Happy Birthday Princess Eugenie

"How do I play the princess thing? I don't really."



So Fergie and Prince Andrew's little girl has grown up!



This past Sunday (Easter no less) Princess Eugenie celebrated her 18th birthday. Eugenie Victoria Helena Mountbatten-Windsor (the Mountbatten comes from when Prince Philip renounced his Greek titles. Yes, I said Greek. He was born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark on a kitchen table in Corfu. When he married Princess Elizabeth, he was simply Lt. Philip Mountbatten. Mountbatten was the name that his maternal grandfather took during WWI when having a German surname of Battenberg was not a good idea) in Portland Hospital.



Two years later her parents seperated and finally divorced in 1996 (see my post on Sarah, Duchess of York at Scandalous Women). However both parents were loving and committed to giving their daughters the best possible parenting despite not being married anymore. "They are the best divorced couple I know," Eugenie has said. "They just went out of their way to make us feel loved and secure. " The Duchess of York endeavored to make sure that both Eugenie and her older sister Beatrice had as normal an upbringing as possible.



Eugenie attended Upton House school in Windsor along with her older sister. Later she moved on to St. George's school also in Windsor. Unlike most of the royals, Eugenie is a gifted student who passed nine GCSE's with flying colors before studying for her A-level exams. She's also modest, saying that she's "more of a worker than a clever person" when it comes to academics. The Duke and Duchess of York have also made sure that Eugenie was introduced to the less fun aspects of royal life like charitable duties from a young age.



Here she is with her sister and mother at a charitable ballet performance at the age of 8. Love the purple tutu and the crazy make-up! Like most young aristocratic English girls, Eugenie went through a horse mad phase, learning to ride at an early age. She's very close to her grandmother, the Queen, whom she describes as "truly one of the most amazing women ever, she has this air of magic about her. And she is incredibly wise."


Unlike her older sister Beatrice, Eugenie says that she tends to be shy in social situations. While Beatrice has a steady boyfriend, an American who works for Richard Branson, Eugenie seems to be playing the field for now. She's a huge music fan, favoring bands like Death Cab for Cutie and The Stereophonics (Now I feel old, I know only Death Cab for Cutie from watching the OC).


Eugenie is very close to her mother and her sister Beatrice. "Mummy, Bea and I call ourselves 'the Tripod' – they are my best friends in the world," she has said in interviews. Many people think that Eugenie resembles her late great-grandmother, the Queen Mother who was born Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, daughter of the Earl of Strathmore.


She seems to be a very savvy young woman, who has her own MySpace page (you totally know that I'm going to friend her) travels by Tube, and has ambitions to visit Spain to learn the language during her gap year (she can always stay with her distant relatives the King and Queen of Spain!).

EKM