Prince Andrew went to extra special lengths to wish his daughter Princess Eugenie a happy birthday, leading an audience of 400 at St James's Palace in a singalong, which he transmitted to the birthday girl through his iPad. As Eugenie was enjoying a 25th birthday dinner in New York with her mother Sarah, Duchess of York and sister Princess Beatrice, the tech savvy royal told guests: "We are going to do something new this evening."
© Photo: PAPrince Andrew sang Happy Birthday to his daughter Princess Eugenie
That 'something new' was to sing for her in a video call to Manhattan where she is currently based. He went on: "The lady in the middle is my youngest daughter and it’s her 25th birthday today."
To cheers from the crowd, the Prince motioned a trumpeter from the Scots Guard to start playing.
Eugenie, wearing novelty glasses for her special day, smiled and waved in delight as the singing got under way. Then, for a moment emotion seemed about to get the better of her – prompting Beatrice to say: "Don't cry".
© Photo: PAPrincess Eugenie was accompanied by her mum, Sarah Ferguson, and sister Beatrice
Sarah joked afterwards: "We all think you need to go to choir practice", cheekily adding that the performance got "zero points" from her as if it were the Eurovision song contest. Bea told her father: "Well done, Pops. Very proud."
Andrew declared the gesture a success, saying triumphantly: "Having been told this was a bad idea, it worked."
Monday's event was the Pitch@Palace conference for entrepreneurs. At last year's seminar the Queen's son took the first ever selfie. Recently the Prince has also posted a personal family photo of himself with the Queen, Prince Edward and the Countess of Wessex on his Facebook page.
