Buckingham Palace announces engagement and says wedding will take place in autumn

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Princess Eugenie has become engaged to her boyfriend, Jack Brooksbank, Buckingham Palace has announced.

The wedding will take place in the autumn at St George’s Chapel at Windsor, the same venue where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are due to marry in May.

Buckingham Palace said: “The Duke and Duchess of York are delighted to announce the engagement of Princess Eugenie to Mr Jack Brooksbank. Her Royal Highness and Mr Brooksbank became engaged in Nicaragua earlier this month. The wedding will take place in the autumn of 2018 at St George’s Chapel in Windsor, with further details to be announced in due course.”

Eugenie, 27, began dating Brooksbank, 29, a nightclub manager, about seven years ago after they met skiing in the Swiss resort of Verbier.



Theresa May congratulated the “happy couple” in a tweet.

Theresa May (@theresa_may) My very best wishes to Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank on their engagement - congratulations to the happy couple. https://t.co/VfTnM4QJvy

Brooksbank manages the Mayfair club Mahiki, a favourite haunt of his friend Prince Harry and Eugenie’s sister Princess Beatrice.

The cocktail bar refused to comment on the announcement. Its most recent Twitter update invites followers to “get geeky at Mahiki” by sampling some of “science cocktails and in test tube shots”.

Mahiki (@mahiki) Let’s Get Geeky at Mahiki! 🤓⚗️ The #MahikiMondays Class of Tiki returns for more science cocktails and test tube shots 🍹🔭🎉 pic.twitter.com/q5mfMKtEHK

Brooksbank has had ambitions to set up a chain of pubs since he was 18. Explaining the plan to the Daily Mail, he said: “I have fond memories of Sunday roasts in pubs with log fires, and it’s something I want to recreate.”

He is the son of an accountant and was educated at Stowe public school in Buckinghamshire. Other alumni include the entrepreneur Richard Branson, the television executive Michael Grade and the Guardian columnist George Monbiot.

Brooksbank shunned university and went straight from school into a career in hospitality, including stints as a waiter and wine merchant.

The Duke of York paid tribute to his future son-in-law. “Jack is an absolutely outstanding young man and Eugenie and he have got to know each other over a number of years, and I’m really thrilled for them,” Prince Andrew said during a visit to the King’s Lynn Innovation Centre.

He added: “I’m just completely overjoyed for them and wish them every happiness.”

Eugenie’s mother, Sarah Ferguson, tweeted her “total joy” at the engagement, and posted a photo of the couple on a boat.

Sarah Ferguson (@SarahTheDuchess) They float with laughter and love .. although a boat helps! #engagement #eugieandjack @TheDukeOfYork @yorkiebea pic.twitter.com/Q7ezWecUsa

On Sunday it was reported that Ferguson had demanded about £45m in damages from Rupert Murdoch. She claims that the now defunct News of the World wrecked a series of business opportunities for her when its former reporter Mazher Mahmood caught her in a sting.