Jack Brooksbank has paid tribute to his future wife Princess Eugenie, calling her a “bright shining light”.
The Queen’s granddaughter returned the compliment and described her fiance as “so humble and generous” during a television interview ahead of their wedding.
But Eugenie did reveal the moment she first saw Jack and the pair fell in love during a Swiss skiing trip.
She initially thought “what a silly hat” Jack was wearing, but was “all butterflies and nervous” when he came over to say hello, and later rang her mother that night to say she had met a new guy.
The couple were interviewed by husband and wife Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford from ITV’s This Morning, who quizzed them about wedding jitters.
After Eugenie replied “It’s definitely creeping up on us now, the nerves” she went on to describe her first encounter with Jack while on the slopes at a friend’ place in Verbier, Switzerland in 2010.
With her fiance beside her, the princess added: “I thought, ‘what a silly hat!’ and I thought, ‘who’s that?’ and then you came over and shook my hand and I was all butterflies and nervous.
Princess Eugenie arriving with her parents for her first day at St George's School, Windsor. pic.twitter.com/wn05qhtYry
— The Duke of York (@TheDukeOfYork) October 11, 2018
“I think I rang my mum that night and said ‘I’ve met this guy Jack’… and that was it I think about how it started.
“I remember being like ‘I really, really like this guy, I really want him to like me too’ and then you gave me this huge windscreen wiper wave and that was it, right, he likes me.”
Jack Brooksbank was born at St. Thomas’s Hospital, London and Christened at The Guard’s Chapel, Wellington Barracks. He went to Finton House School in Wandsworth between the ages of 4 and 8. Here he is on his first day of school. pic.twitter.com/Dd0Cw4cYB6
— The Duke of York (@TheDukeOfYork) October 11, 2018
The couple will wed on Friday at Windsor Castle’s St George’s Chapel surrounded by the Queen other members of the royal family and famous faces including Robbie Williams with supermodel Cindy Crawford, David and Victoria Beckham, and George and Amal Clooney expected to be among the guests.
Asked by Holmes to describe each other in three words, Jack said about his future wife: “She’s this bright shining light.”
Eugenie was not so succinct and replied: “Jack’s the kind of guy, you know when you’re lost at a party and you can’t find anyone to talk to, and you start panicking and you need help? He’ll walk in and make everyone feel so special.
“He’ll scoop you up and talk to you and make you feel a million dollars… you’re so humble and generous. So humble and generous – that’s two words…”
The princess went on to say her “big sissy” Princess Beatrice was someone “I’ve looked up to her whole life” and that she’s the biggest supporter of “team Eug and Jack.”
Asked about the moment she will walk down the aisle with her father the Duke of York, Eugenie replied: “It’s nerve-wracking and a bit scary and all the things that come with getting married, but at the end of the day you get to marry the person you love.”
In reference to Jack, she added: “And you’re going to be at the end of the aisle, and I’m going to be running towards you!”
Quizzed about whether his fiancee had become a “bridezilla”, Jack said no, adding: “Eugenie has been amazing.
“She’s been incredible, she has the ability to do a million things at once in her brain, including working as well as organising everything to do with the wedding.”
Watch the interview and live coverage of the wedding on This Morning At The Royal Wedding at 9.25am on ITV.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here