By Lydia Hawken For Mailonline
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After regaling viewers with never-before-seen pictures of their early romance and wedding in the first installment of their docu-series, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle delivered fresh blows to the Royal Family yesterday.
Speaking publicly about the infamous ‘Sandringham Summit’ for the first time, the Duke of Sussex claimed Prince William ‘screamed and shouted’ at him after he announced he was quitting the Royal Family with his wife.
Meanwhile, the father-of-two also sensationally claimed that King Charles ‘said things that just simply weren’t true’ after refusing to sign off on Harry’s request for a ‘half in, half-out’ Megxit deal.
But while the documentary may have put a strain on Prince Harry’s relationship with the Royal Family, the series also shone a light on one of the Duke’s most steadfastly loyal relations – Princess Eugenie.
Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie pictured on the Buckingham Palace balcony for the Trooping the Colour in June 2016
Despite being born five years apart, Harry and Eugenie often spent time together as children thanks to the friendship between their mothers Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson, who would pack up the children for joint family holidays.
The 32-year-old mother-of-one was the only royal to appear in Meghan Markle’s personal collection of photos which were displayed in the documentary.
From taking skiing trips together as children to hanging out with their significant others, here FEMAIL takes a look back over Prince Harry’s close bond with his cousin.
In the first episode of the series, Prince Harry opens up about a skiing holiday he went on with his family back in 1995 – where he seems to have felt particularly protective of his cousins Beatrice and Eugenie.
Prince Harry and Prince William pose for photographers with their cousins Princess Eugenie (front left) and Princess Beatrice (front right) in 1995
Discussing how he shied away from the spotlight, the Duke said: ‘Paparazzi used to harass us to the point of where we had to be forced into smiling and answering questions to the travelling press pack.’
The documentary then shows footage from Prince Harry’s photo call with his older brother and two younger cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, who were seven and five at the time.
After being told what camera to smile at, the then 11-year-old Harry is heard checking in on his young cousins.
Off camera, he appears to ask: ‘You all right, Eugenie? Beatrice, you all right?’
Reflecting on that experience now, Prince Harry said: ‘The deal was we put our skis on and then they’d leave us alone.
Princess Eugenie appeared in two episodes of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Netflix series. Pictured: attending a Halloween party with the couple in October 2016
Meghan Markle and Princess Eugenie pose for photos at a Halloween party in October 2016
‘Well yeah, some of them would but then the other ones would follow us around or wait for an accident to happen and pull out their cameras. It was never fair, it never worked.’
Later on in the episode, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex explained how they partied with Princess Eugenie and her now husband Jack Brooksbank the night before their romance was made public.
Eugenie was reportedly among the first to know about Prince Harry’s relationship with Meghan, whom she already knew through their mutual friend Misha Nonoo.
In October 2016, Prince Harry received a call from his communications secretary Jason Knauf who informed him that the news of his new relationship had reached the press.
Megan recalled: ‘Well, if it’s going to come out tomorrow, let’s go and have fun tonight!’
Meghan later revealed that the theme of the Halloween bash was ‘post-apocalypse’
Meghan Markle poses with Prince Harry, Jack Brooksbank, Princess Eugenie and her friend Marcus on their night out in Toronto
Harry added: ‘We went to this Halloween party together, where we could be completely dressed up and no one would know. I had a bandana and goggles on.’
Sharing photos from their night out, Meghan said: ‘His cousin Eugenie and her boyfriend of the time Jack and my friend Marcus were there too. It was so great. Just silly fun.’
Speaking about the party, Meghan told Ellen DeGeneres last year: ‘He came to see me in Toronto and our friends and his cousin Eugenie and now her husband Jack, they came as well, and the four of us snuck out in Halloween costumes to just have one fun night on the town before it was out in the world that we were a couple.
‘It was a post-apocalypse theme, so we had all this very bizarre costuming on, and we were able to just have one fun final night out.’
In the final episode of the Netflix series, Princess Eugenie appears again when she visits the couple in their new Montecito home.
Princess Eugenie was captured spending time with her cousin Prince Harry and his son Archie while in Los Angeles in the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Netflix documentary
She is filmed attending the Super Bowl in California in February 2022 as well as playing at an undisclosed beach with little Archie
Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie pictured watching the Super Bowl together in February
Eugenie is believed to be the only royal to have visited the Duke and Duchess of Sussex since they moved to California and was pictured watching the Super Bowl with Prince Harry in February.
A source told MailOnline at the time: ‘Harry and Eugenie have always been close ever since they were children. He always makes her laugh. They share a sense of humour. She is friends with Meghan too, and was close to his two previous girlfriends Chelsy Davy and Cressida Bonas. It was Eugenie who helped set up Harry and Cressida. She refuses to abandon him. She is a very loyal lady. She is not one for taking sides.’
In the Netflix doc, Eugenie is seen attending the Super Bowl in California in February before the clip jumps to her playing with three-year-old Archie at an undisclosed beach.
The royal also makes an appearance in the opening credits for the series where she’s seen enjoying a bike ride with Prince Harry.
Discussing the royal cousins’ close relationship, biographer Nigel Crawthorne previously told the MailOnline: ‘From an early age, Eugenie had to deal with the embarrassing headlines of both her father and mother.
‘Harry had to deal with his share of headlines, too, and this bond between them was a great consolation for them.’
‘Out of all the Queen’s grandchildren, Harry and Eugenie have one of the most natural connections,’ Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote in the Sussex biography Finding Freedom. The book also describes them as the ‘closest of friends’.
Meghan Markle said she was already friends with Princess Eugenie before meeting Prince Harry in her bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey
Mutual friends: Meghan and Eugenie are thought to have been introduced through their mutual friend Misha Nonoo. Pictured, Nonoo with Meghan in 2015 (left) and Eugenie in 2019
‘Like Harry, Eugenie is loyal, honest and great fun,’ the book continues. ‘The two had many nights out together in London, sneaking into back entrances of clubs, such as Mahiki, where Jack once was manager, or Tonteria, where in one of the VIP cave areas they downed shots from Mexican skull shaped glasses and a giant frozen margarita (with multiple straws).’
‘Not only did [Prince Harry] trust her implicitly, but friends said that she gives great advice and has always been ‘beyond wise’ for her years.’
In the explosive tell-all Oprah Winfrey interview, in which Harry and Meghan criticised the Royal Family, Eugenie was singled out for praise.
Meghan said: ‘Eugenie and I had known each other before I had known Harry, so that was comfortable […] We’re friends with them as a couple.’
Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank pictured arriving at the Princess of Wales’ Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey last night
Marking Meghan’s birthday last year, Eugenie wrote: ‘To celebrate dear Meghan’s 40th birthday I’m contributing 40 minutes of mentorship to support women reentering the workforce’
The Sussexes, Eugenie and Jack were all guests at Misha Nonoo’s lavish Rome wedding in the summer of 2019.
They also have mutual friends in singer Ellie Goulding and George and Amal Clooney, who were guests at Harry and Meghan’s nuptials. Jack is European Director of Casamigos, the tequila brand co-founded by George.
Last year, Princess Eugenie shared a 40th birthday tribute to her ‘dear Meghan’ in a gushing Instagram post.
On the day, the Duchess of Sussex shared a video featuring Bridesmaids actress Melissa McCarthy on the website of her charitable foundation Archewell to introduce her new initiative which encourages people to donate 40 minutes of their time to help someone else or to mentor someone in need.
Taking part in the charitable endeavour, Eugenie wrote: ‘To celebrate dear Meghan’s 40th birthday I’m contributing 40 minutes of mentorship to support women reentering the workforce.
‘In the past two years, tens of millions of women around the world have departed the workforce. If you can, please join me and commit 40 minutes to community, service or mentorship.’
Read more:
Life at Nottingham Cottage! Meghan dances in the doorway at Kensington Palace love nest as the couple share behind-the-scenes glimpse of homely moments
Meghan describes the King as ‘very charming’, saying he reassured her as they walked down the aisle together on her wedding day – after she told him: ‘I’ve lost my dad in this’
Archie’s baby diaries! Unseen pictures in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix show reveal their son’s early days – and he took his first steps at Tyler Perry’s house
Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd
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