Princess Eugenie pregnant with second child
The King’s niece, Princess Eugenie, is pregnant with her second child, Buckingham Palace has announced.
Eugenie, daughter of the King’s younger brother Prince Andrew, also shared a family photograph of her toddler son August kissing her bump to announce the news.
The late Queen’s granddaughter and husband Jack Brooksbank are expecting the addition to their family in the British summer.
In an official announcement of Eugenie’s pregnancy on Wednesday (AEDT), the palace said the royal family was “delighted” and August was “very much” looking forward to becoming a big brother.
Princess Eugenie’s sweet baby announcement. Photo: Instagram
Among the first to offer their congratulations on the social media post was Eugenie’s mother, Sarah, Duchess of York.
“Granny heaven,” she wrote.
The new baby will be a third grandchild for the duchess and her former husband. Their other grandchild is Princess Beatrice’s toddler daughter Sienna Mapelli-Mozzi.
Beatrice’s husband, Edo Mapelli-Mozzi, also publicly congratulated Eugenie on Wednesday, responding to her Instagram post with twin heart emojis.
The news is a bright moment for the Windsors following the late Queen’s death and amid difficult times following the publication of the Duke of Sussex’s controversial tell-all memoir.
In the Instagram photograph, taken by Mr Brooksbank, Eugenie, dressed in a woolly hat, beams as August, wearing a burgundy-coloured winter hat with matching trousers and boots, embraces her and kisses her bump as they stand next to a fence in a leaf-strewn field.
“We’re so excited to share that there will be a new addition to our family this summer,” Eugenie wrote.
The baby will be 13th in line to the throne and will be a plain miss or master.
He or she will be the first of the Queen’s great-grandchildren to be born since her death, and will arrive in the King’s coronation year.
August Philip Hawke Brooksbank was born in London in February 2021.
He made an appearance at last year’s platinum jubilee pageant celebrations for the late Queen, wearing a union flag jumper as Eugenie bounced him up and down on her knee as they sat in the royal box.
-with AAP