Breaking news: Princess Eugenie gives birth: Queen's granddaughter welcomes 8lb 1oz baby boy with husband Jack Brooksbank

  • Princess Eugenie has given birth to her first child, a baby boy born this morning at The Portland Hospital
  • The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh , The Duke of York, Sarah, Duchess of York , and Mr and Mrs George Brooksbank have been informed and are delighted
  • The new arrival weighs 8lbs 1oz and the couple broke with tradition by immediately sharing a black and white photo to Instagram
  • It's the first child for Eugenie and Jack, with the name yet to be revealed and will be 11th in line to the thronePrincess Eugenie has given birth to her first child, a baby boy born this morning. 

    The Queen's granddaughter, 30, had husband Jack Brooksbank at her side at The Portland Hospital in central London where their son - the Queen's ninth great grandchild - was delivered at 8.55am. 

    The new arrival, who is 11th in line to the throne, weighs 8lbs 1oz and the couple broke with tradition by immediately sharing a black and white photo to Eugenie's Instagram of their baby boy, showing them holding his tiny hand.

    Proud new mother Eugenie followed the post with three blue hearts after welcoming her son at the luxury private hospital where Meghan Markle also gave birth to her son, Archie.  

    The Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, The Duke of York, Sarah, Duchess of York, and Mr and Mrs George Brooksbank have been informed and are delighted with the news, Buckingham Palace has announced, adding that 'Her Royal Highness and her child are both doing well'.

    This is Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s first child, The Duke of York and Sarah, Duchess of York’s first grandchild, and the ninth great-grandchild for The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh, but will not have a royal title.  

    The Duchess of Cambridge's younger brother James Middleton was among the first to congratulate Eugenie and her husband, a tequila brand ambassador, writing on Instagram: 'Such wonderful news'.

    Princess Eugenie has given birth to her first child, a baby boy born this morning at The Portland Hospital and broke with tradition by immediately sharing a black and white photo to Instagram of their new arrival, showing them holding his tiny hand

    Princess Eugenie has given birth to her first child, a baby boy born this morning at The Portland Hospital and broke with tradition by immediately sharing a black and white photo to Instagram of their new arrival, showing them holding his tiny hand

    The Queen's granddaughter had husband Jack Brooksbank at her side at The Portland Hospital where there son was delivered at 8.55am.

    The Queen's granddaughter had husband Jack Brooksbank at her side at The Portland Hospital where there son was delivered at 8.55am.

    Buckingham Palace announced the couple's happy news, saying that the Queen, Prince Philip and both sets of parents are 'delighted' with the happy news

    Buckingham Palace announced the couple's happy news, saying that the Queen, Prince Philip and both sets of parents are 'delighted' with the happy news 

    The Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital (RNOH) charity, which treated Princess Eugenie for the rare condition of scoliosis when she was 12m penned: 'Congratulations to our Patron, HRH Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank on the birth of their baby boy. We are so delighted for you both and would like to wish you all the very best'

    Eugenie's pregnancy was revealed in November, with a traditional announcement from Buckingham Palace, as well as an Instagram post from the happy couple. 

    Sharing the news, Eugenie, 30, wrote: 'Jack and I are so excited for early 2021....,' alongside photos of baby slippers and her and Jack smiling. Sarah Ferguson shared her excitement, writing: 'I am so excited by the news that Eugenie and Jack are expecting their first child.

    'Thrilled for them both and in my 60th year cannot wait to be a grandmother. Welcoming a new baby into the York family is going to be a moment of profound joy.'

    The couple announced the news on Instagram and the Duchess of Cambridge's brother James was one of the first to offer congratulations, as royal fans rushed to offer their best wishes to the couple. Eugenie's charity The Anti-Slavery Collective also sent congratulations to the new mother

    The couple announced the news on Instagram and the Duchess of Cambridge's brother James was one of the first to offer congratulations, as royal fans rushed to offer their best wishes to the couple. Eugenie's charity The Anti-Slavery Collective also sent congratulations to the new mother 

    Eugenie and Jack have just welcomed their first child just over three years after announcing their engagement at Buckingham Palace

    Eugenie and Jack have just welcomed their first child just over three years after announcing their engagement at Buckingham Palace 

    Princess Eugenie's baby WON'T have a royal title  

    Princess Eugenie won't accept a royal title for her baby if offered by the Queen because it is a 'curse' and she wants her child to have an 'ordinary life', a family friend told Vanity Fair in September. 

    A family friend of the couple revealed several months ago that titles 'don't matter' to the couple, who will raise the child at their home of Kensington Palace, and said they just want 'a happy healthy child.'

    Speaking to Vanity Fair's Katie Nicholl, the source revealed: 'Eugenie knows that a title can be a curse as well as a blessing and she and Jack want their child to live an ordinary life and eventually work to earn a living.' 

    Sources also revealed the couple will choose an 'ordinary' name for their first born. 

    According to the regulations of the House of Windsor, Eugenie's baby will not automatically be entitled to the HRH styling, which only extends to grandchildren of the monarch. 

    The source said even if the Queen offered a title as a gift, it was 'not Eugenie or Jack’s desire; for their child to have a title. 

    Despite having royal titles, Princess Eugenie and her sister Princess Beatrice are not currently considered to be senior working royals, because they do not carry out duties full time on behalf of the QueenAlthough the baby is the first biological grandchild for Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, they are step-grandparents to Wolfie, the son of Princess Beatrice's husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi.

    When Eugenie's pregnancy was announced, a spokesman for the duchess told the Mail that while she was clearly overjoyed at Eugenie's news, she also wanted to stress that she and Andrew very much saw Beatrice's stepson, Wolfie, as a grandchild too.

    'Wolfie is already a very much-loved member of their family and the duchess is very keen to stress that she sees Wolfie as their grandchild too,' they said. The three-year-old is Mr Mapelli Mozzi's son by a previous relationship.

    Eugenie and Jack's child will be 11th in the order of succession, which means the Queen's youngest son Prince Edward will slip down a place into 12th place.

    Eugenie and Jack, spent lockdown at Fergie and Prince Andrew's home on the Queen's Windsor estate, but have recently spent time at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's former home, Frogmore cottage. 

    The couple moved into the five-bedroom home in Windsor in November after a direct arrangement with the Sussexes.

    However, it was reported that just six weeks later, they quit the Grade-II listed house and moved back to Kensington Palace. 

    It was understood that Eugenie and her cousin Harry reached a 'private agreement' over Frogmore Cottage though it is not known how long it will last.

    At the time of the move, Harry and Meghan, who currently reside in an £11million mansion in California, said they were 'delighted' to 'open up their home' while they were in the United States.

    Frogmore Cottage was gifted to The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, by the Queen ahead of their wedding in May 2018, and remains their UK residence.

    The move to Frogmore Cottage brought the couple closer to the Princess's parents, who live four miles away at Royal Lodge, Windsor Great Park, and less than a mile from Windsor Castle, where the Queen is spending lockdown with Prince Philip.

    Eugenie and Jack had been living at Ivy Cottage at Kensington Palace before they relocated to Frogmore Cottage.

    The new mother is currently on maternity leave from her job as a director at Mayfair art gallery Hausery& Wirth. 

    However, she's been keeping busy and over the weekend shared a video remembering the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster for the charity she co-founded, The Anti-Slavery Collective. 

    She wanted to 'take the opportunity to remember the anniversary of the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster' in the clip, shared to the organisation's Instagram account this weekend.

    The tragedy saw at least 21 Chinese undocumented immigrant labourers drowned by an incoming tide after picking cockles off the Lancashire coast.

    WHY DID PRINCESS EUGENIE CHOOSE THE PORTLAND HOSPITAL  TO GIVE BIRTH? 

    The luxury private hospital where Princess Eugenie has given birth offers new parents a 'celebration meal' complete with champagne, lobster and foie gras.

    The Duchess of Sussex, who also gave birth there, was reported to have wanted a home birth after rejecting a stay at the Lindo Wing where the Duchess of Cambridge famously posed with her three newborns.

    But more than a week overdue, The Mail was told she was forced to have Baby Sussex in hospital - most likely at The Portland in central London.

    The Portland's childbirth packages start from £15,000 and can cost up to £20,000.

    Extended stays The Portland can rack up bills of £1,800 a night, a far cry from Frimley Park NHS Hospital in Surrey where Meghan was rumoured to have gone if her hopes of a home birth were dashed.

    Extended stays The Portland can rack up bills of £1,800 a night, a far cry from Frimley Park NHS Hospital in Surrey where Meghan was rumoured to have gone if her hopes of a home birth were dashed.

    Other famous mothers who have had their babies there include Victoria Beckham, Liz Hurley and Jools Oliver.

    Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York also gave birth to Princess Eugenie and Beatrice there.

    Staff offer 24-hour room service in their lavish labour suites, which come complete with Molton Brown toiletries and four-poster cots.

    New parents are offered a meal to celebrate the safe delivery of their child, with a menu that boasts lobster, oysters, foie gras, champagne and afternoon tea options - all served on silver platters.

    Extended stays The Portland can rack up bills of £1,800 a night, a far cry from Frimley Park NHS Hospital in Surrey where Meghan and Harry were rumoured to have gone if her hopes of a home birth were dashed.

    Meghan was previously rumoured to have her eye on Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey (pictured) if her hopes of a home birth were dashed. The NHS hospital was rated good in its last inspection

    Meghan was previously rumoured to have her eye on Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey (pictured) if her hopes of a home birth were dashed. The NHS hospital was rated good in its last inspection

    While Frimley Park was rated good, with some outstanding aspects, by the Care Quality Commission, it can't compete with the luxury 'goodie bags' new mothers are handed when they leave The Portland.

    These include an invitation to a professional mother and baby photoshoot, more champagne and luxury toys, according to The Sun.

    There are reported to be 50 full-time midwives and nursery nurses on duty at all times, happy to change nappies and 'check in' on newborns while their exhausted parents try to get some sleep.

    Babies are treated to £3,500 Moses baskets designed by luxury furniture brand Dragons of Walton Street, as well as £14,000 four-poster Little Duchess cot.  Speaking in the clip, Eugenie said: 'Seventeen years ago, 21 Chinese undocumented immigrant labourers were drowned by an incoming tide after picking cockles off the Lancashire coast.

    'While their story is so tragic, it really isn't very unique and it's something that happens in modern slavery and has only worsened in the last years. There's an estimated 24.9million victims of forced labour globally across the world.' 

    Jack and Eugenie were introduced by friends around seven years ago during a skiing holiday to Verbier in Switzerland. 

    'There was an immediate attraction and since that meeting, they have barely been apart,' a friend later recalled.

    The friend added: 'Eugenie was studying at Newcastle when they met and Jack was working in London, but they made the relationship work.

    'She is very uncomplicated. She's a doer, a worker, as is Jack. They are very suited.

    'Jack's always worked hard. He chose not to go to university so that he could get on the career ladder and Eugenie loved that. She didn't care at all that he was a waiter. She might be a princess, but Eugenie comes with few airs and graces.' 

    Baby Arthur favourite name for Eugenie and Jack 

    Arthur is the favoured name of choice for Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's newborn son, according to Ladbrokes. 

    At 5/1 Arthur leads the betting with the bookies following the safe arrival of the couple's first son, or there's 6/1 on offer the baby is called James. 

    Frederick, Edward and Albert are all chalked up at 8/1 apiece, while it's 10/1 for little baby Albert, Hugo or Alfred. 

    Andrew is an outsider at 25/1 to be the moniker chosen by the new parents. 

    Jessica O'Reilly of Ladbrokes said: "Huge congratulations to Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank on the birth of their son. The early betting is pointing towards a traditional name like Arthur for Eugenie and Jack's son." 

    She added: "However, given Eugenie's name we can't rule out something a little more out-there such as Tarquin or Humphrey."

    Ladbrokes latest betting Name of Royal Baby:

    - Arthur 5/1 

    - James 6/1 

    - Frederick 8/1 

    - Edward 8/1 

    - Albert 8/1 

    - Hugo 10/1 

    - Alfred 10/1 

    - Alexander 10/1 

    - Tarquin 12/1 

    - Henry 12/1 

    - Philip 12/1 

    - Charles 12/1 

    - Hugo 14/1 

    - George 14/1 

    - Thomas 14/1 

    - Harry 16/1 

    - Humphrey 16/1 

    - Andrew 25/1 

    - William 25/1 

    - Horatio 25/1 

    - Bradley 33/1  

    The couple invited 850 royals, aristocrats, VIPs and friends - 150 more than Harry and Meghan who married five months earlier - to their lavish ceremony in St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle on October 12, 2018. 

    The bride's V-neck dress made from a jacquard of silk, cotton and viscose blend with a low back - designed to display the scars from her childhood operation for scoliosis - was designed by London-based Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos. 

    Princess Eugenie's husband Jack Brooksbank is a former waiter who spurned university and a job in the City to set himself up in the pub trade. 

    He was once nicknamed 'barman Jack' in his Chelsea social circle and has worked his way up through some of the capital's trendiest bars and nightspots.

    But he has moved to put any idea of his being a party animal behind him in recent years, setting up a respectable wine merchants business. 

    Brooksbank is the son of Old Etonian chartered accountant George Brooksbank and his wife Nicola.

    It has previously emerged that, as with many royal couples, Brooksbank and Eugenie are very distantly related. Brooksbank's father's great grandfather is Viscount Coke, a former Earl of Leicester and a peer in the early 19th century.

    Viscount Coke, who died in 1909, is also the great, great grandfather of Sarah Ferguson, Eugenie's mother.

    He was educated at £10,000-a-term Stowe school in Buckinghamshire, whose former pupils include businessmen Richard Branson and John Sainsbury.

    Rather than follow many of his peers into finance degrees and the City, Jack got the backing of his parents to go straight to work after school, heading for the hospitality industry.

    He worked as a waiter and took a job at Chelsea's Admiral Codrington, a gastropub just a short walk from Sloane Square and in the heart of Made In Chelsea country

    It was there that he met businessman Piers Adam, who brought him around the corner to The Markham Inn, also in Chelsea.

    Mr Adam previously described him as a 'phenomenal' operator, who was happy dealing with staff and customer issues.

    In his three years at the Markham, Jack got to know Prince Harry and his friend Guy Pelly and began to move in royal circles.

    Jack said of his time at the pub: 'At the Markham Inn, I had to deal with lots of strange people, and everyone was demanding. I also got to know the locals, which I loved.'

    From there he went on to help run the Mahiki nightclub in Mayfair, one of the capital's most exclusive nightclubs and also a favourite of Prince Harry and the young royals. 

    He also got on well with Eugenie's best friend, actress Cressida Bonas, who was at that time Prince Harry's girlfriend.

    Despite reports he celebrated his 21st birthday – before he knew Eugenie – dancing with a naked stripper, Jack has more recently insisted he doesn't spend much time drinking with revellers in his nightspots.

    He previously said: 'I leave work at 11pm and head home. I'm not a big drinker. People think we party a lot but actually we are very quiet. For me it's a case of going home and watching a DVD.'

    He was also said to be a stablising influence on one-time 'party princess' Eugenie, and the couple were both said to have been seen out less as their relationship matured. 

    But he knew his way around a bar well enough to become a brand ambassador for Casamigos tequila, the brand set up by Clooney and his friends Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman.

    It is said the move from 'party fixer' to wine merchant was an attempt to make himself look more respectable in case he were to attempt to join the royal family in future.

    Brooksbank has also previously spoken of his dream of opening a chain of country hostelries.

    In 2013, he said: 'I want to create a chain of pubs. It has been my dream since I was 18. I have fond memories of Sunday roasts in pubs with log fires, and it’s something I want to recreate. I love pubs and often go to my local for a pint.' 

    After meeting Princess Eugenie on a ski holiday, Jack quickly ingratiated himself with Eugenie's parents and reportedly bought her a Cartier bracelet for her 22nd birthday.

    It was reported in 2012 that Fergie had to apologise to fellow diners after a party at the Osteria dell’Arancio restaurant in Chelsea to celebrate Jack’s 27th birthday.

    Their relationship was tested in 2013, three years after they met, Eugenie went to work at Paddle8 auction house in New York, while Jack stayed in London.

    But they managed to keep a long-distance relationship going with the aid of Skype and reunited in London two years later.

    After months of rumours, Jack proposed to his princess in Nicaragua in early January 2018 and the Royal Family announced they would marry in the autumn.

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