8) Princess Eugenie, UK
Princess Eugenie of York hailed as the royal family’s new bad girl, Prince Andrew’s youngest daughter raised eyebrows and libidos across the UK in 2009 when she was spotted stealing bikini tops and allowing her breasts to be fondled by her female friends during a trip to Thailand.
Two years have passed since that naughty episode, but this 21-year-old wild child doesn’t seem to have settled down as she continues to make headlines by smoking, frequenting pole-dancing clubs and running naked on school grounds.
Princess Eugenie of York Eugenie Victoria Helena was born on 23rd March 1990. She is the younger daughter of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York. As such she is seventh, and the second female, in the line of succession to the thrones of the 16 Commonwealth realms. Her first royal engagement was opening Teenage Cancer Trust’s unit for young cancer patients in Leeds on 23 October 2008. She also makes appearances with the royal family at events, such as when she and her sister, Princess Beatrice, represented their father at a service of thanksgiving for her aunt, Diana, Princess of Wales, in 2007.
Princess Eugenie was born in London at the Portland Hospital on 23 March 1990, the second child of Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York, and sixth grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. She is also a distant cousin of her late aunt Diana, Princess of Wales, whose father was John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer, since Eugenie’s mother Sarah, Duchess of York is a direct descendant of Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, daughter of John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer, (via Georgiana’s illegitimate daughter Eliza Courtney). On the seventh day after her birth it was announced (30 March) that the Duke and Duchess of York had named the princess Eugenie Victoria Helen.
She was baptised at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Sandringham, by the Bishop of Norwich, on 23 December 1990. She was the first royal baby to have a public christening, and her godparents were James Ogilvy (her father’s second cousin), Captain Alastair Ross (who was unable to attend), Mrs. Ronald Ferguson (her maternal grandfather’s 2nd wife), Mrs. Patrick Dodd-Noble, and Miss Louise Blacker. She was named after Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg and Princess Helena, Queen Victoria’s granddaughter and daughter respectively. She and her sister are the only granddaughters of the Queen to hold the title of Princess of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the style Her Royal Highness: their cousin, Lady Louise Windsor is styled as the daughter of an earl at the request of the Queen and her parents; their other female first cousin, Zara Phillips, is the Queen’s granddaughter through the female line, therefore allowing her only the title and style of her father, who has none.
Eugenie is also the first British Princess since her grandmother’s aunt, Princess Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary (known as Princess Mary), to bear the name Victoria; Queen Victoria had requested that her female descendants bear the name Victoria somewhere in their name, however neither the Queen, the late Princess Margaret, Princess Alexandra, Princess Anne, nor Princess Beatrice hold the name Victoria.
Princess Eugenie’s parents divorced when she was six years old. However, when she was not at school, her time was spent with her family, as the divorce had been amicable and the Duke and Duchess of York had agreed to joint custody of the girls. Eugenie and her sister frequently travel abroad with one or both of their parents. In the April 2008 issue of Tatler, Eugenie described her grandmother as “one of the most amazing women ever”, and her parents as “the best divorced couple” she knew.
In October 2002, Eugenie, then aged twelve, underwent back surgery at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London, to correct scoliosis. She still has the two titanium rods in her back that were put in place in 2002. She made a full recovery and is not expected to undergo any further surgery for the condition. When Princess Eugenie turned seventeen, she underwent orthodontic treatment, like her sister. She had her orthodontic appliances on for two years before they were taken off.
Eugenie began her schooling at Winkfield Montessori from 1992 to 1993. From there she joined her sister at Upton House School in Windsor until 1995. She attended Coworth Park School from 1995 to 2001, and then St George’s School, near Windsor Castle until 2003. For the next five years, Eugenie boarded at Marlborough College in Wiltshire, gaining A-Level grades of A in art and English literature and B in history of art. She undertook a gap year before continuing her education in the autumn of 2009. Eugenie began studying Combined Honours BA at Newcastle University in September 2009, combining Art History, English Literature and Politics. She completed her studies in 2012, earning a 2:1 in English literature and history of art.
Princess Eugenie has undertaken limited public duties as her university studies took precedence. She often performs engagements connected with charities her mother supports, including the Teenage Cancer Trust. As a member of the British Royal Family, Princess Eugenie is frequently seen at important Royal events, such as the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony in London.
On 2 June 2011, Princess Eugenie, with her father, visited the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. This was one of her first official engagements. In April 2012 she signed on to be patron for the Hospital’s Redevelopment Appeal; this was her first official patronage. In early 2013, Princess Eugenie with her sister Princess Beatrice visited Berlin and Hanover in Germany to undertake a series of engagements. These included representing the Queen at the reopening of the former Hanoverian royal palace, the Schloss Herrenhausen, on 18 January. It was bombed by the Royal Air Force during the Second World War.
While the announcement of the Princess’s name as Eugenie was made on the seventh day after her birth, she was from birth a British princess entitled to the style of Royal Highness. Her style and title in full is: Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie Victoria Helena of York. As with the other male-line grandchildren of Elizabeth II, she uses the territorial designation of the area over which her father holds title, i.e. York (as Prince Harry uses Wales, per his father, Prince Charles, Prince of Wales).
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