Princess Eugenie Says Her Sons August and Ernest 'Love' Place She Feared as a Child

Mar. 15, 2025

Ernest Brooksbank, Princess Eugenie and August Brooksbank in a photo Princess Eugenie shared to Instagram on Feb. 9, 2024.Photo:Princess Eugenie/Instagram

Princess Eugenie/Instagram

Princess Eugeniesays that her young sonsAugustandErnesthave no fears about embracing a place that frightened her as a child — the ocean!

Princess Eugenie, 34, made the revelation about her kids, whom she shares with husbandJack Brooksbank, during a visit to the “Blue: Art for the Ocean” exhibit at Christie’s in London. Eugenie was on the committee which secured artwork being auctioned this week to benefit the Blue Marine Foundation, which she backs as an ambassador.

“They love swimming,” Princess Eugenie toldHello!magazineabout August, 3, and Ernest, 1, when asked about whether she’s instilling a love for the ocean into her kids.

“The sea in Portugal’s a little bit rougher. So we’ve got our feet in, but Augie is a fish. Literally, he loves it and we have whales and dolphins all across the walls,” she said, using thefamily nicknamefor her eldest son. “We’re big ocean people.”

Princess Eugenie and Jack, 38,divide their timebetween the U.K. and Portugal for his job, and also said that August likes to read a picture book about the ocean when he has breakfast.

“I see it every morning when Augie’s eating breakfast, and he’s like, ‘Mama’  and then we go through it,” Princess Eugenie toldHello!about reading a “Blue Marine-backed book” calledThe World’s Wildest Waterstogether.

August Brooksbank and Enrest Brooksbank in a photo Princes Eugenie shared on Instagram in May 2024.Princess Eugenie/Instagram

“The children have to find the creatures in the pictures in the book and the next page is all the facts about the cuttlefish, or the Great White shark or the seal… And Augie loves it,” she said.

Like her uncleKing Charlesand cousinPrince William, Eugenie has used her royal platform to advocate about the importance of protecting the environment, from having a plastic-free wedding in 2018 to raising Augie as an “activist” around climate change and more.

Her insight about her sons' loving swimming follows her admission on World Oceans Day in June that she was scared of the sea as a child.

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“I was always quite scared of the ocean when I was younger. I dropped a jelly shoe in there and never came back, obviously,” the princess said in a video shared toInstagram. “It’s something so wonderful and unknown that we really should be making sure that everything within it is looked after for generations to come.”

“Congratulations Beabea.. So looking forward to more on this journey of motherhood together. And adding another little one to the gang,” Eugenie captioned the snap in part.

When it comes to an affinity for exploring the ocean, it seems August and Ernest have something in common withPrince George, 11, the son of Prince William andKate Middleton. During an Oct. 3 visit to the Birtley Community Pool, the Prince of Wales, 42, revealed that his eldest child"loves scuba diving,“he said.

“He’s 11 years old. We took him under thinking he would freak out. He absolutely loves it. It’s just introducing him to the world of water,” Prince William said at the engagement last week,Hello!reported.

source: people.com