'Granny Is Very Happy'

After seven years together, no one was surprised when lovebirds Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank announced they’d be tying the knot, least of all the Queen, who was told first, writes Juliet Rieden.

She’s the eighth (soon to be ninth when the latest Cambridge baby is born) in line to the throne. He’s the UK ambassador for George Clooney’s tequila company, Casamigos, who eschewed university or a career in finance to work as a barman and climb the ladder to make his mark in the Sloane Ranger cocktail club world and run Mahiki nightclub in London. They met skiing in the winter playground of the rich and famous – the Swiss resort of Verbier – in 2010, and despite living at times in different countries have remained utterly devoted.

I’m talking, of course, of Princess Eugenie, the youngest daughter of Sarah, Duchess of York, and Prince Andrew, and her now fiancé, Jack Brooksbank, the son of well-heeled accountant, George Brooksbank, and his wife, Nicola.

The Brooksbank family is descended from baronets and the second Earl of Leicester, with distant relations to King Edward III and James II of Scotland, so it’s no wonder Jack and Eugenie’s worlds collided.

Although the Princess isn’t part of the pared-back group of royals who work for the House of Windsor carrying out official duties – she’s actually a director at international art gallery Hauser and Wirth, managing events – the announcement came from Buckingham Palace (and then Dad, Prince Andrew, via Twitter), and the stunning engagement photos were taken in “Granny’s” Picture Gallery in the Palace. Eugenie and the Queen have always had a close relationship, and in her post-engagement interview the Princess revealed that Her Majesty was in on the proposed nuptials from the start. “Granny actually knew right at the beginning – she was one of the very few people,” said Eugenie. “We left her this weekend and had a lovely time, and she was very happy, as was my grandfather [Prince Philip].”