Princess Eugenie has a special reason to celebrate today—her youngest son, Ernest, turns one year old. Born on May 30, 2023, Ernest joined his older brother August as the second child of Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank.
This milestone means that 34-year-old Eugenie and her older sister, Princess Beatrice, are now both busy moms. Beatrice welcomed her daughter, Sienna, in September 2021.
The births of these children over the past two and a half years have impacted the royal line of succession, with Beatrice in ninth place, followed by Sienna, Eugenie, August, and then Ernest.
However, not all of them have titles. August and Ernest do not hold any titles, while Sienna does. Her title is unrelated to royal connections; it comes from her father, Beatrice’s husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, who is an Italian count. This heritage means his children inherit the titles of count or countess.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Edoardo’s dad, Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi, explained: “Edoardo is the only male descendent taking the family into the next generation. He is a count, his wife will be a countess automatically and any of their children will be counts or nobile donna.”
Neither Beatrice nor Eugenie’s children are entitled to British royal titles as they are not grandchildren of the monarch – King Charles is their great-uncle. Only children of the sovereign, children of the sons of the sovereign and the eldest living son of the Prince of Wales are eligible to be given HRH status and prince and princess titles.
After Ernest’s arrival one year ago, Eugenie posted two sweet snaps of the newborn – one of him wearing a knitted blue-and-white hat, asleep in a Moses basket, and one of older son August tenderly stroking his brother’s head.
She wrote: “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 baby’s great-great-great grandfather George is George V, the grandfather of the late Queen, who was King from May 1910 until his death in December 1936 – who had Ernest as one of his middle names. His first middle name George is in tender tribute to his late grandfather George Brooksbank, Jack’s dad, who sadly died in November 2021 at the age of 72 after being unwell for some time following a battle with Covid.
Meanwhile, his second middle name Ronnie is in tribute to Ronald Ferguson, the late father of Eugenie’s mum Sarah Ferguson. The former royal polo manager died in 2003 and was dubbed “the galloping major”. Afterwards, Fergie said she cried when Eugenie told her that her newborn baby son would be named after the duchess’s late father.
Sarah, speaking on her podcast about her new grandchild for the first time, described Ernest as a “seriously beautiful little boy” and said the gesture moved her to tears.
