Princess Eugenie has ended two weeks of speculation over her newborn daughter's name, revealing on Instagram that the baby is called Adelaide Elizabeth Annina Brooksbank. The announcement came exactly a fortnight after the birth, following the same pattern Eugenie set with her first child, whose name she also waited days to share.
Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, welcomed Adelaide on August 3 at a hospital in Lisbon, weighing six pounds nine ounces. Buckingham Palace confirmed the birth at the time with a short statement, but the couple kept the name private while they settled into life with a newborn and her two older brothers, five-year-old August and three-year-old Ernest.
A Name Rooted In Two Countries
In her post, Eugenie explained that Adelaide was named after three people the couple loves and admires, including her late great-grandmother, whom the family holds close. She added that the name reflects both English and Portuguese history, the two places she and Brooksbank consider home, since the family splits much of its time between London and Lisbon.
The middle name Elizabeth is the most obvious tribute, echoing the same instinct that has run through several recent royal births, from Princess Charlotte to Prince Harry and Meghan's daughter Lilibet. It continues a pattern in which Eugenie's own children carry names honoring past generations of the family: her elder son's middle name nods to the late Prince Philip, while her second son was named partly after his own grandfathers.
A Princess, But Not A Princess Herself
Adelaide is now 15th in line to the British throne, one place behind her brothers. Because Eugenie's father lost his prince title, and titles in the family have historically passed only through the male line, Adelaide will be styled as "Miss" rather than inheriting any royal title of her own, the same rule that applies to her brothers as "Master."
The photos accompanying the announcement showed Adelaide wrapped in a blanket, cradled by her family and held by her two brothers in what appears to be their first group portrait together. Eugenie, 36, is the younger daughter of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson and a niece of King Charles III, though she and Brooksbank are not working royals and largely keep their family life out of official palace duties.