Princess Eugenie has revealed how becoming a mother has changed her – including fuelling her passion to tackle climate change and giving her a fear of flying.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Eugenie, 32, discussed how she is changing her behaviour at home (for example, not using plastic) to educate her son, August, on the importance of protecting the environment.
The Duke of York’s daughter shared that becoming a mother has made her more concerned for communities vulnerable to climate change in a discussion with Reuters IMPACT and Arctic Humanity at Risk Basecamp, a non-profit organisation to highlight the impact that climate change is having on the Arctic.
Speaking with Reuters editor-at-large Axel Threlfall and Arctic Humanity founder Gail Whiteman, Eugenie said: ‘My son’s going to be an activist from two years old, which is in a couple of days. So, he, everything is for them.
‘I talked to Peter Thomson, the UN Special Envoy for Oceans and all he says to me is that I do this for my grandchildren. And that’s the same.
‘Every decision we now make has to be for whether August, what he’s going to be able to look at and do and how he’s going to live his life.
‘But I think also as a mother, you all of a sudden, totally you change, your hormones change, everything changes.
‘Like now I’m scared of flying and things like that and I would never be before.’
Princess Eugenie said her one-year-old son, August, is the focus of her climate change activism (pictured with her son at the late Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee in June 2022)
In an interview with Reuters IMPACT and Arctic Humanity at Risk Basecamp, Eugenie said educating her son about the environment is a ‘battle’
Prince Andrew’s youngest daughter said she views the world differently since becoming a mother, and her concerns about climate change have affected how she lives.
She revealed: ‘At home we have no plastic, we try to as much as possible have no plastic and I’m trying to teach him that. But it’s a battle.’
But the princess also spoke of her hope for the future of the environment, saying: ‘I like to be ‘glass half full’.’
She added: ‘I’d rather be that way, but sometimes the facts and the figures and sometimes having the dinners do give you that sort of sense of frustration and doom and gloom.’
The daughter of the Duke of York (pictured at the UN Ocean Conference 2022) has spoken out about plastic pollution
She also warned of the impact of climate change on vulnerable communities in the interview during the World Economic Forum in Davos
She also warned of the impact of a changing environment on vulnerable communities, adding: ‘Modern slavery and human trafficking is a really big issue across the globe.
‘There are 49 million people estimated in slavery today and we know that when the climate is vulnerable, the most vulnerable people are affected by it.
‘And we’re going to see that more and more, you know, each time there’s a crisis happening, that people are going to be vulnerable and taken into difficult situations.
‘So climate goes hand in hand with it really.’
Eugenie has been vocal about the fight against plastic pollution and tried to make her wedding to Jack Brooksbank in 2018 as plastic-free as possible, including offering guests water in recyclable aluminium cans.
The princess released a mini series last year discussing ocean conservation (pictured visiting a regenerative ocean farm in Wales)
She explained in the Daily Mail: ‘Like many people, I am saddened by images of wild creatures on beaches, which I have seen photographed strangled or entangled by plastic, and their lives ended by our casual use and discarding of plastic.
‘I know that so many people feel the same dislike of inadvertently harming the things that are the most precious and beautiful in the natural world.
‘I have always loved being in nature. My parents instilled in me a love of wild places and a respect for animals and the natural world.’
The royal was appointed ambassador for the Blue Marine Foundation in 2021 and released a mini series last year discussing ocean conservation with leading ocean advocates.
In the final episode, Eugenie interviewed her ‘dear friend’, singer Ellie Goulding, who told the princess: ‘It’s way beyond being an eco-warrior now, it’s way beyond being someone who happens to like nature a bit, or happens to like being by the sea, I think it’s really important to stress that, we all have to play a part in this.’
Princess Eugenie’s appearance at Davos came after her cousin Prince Harry, with whom she is very close, released his bombshell memoir Spare. She was also the only senior royal to make an appearance in the Duke’s Netflix series, Harry & Meghan.
In the first episode, of the Netflix series, the royal is seen partying alongside Prince Harry and Meghan Markle the night before their romance was made public in 2017.
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.
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!’
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.’
