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Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank with August Philip Hawke Brooksbank attend the Platinum Pageant© Getty

Why Princess Eugenie's sons August and Ernest do not have royal titles

Princess Eugenie will celebrate her fifth wedding anniversary with husband, Jack Brooksbank, in October

Danielle Stacey
Online Royal CorrespondentLondon
August 22, 2023
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Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, are proud parents to two sons, August and Ernest Brooksbank.

The couple welcomed baby Ernest in May, with Eugenie sharing the first sweet photos of her baby boy with his big brother.

Eugenie is the younger daughter of the Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York and was born a princess from birth.

She married long-term boyfriend Jack in October 2018 and the pair became parents in February 2021 with the arrival of August.

Despite being styled Her Royal Highness, Eugenie's sons do not have royal titles of their own.

Jack was not given a royal title after his marriage to the princess, and so their children take rank from their father. Therefore, August and Ernest are both known as Master Brooksbank.  

Princess Eugenie new baby Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank© Instagram / @princesseugenie
Baby Ernest was born in May
Princess Eugenie son August meeting baby brother Ernest© Instagram / @princesseugenie
Proud big brother August with Ernest

Meanwhile, Princess Eugenie's older sister Princess Beatrice's children may be entitled to their own titles – but it's not to do with the British royal family.

Beatrice's husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi has Italian heritage and is a Count, making the Princess a Countess, or 'Countessa' as well as 'Nobile Donna'.

Property developer Edoardo's family were part of the Italian nobility before the country became a republic back in 1946.

The use of titles of nobility is not currently recognised by the Italian state but they can still be used out of courtesy. The revelation was made by Princess Beatrice's father-in-law, Count Alessandro Mapelli Mozzi.

Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi smiles at wife Princess Beatrice, Wimbledon© Getty
Edoardo and Beatrice welcomed their daughter Sienna in September 2021

Ahead of the couple's wedding in 2020, Alessandro told the Mail On Sunday: "Edoardo is the only male descendent taking the family into the next generation, he is a count—his wife will be a countess automatically and any of their children will be counts or nobile donna.

"We as a family celebrated 1,000 years in 1985 with unbroken documented archives. We are one of the only families in Italy to have all the records from that period to today."

Edoardo's seven-year-old son, Christopher Woolf (whose nickname is Wolfie), and his one-year-old daughter, Sienna, with Princess Beatrice are therefore entitled to be known as Count and Nobile Donna respectively.

Sienna watching penguins with her cousin august © Instagram / @princesseugenie
Sienna and cousin August

Beatrice and Eugenie's mother Sarah is a proud grandmother to August, Sienna and Ernest and she regularly shares updates about her grandchildren.

On the latest episode of her podcast, Tea Talks with The Duchess and Sarah, the Duchess revealed how the family celebrated Princess Beatrice's 35th birthday on 8 August.

Sarah said: "I hid many different fairies in the garden, and I sent Sienna on a fairytale hunt to find the fairies, with wings on. She lasted with the wings on for quite a while before Beatrice and I put the wings on. And then we had a fairy picnic once she'd found the fairies, and that was a magical day for Beatrice's birthday."

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