Princess Eugenie's daughter Adelaide's name maintains family tradition - now Prince Harry is the only cousin to have abandoned it
She has finally confirmed her baby girl’s full moniker and stressed the connection to a rather important family member
Baby Adelaide Brooksbank might not have been born with a title like her mother, but her name strongly honours her royal heritage. On 17th August, Eugenie finally announced her daughter's highly-anticipated fully moniker - Adelaide Elizabeth Annina Brooksbank.
The Princess confirmed that her little girl was "named after three people we love and admire past and present, including her Great-Grandmother who we hold close in our hearts". The late Queen Elizabeth was the only one of the three to get a shout-out and "Elizabeth" upholds a special naming tradition started by Eugenie's cousin Peter Phillips and abandoned by Prince Harry.
Peter was the first of Queen Elizabeth's grandchildren to become a parent and his younger daughter is Isla Elizabeth Phillips. Following in his footsteps almost all his cousins and his sister Zara Tindall have used Elizabeth as a middle name for one of their daughters so far.
Zara's second child is Lena Elizabeth Tindall, Prince William's daughter is Charlotte Elizabeth Diana, and both of Princess Beatrice's daughters, Sienna and Athena, have Elizabeth as a middle name too. Now Adelaide has joined the Elizabeth club.
Queen Elizabeth had close relationships with her grandchildren and it's so special that each of them chose to name their daughters in her honour and keep up this tradition. Prince Harry took a different approach when he and Meghan welcomed Lilibet in 2021.
Her middle name is Diana and Lilibet was the late Queen's childhood nickname. It was picked as a different form of tribute, though there have been mixed reports about how this went down.
The Sussexes' spokesperson said at the time that Queen Elizabeth was the "first family member" Harry called before making the announcement. They added, "During that conversation, he shared their hope of naming their daughter Lilibet in her honour. Had she not been supportive, they would not have used the name."
In contrast, author Robert Jobson wrote in The Windsor Legacy that a palace source alleged when the Queen first heard about Lili's name she was "so incensed" that "she threw the paper to the floor".
However she truly felt about Lilibet's moniker, Her Majesty was surely very touched by how each of her grandchildren thought about including her in their children's names. Princess Eugenie made the connection very clear in her message, which was shared two weeks after she announced her daughter’s birth.
The mum-of-three described how they've been enjoying "the most special, cosy and love-filled time" and said August and Ernest are the "best big brothers" already. Alongside the solo picture of her daughter, Eugenie also gave fans an adorable glimpse at all of her kids together.
Out of the three Brooksbank children, only August (born February 2021) got to meet their great-grandmother Queen Elizabeth.
Princess Eugenie wrote an essay for The Spectator ahead of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in which she revealed her hope for August to inherit her grannie's "patience, her calmness and her kindness while always being able to laugh at himself and keep a twinkle in his eye".
