Her 34th birthday at the weekend was a chance to celebrate with her nearest and dearest, after a year of ups and downs that has seen her welcome her second child, as well as help her own mother through serious illness.
Princess Eugenie’s special day on Saturday gave the royal an opportunity to relax with her sons – August, three, and Ernest, who turns one in May – and be spoilt by her husband, as well as enjoy loving birthday wishes from her parents and her sister Princess Beatrice.
Although she is relishing her dual role as a mum and career woman, Eugenie has also been focusing on being a caring daughter following the latest cancer diagnosis for her mother Sarah, Duchess of York.
The year ahead is likely to see her stepping out at royal events, too, and supporting the numerous charities she champions.
Eugenie’s fourth decade has brought stability and contentment: she has not only settled down and started a family with long-term boyfriend Jack Brooksbank, whom she married in 2018, but has also found the confidence to speak up for the things she believes in.
Earlier this year, she spoke eloquently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland about the scourge of modern slavery, a cause she has championed since launching her own charity, The Anti-Slavery Collective, six years ago.
RENEWED MOTIVATION
Meanwhile, her two young sons have both brought her enormous joy and inspired her to try to make the world a better place, as she told hello! last year.
“Since August came into my life, it’s positively affected my desire to do more,” she said. “Priorities change when you have children – you want to do everything you can for them and for your grandchildren.”
The Princess met drinks brand ambassador Jack on a ski holiday in 2010 and the couple, who have been inseparable ever since, now split their time between the UK and Portugal.
Since she is not a working royal and does not receive funding from the public purse, Eugenie has built a successful career as a director at bluechip London art gallery Hauser & Wirth, while continuing to make appearances at royal events such as last year’s coronation and supporting the causes close to her heart.
Beatrice says her younger sister is “amazing”, while their mother has spoken about how, to mark Eugenie’s 18th birthday, she took both girls to a unit run by Teenage Cancer Trust, of which the sisters are now honorary patrons.
In an interview broadcast earlier this month on the The Anti-Slavery Collective YouTube channel, Sarah told her daughter: “They say on the aeroplane: ‘Put the oxygen mask
