In a heartwarming Instagram post, Princess Eugenie marked her husband’s milestone birthday, her first public message since the arrest of her father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, earlier this year. Jack Brooksbank, who turned 40 on Sunday, has been married to Eugenie for almost eight years, following their 2018 nuptials. The couple’s love story began in March 2010.
The princess, who has a substantial following of 1.7 million on Instagram, has largely kept a low profile since her parents’ association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein came to light. However, Eugenie has recently begun to re-emerge into the public eye.
Last week, she made two notable appearances after months of staying out of the spotlight. Her first public sighting was in Sicily, where she attended a glamorous wedding between hotelier Charles Forte and handbag designer Georgie Wright.
The second appearance took place in London, where Eugenie was seen enjoying a lunch outing with her sister, Beatrice, on Saturday. These public outings mark a gradual return to normalcy for the princess amid her family’s ongoing challenges.
It was first in Sicily at a glamorous wedding between hotelier Charles Forte and The Veil handbag designer Georgie Wright.
She was then seen again with her sister Beatrice in London on Saturday – going out for lunch.
The post on Eugenie’s Instagram story was of Mr Brooksbank lying down on a sunny beach with the caption ‘Happy 40th my love’.
The next slide was of him playing with their son August Philip Hawke Brooksbank in an action shot running along the sand.
Princess Eugenie posted happy family photos celebrating Jack Brooksbank’s 40th birthday
The post featured her eldest song August Philip Hawke Brooksbank frolicing in the sand with her husband of seven years
An earlier photo of the couple in 2011, a year after they first met, featured Mr Brooksbank in a sombrero
The final photo was a more recent photo of the couple all smiles at the beach
A third picture showed the couple in younger days, all smiles with Mr Brooksbank donning a sombrero.
This was captioned ‘Here’s to another 16… xx’ – referring to when the couple first started a relationship in 2010. This was originally captioned ‘Circa 2011’ but was taken down and reposted.
A final photo was of the couple smiling together more recently in a beach selfie.
The photos appear to have been uploaded once, then taken down and reposted with slightly altered captions.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson’s apparent relations with Jeffrey Epstein have meant their daughters Eugenie and Beatrice have caught flak around the scandal too, with many commentators posting about the paedophile on recent social media posts.
Eugenie herself is mentioned in the files alongside her sister.
Ferguson is said to have taken Eugenie to see Epstein with Beatrice for lunch in Miami in 2009, following the disgraced financier’s release from prison after he was convicted of child sex offences in 2008.
Eugenie would have been 19 when her mother took her to see the paedophile, and Beatrice 21.
Ferguson often appears to have included her daughters in emails to Epstein as one 2010 email suggested she told him that Eugenie had been away on a ‘shagging weekend’.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor stepped back from public life after his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview in 2019.
He was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office on February 19 after emails suggested he had sent confidential documents to Epstein while he was acting as a trade envoy in Asia in 2010 and 2011. He has denied any wrongdoing.
He was accused of having sex with the late Virginia Giuffre after Epstein allegedly trafficked her to the then-prince. Andrew has always denied this and settled with Ms Giuffre outside of court.
A second victim came forward after the second release of the Epstein files in January after it was alleged a woman was sent to the UK to have sex with Andrew at Royal Lodge, followed by tea and a tour of Buckingham Palace.
Eugenie and Beatrice were spotted on Saturday going out for lunch in Mayfair, west London, after Eugenie had attended a wedding in Sicily earlier in the week
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on February 19 on suspicion of misconduct in public office following his relations with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein
Sarah Ferguson, pictured in 2023, also appeared to have had a relationship with Epstein with numerous mentions in the Epstein files. It is said she brought Eugenie and Beatrice to see the paedophile when they were young women after he was release from prison in 2009
Ferguson was mentioned numerous times in the Epstein files and emails suggest he had been bankrolling her for 15 years. In one 2009 email she is believed to have said to Epstein: ‘I urgently need 20,000 pounds ($27,521) for rent today.
‘The landlord has threatened to go to the newspapers if I don’t pay. Any brainwaves?’
In another gushing message, she appears to say ‘Just marry me’ after a string of compliments to the paedophile who had been convicted of soliciting sex from a minor the year before.
She is also believed to have introduced her then-22-year-old goddaughter to Epstein following his release from prison.
In one 2011 email, she wrote that he was a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’ to her and her family. This was sent after he was convicted of soliciting prostitution from a minor in 2008 and after she denounced her own involvement with him as an error of judgement.
