting on a ski trip.
Last February 9, the couple welcomed a baby boy named August Philip Hawke Brooksbank. They broke a royal baby tradition by uploading a photo of their bundle of joy on Instagram instead of waiting for an official photo call. Not only that, Eugenie opted out of giving her son a title too.
She advocates for many charities
Apart from having a full-time job, Eugenie is involved with several charities. She and sister Beatrice serve as global ambassadors for the Street Child charity. She has also worked with the Big Change Charitable Trust, the Teenage Cancer Trust and the Berkshire Community Foundation.
In 2012, the princess also co-founded The Anti-Slavery Collective with her pal Julia de Boinville. The non-profit aims to “raise awareness of modern slavery as a global epidemic”, according to its official website. As part of her role in the organisation, Eugenie visited survivors at the UN Trust Fund to End Violence Against Women and at the Salvation Army, among others.