Will Princess Eugenie Take Her Fiancé Jack Brooksbank's Last Name?
Like most brides, when Princess Eugenie marries her fiancé Jack Brooksbank on Friday, she will have the option to take her new husband's last name. Since Brooksbank will almost certainly not receive a title on their wedding day, as there is no precedent for such a gift, Eugenie could become known as Mrs. Jack Brooksbank. (In the British aristocracy, women take the titles of their husbands, but it doesn't quite work the other way around; chalk it up to the patriarchy.)
According to Marlene Koenig, an expert who runs the blog Royal Musings, "Princess Eugenie can choose to be styled as HRH Princess Eugenie, Mrs. Jack Brooksbank, if she wants to [following her wedding]," though she doesn't have to.
Koenig also clarifies that Eugenie will drop the "of York" from her current styling, but she will keep her middle names, Victoria, which honors Queen Victoria, and Helena, which is a tribute to Queen Victoria's third daughter Princess Helena.
In the past, royal women have handled this particular scenario differently. Princess Anne, for example, was known as HRH The Princess Anne, Mrs. Mark Phillips until the Queen bestowed upon her the title of Princess Royal in 1987.
But according to Koenig, when Princess Margaret married Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960, "she chose not to be styled as HRH The Princess Margaret, Mrs. Antony Armstrong-Jones." Later, when he received the peerage of Earl of Snowdon before the birth of their son David, Margaret chose to be styled as HRH The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon.
While nothing is set in stone just yet, it sounds like Eugenie's isn't stressing about the name change. Earlier this year, a source told the Daily Mail, "Eugenie couldn’t care less about titles and is perfectly happy to be Mrs Brooksbank."
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