Buckingham Palace revealed on Monday that Princess Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank are expecting their third child together, with the baby due this summer.
However, the 52-word statement notably departed from royal tradition by omitting any reference to the families being pleased with the news.
When Princess Beatrice announced her second pregnancy in 2024, the official message included the phrase “families are delighted with the news.” Similarly, Eugenie’s own 2023 pregnancy announcement mentioned that “the family is delighted.”
The altered wording appears designed to sidestep any mention of Eugenie’s parents, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson, whose reputations have been severely damaged by ongoing scandal.
Princess Eugenie appears to have broken tradition with her royal baby announcement
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Despite the conspicuous absence of any grandparent reference, the announcement signals that King Charles remains firmly supportive of his niece.
The news was issued directly from the monarch’s office and shared across official Royal Family social media channels, rather than through the private office Eugenie shares with her sister Beatrice.
Charles personally expressed that he is “delighted” with the news, demonstrating his backing for the 36-year-old princess and her husband.
This public endorsement comes despite Andrew, the King’s brother, being arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office in February amid the continuing fallout from his friendship with the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Buckingham Palace included a picture of August and Ernest holding Princess Eugenie’s pregnancy scan in the official announcement | PRINCESS EUGENIE / BUCKINGHAM PALACE
The official statement confirmed that the couple’s sons, five-year-old August and two-year-old Ernest, are “very excited to have another sibling join the family.”
Eugenie shared the happy news on Instagram alongside a photograph showing her boys holding an ultrasound image, with Ernest dressed in a Chelsea football kit and August wearing a grey long-sleeved top.
The princess captioned the post “Baby Brooksbank due 2026!” accompanied by red heart emojis.
The new arrival will become the 15th in line to the throne, pushing the Duke of Edinburgh down to 16th place, and will be the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 15th great-grandchild.
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank split their time between the UK and Portugal | INSTAGRAM: PRINCESS EUGENIE
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The pregnancy announcement represents a rare positive development for the York family amid the turmoil surrounding the Epstein files, which have implicated both Andrew and Sarah Ferguson through their correspondence with the convicted sex offender.
The princesses themselves have faced scrutiny after their names appeared in documents released by the US Department of Justice, with one email exchange suggesting their mother took them to visit Epstein in America shortly after his release from prison for child sex crimes. Eugenie and Beatrice were teenagers at the time.
Neither sister has been seen publicly with their parents in recent months, and both stayed away from the traditional Easter Sunday royal gathering with Charles’s agreement.