Princess Eugenie’s 30th birthday has been marked by a message of goodwill posted on the official royal family Twitter account.
The social media post was accompanied by a photo taken last year showing Eugenie with her grandmother, the Queen, at the Maundy Thursday Service in St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
The message read: “Wishing Princess Eugenie a very Happy Birthday! Her Royal Highness is The Queen’s 6th grandchild. Today she turns 30.”
Eugenie’s milestone birthday will no doubt be very low-key as the nation is being urged to stay at home to halt the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Eugenie married tequila brand ambassador Jack Brooksbank in a glittering royal wedding in 2018.
But the royal nuptials of her sister, Princess Beatrice, to millionaire property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in May, have been thrown into disarray.
Her wedding reception in the Buckingham Palace gardens has been cancelled because of the Covid-19 outbreak, and churches are limiting those attending marriage ceremonies to just the priest, the bride and groom and two witnesses.
The duke retired from public royal duties in November after his disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew has strenuously denied claims by Virginia Giuffre that he slept with her when she was 17 after she was trafficked by Epstein.
Princess Eugenie Victoria Helena of York was born on March 23 1990 at the exclusive Portland Hospital in London.
In a week-long name game, Andrew and the duchess kept the nation guessing as to what they would call their daughter.
It was the second name of one of Queen Victoria’s granddaughters.
Eugenie was born sixth in line to the throne, but moved down to 10th following the arrival of the three Cambridge children and Archie Mountbatten-Windsor.
She became the first royal baby to have a public christening when in 1990 she was baptised during morning service at St Mary Magdalene Church, Sandringham.
The duchess, nicknamed Fergie in the press, was responsible for sparking a major scandal in 1992 when she was snapped topless having her toes kissed by her financial adviser John Bryan.
Andrew and Sarah divorced in 1996, amicably had joint custody of Eugenie and Beatrice, and have remained close.
She is now patron of the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, and her wedding dress was specifically designed with a low back to show her surgery scar.
Eugenie explained: “I believe scars tell a story about your past and your future and it’s a way of getting rid of a taboo.”
As an 18-year-old, she was reprimanded by her boarding school after she was reportedly caught running around naked.
It was reported that a senior staff member was woken by playful shrieks and found about a dozen young women dancing around without any clothes in the college grounds.
She is now is a director at the contemporary art gallery Hauser & Wirth in London, and is passionate about art, citing Jean-Michel Basquiat, the pioneering prodigy of the 1980s New York art scene, as a hero.
The princess posed for fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar in 2018, and shared the secrets of a day in her life, revealing that she shops at Waitrose, does her make-up in the car, finds heels tricky to walk in and likes to watch zombie drama The Walking Dead.
A day in the life of Princess Eugenie of York https://t.co/M1R5GMyZys pic.twitter.com/zRyeEd0Kqo
— Harper’s Bazaar UK (@BazaarUK) June 13, 2018
She listed chips, Diet Coke and cashew nuts as her indulgences, and vodka with soda and lime as her favourite tipple.
Her romance with Stowe-educated Mr Brooksbank, European Brand Manager for Casamigos Tequila co-founded by George Clooney, began after they fell in love at first sight on a ski trip.
Eugenie is close to both her parents, calling them Mumsy and Papa, and saying: “They are the best divorced couple I know. They just always went out of their way to make us feel loved and secure.”
She is very close to her sister, whom she calls “Bea” or “Beabea”.
“Like all sisters we have silly arguments about unimportant stuff, but we do love each other to death,” she has said.
Eugenie is also patron of several charities including the Elephant Family, the Teenage Cancer Trust, the Coronet Theatre and the European School of Osteopathy.
