Eugenie — the Queen’s grandchild — recently announced the exciting news that she is pregnant. She and her husband Jack Brooksbank took to Instagram and explained the new royal baby would be arriving in “early 2021”. Eugenie is tenth-in-line to the throne, meaning her child will be 11th. However, as she is a non-working royal and has set up her own career away from the Firm, Eugenie looks set to give her child a life unburdened by royal duty.
Royal correspondent Camilla Tominey explained: “It has even been suggested that Eugenie will not accept a title for her newborn, considering it a ‘curse’, because she wants her children to have ‘ordinary lives’.”
Ms Tominey said this move was indicative of Eugenie’s “growing independence” as she leans away from the Firm.
Both Eugenie and her older sister Princess Beatrice have struggled in the royal spotlight, and were stripped of their prepaid protection officers in 2011.
As reports of Prince Charles’ intention to create a “slimmed-down monarchy” continue to circulate, it is likely that the York sisters would have been cut out of the new Royal Family when the Prince of Wales ascends the throne.
Princess Eugenie and senior members of the Firm — the Queen and Prince Charles (Image: Getty)
Eugenie and Jack at their 2018 wedding — the couple recently announced they were expecting a baby in 2021 (Image: Getty)
The sisters have also tried to avoid the ongoing backlash their father, Prince Andrew, has faced over his past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
As a result, the pair have naturally leaned towards establishing their own paths and just supporting the Queen where necessary.
Eugenie is unlikely to be granted a title for her child anyway, as titles are passed through the baby’s father and Jack Brooksbank is untitled.
However, the Queen has made exceptions for this latest generation of royals in the past.
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Eugenie being walked down the aisle by her father Prince Andrew in 2018 (Image: Getty)
For instance, when Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were born, they were not automatically granted titles.
King George V had ruled that the children and grandchildren of the monarchs — through the male line — would be entitled to the status of prince and princess.
The Queen’s grandfather — George V — did not include great-grandchildren in his declaration, meaning George would have been without a title before the monarch’s intervention, despite being third-in-line to the throne.
The Queen has also offered to break with tradition in the past with her daughter Princess Anne and her children.
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Meghan and Harry decided their son Archie would be raised as a “private citizen” without titles (Image: Getty)
Anne decided not to give her children, Zara and Peter, titles because it is a “mixed blessing” (Image: Getty)
Anne married Captain Mark Phillips, who had no royal rank and therefore could not pass titles onto their children, Peter and Zara.
Yet, the monarch was willing to offer a status to her two eldest grandchildren — but it was the Princess Royal who turned it down.
In July, Tatler noted: “Something of a royal trailblazer, long before the Duke and Duchess of Sussex turned down a title for their son, Archie, Anne did the same for her own children.”
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The line of succession for the Royal Family — Eugenie is 10th and her child will be 11th (Image: Getty)
During her 70th birthday interview with Tatler, Anne said titles are “a very mixed blessing”, but noted “my children have done incredibly well” without them.
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided not to give their son a title so that he could be raised as a “private citizen” — even though the child would have been entitled to a royal rank.
An insider told The Telegraph that this was the same kind of thinking which now motivated Eugenie and Beatrice.
They explained to Ms Tominey: “Although Andrew was always pushing for them to have more royal responsibilities, all Bea and Eug have ever really wanted is to live their own lives, while supporting the Queen when the need arises.”
