The pair were thought to have had a close relationship (Image: Getty)
Princess Eugenie was reportedly left fuming by comments made by Prince Harry in 2019 after she announced she was pregnant with her third child. Harry claimed that he and his wife, Meghan Markle, would have no more than two children due to fears of overpopulation and climate change during a conversation about climate change and sustainability.
Many royal experts at the time believed that the comments were a veiled dig at his brother, Prince William, who had welcomed his third child just a year prior. However, after Harry’s cousin Eugenie announced that she and husband Jack Brooksbank were expecting their third child, the comments are believed to have resurfaced in royal circles.
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Eugenie announced the news on Instagram (Image: Princess Eugenie/Buckingham Palace)
An insider told Rader US: “Eugenie has always been incredibly family-oriented, and she thinks decisions about children are personal, not something to be moralized publicly.
“There is frustration that Harry’s comments came across as judgmental toward relatives with bigger families, and rather brutal. She is now raging he made them at all.”
They shared that, in hindsight, the princess found Harry’s earlier remarks deeply patronising.
The insider added: “Harry and Eugenie historically had one of the warmest relationships in the family, but there is irritation now about the way his public statements have repeatedly been interpreted as criticism of the monarchy and the wider royal lifestyle.”
In a photograph shared on Instagram by Eugenie, 36, Ernest, wearing a Chelsea football kit, and August, wearing a long-sleeved grey t-shirt, can be seen holding a picture of a baby scan.
Harry is understood to have been close to Eugenie and her sister Beatrice (Image: Getty)
The princess posted: “Baby Brooksbank due 2026!” followed by a series of red heart emojis and one of a baby.
In a statement, Buckingham Palace said: “Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank are very pleased to announce that they are expecting their third child together, due this summer.
“August (aged five) and Ernest (aged two) are also very excited to have another sibling join the family.
“His Majesty The King has been informed and is delighted with the news.”
The baby, who will not be an HRH, will be born 15th in line to the throne, with their great uncle, the Duke of Edinburgh, moving down to 16th place.
He or she will also be the 15th great-grandchild of the late Queen Elizabeth II, and the third to be born since her death in 2022.
The new arrival will be the fifth grandchild of the former Duke and Duchess of York, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson, after the birth of Princess Beatrice’s daughter, Athena Mapelli Mozzi, in January last year.