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Prince Andrew, who retired from public life over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein and allegations of sexual misconduct, appears to have been snubbed by his daughter, Princess Eugenie, in the naming of her new royal baby.
Eugenie, who is Andrew's younger daughter with Sarah "Fergie" Ferguson, and who is close friends with her cousin, Prince Harry, announced the birth of her second child with husband Jack Brooksbank on Monday.
In a statement posted to her official Instagram account, Eugenie said: "Jack and I wanted to share the news that we had our little boy, Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank on 30th May 2023 at 8.49 weighing 7.1lbs."
The new royal baby is 13th in line to the British throne and is a great-nephew to King Charles III.
Eugenie also posted to Instagram the touching family links that influenced the choice of her new son's name. "He is named after his great great great Grandfather George, his Grandpa George and my Grandpa Ronald," she wrote.
The name Ernest came from King George V, who had Ernest as one of his many middle names. The middle name, George, honors George Brooksbank, Jack's father, and Ronnie honors Sarah Ferguson's father, Major Ronald Ferguson, who was a polo manager to Prince Philip and later to King Charles.
Though Ernest's paternal grandfather and maternal grandfather are honored in his name, his maternal grandfather, Andrew, is notably absent.
This comes after Eugenie also didn't include a tribute to her father when naming her first-born son in 2021. The baby was christened August (after Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, who had "Augustus" as a middle name), Philip (after Prince Philip) and Hawke (after his paternal ancestor, Reverend Edward Hawke Brooksbank).
Though Andrew has missed out in the naming of his grandsons, the prince's children and ex-wife have stood by the royal throughout the period of scandal that led to his forced royal retirement. This began in 2019, following a controversial television interview.
Andrew appeared on BBC's Newsnight show in November 2019 to discuss his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who had died in prison earlier that summer.
Questions were raised about Andrew's involvement with Epstein and allegations that the prince had sexually assaulted Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre when she was a teenager.
The prince delivered what is widely agreed to be a car crash of an interview with broadcaster Emily Maitlis, failing to adequately distance himself from Epstien and attempting to discredit Giuffre.
Following the broadcast of the show, Andrew announced he would step down from his public duties amid public criticism, which was compounded in 2021 when Giuffre filed a lawsuit over her allegations of sexual abuse.
In 2022, it was officially announced that Andrew had been stripped of his official royal patronages and military associations and that he would no longer use his HRH (His Royal Highness) title. Shortly afterwards the prince settled Giuffre's lawsuit out of court.
Andrew has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to Giuffre.
Since the settling of the lawsuit, any rare public appearance made by Andrew has been widely criticized, including his involvement during the state mourning period for his mother, Queen Elizabeth II.
In the days after the queen's death in September 2022, both of the prince's daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, showed support for their father by appearing in public alongside him.
Andrew is now a grandfather of three. In addition to Eugenie's two sons, Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, are parents to a daughter, born in 2021, named Sienna Elizabeth Mapelli Mozzi.
James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.
Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We'd love to hear from you.
About the writer
James Crawford-Smith is a Newsweek Royal Reporter, based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on the British royal family ... Read more