As Princess Eugenie announces second pregnancy, we look at how parenthood has changed her and Prince Harry

Princess Eugenie has announced that she is expecting her second child with husband Jack Brooksbank and is due to give birth in the summer.

On her Instagram account, Princess Eugenie shared a photograph of herself with son August kissing her stomach with the caption: “We’re so excited to share that there will be a new addition to our family this summer.” This was followed by a camera emoji and then “by Jack.” (obviously meaning Princess Eugenie’s husband Jack Brooksbank).

Princess Eugenie’s mother Sarah Ferguson responded with the comment: “Granny heaven,” followed by a heart emoji. Eugenie’s brother in law and Princess Beatrice’s husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi responded with two heart emojis.

The news of Princess Eugenie’s pregnancy comes only a day after she spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos where she revealed how becoming a mother to August in 2021 changed her perspective on the environment. “My son's going to be an activist from two years old, which is in a couple of days,” she said. “Everything is for them, right? Every decision we now make has to be about how August is going to be able to live his life.”

The key talking point initially regarding Eugenie’s comments were of course the idea about her son being an activist. However, no sooner had she announced her pregnancy, the word “them,” hints to the news that Eugenie is adding to her family.

In the interview which Princess Eugenie gave to Reuters editor-at-large Axel Threlfall and Arctic Humanity founder Gail Whiteman, she expressed her concerns about global warming and how becoming a mother has impacted on the decisions her family makes in their household.

She explained in the interview that her family tries “as much as possible” not to have plastic in their home and she is attempting to teach August to live plastic-free, but revealed: “It’s a battle.”

When it comes to how motherhood has changed her, Princess Eugenie candidly spoke about how it has affected her fears. “As a mother, you, all of a sudden, totally change, your hormones change, everything changes,” she revealed. “Like now, I’m scared of flying and things like that, and I would never be before.”

The way Princess Eugenie explains how motherhood has changed is very similar to how her cousin Prince Harry has talked about the impact becoming a father has had on him. When he gave a speech at The Diana Award National Youth Mentoring Summit in London in 2019, he said: “Perhaps it’s the newfound clarity I have as a father knowing that my son will always be watching what I do, mimicking my behaviour, one day maybe even following in my footsteps.”

Prince Harry also spoke about how he has changed since becoming a father and the environment (like Princess Eugenie) when he helped launch WaterBear Network, the conservation-focused streaming platform. “The moment you become a father everything really does change because then you start to realise, well, what is the point in bringing a new person into this world when they get to your age and it’s on fire,” he revealed in a video clip.