Princess Eugenie gives insight into her children’s life in Portugal

The 34-year-old royal, who splits her time between the UK and Portugal, has revealed her sons August, three, and Ernest, one, “love swimming” in the sea, despite her “being scared” of the ocean when she was a child.

“The sea in Portugal’s a little bit rougher,” she told Hello! magazine. “So, we’ve got our feet in, but Augie is a fish. He literally loves it, and we have whales and dolphins across the walls.”

Eugenie, who is married to Jack Brooksbank, 38, went on to reveal how both her boys love learning about sea life.

“We’ve got a book called The World’s Wildest Waters, which is backed by Blue Marine Foundation – I see it every morning when Augie’s eating breakfast, and he’s like, ‘Mama!’ and then we go through it,” she said. “The children have to find the creatures in the pictures and the next page is all the facts about the cuttlefish, or the Great White shark or the seal. And Augie loves it.”

Eugenie’s comments came during a visit to Christie’s to see Blue: Art, where pieces were being auctioned off to raise funds for Blue Marine Foundation.

Eugenie and her family have been splitting their time between the UK and Portugal since 2022, when Jack started working with property tycoon Mike Meldman, who is managing a 300-home development in the Algarve.

The royal has previously spoken about enjoying the anonymity of life away from the UK. “This is why Portugal is the dream because I can go to the supermarket in my exercise gear and my hair piled on my head and not mind. Not care. No one cares,” she said.