It's easy to imagine members of the British royal family meet their future spouses at fancy balls and international galas, but Princess Eugenie and husband Jack Brooksbank's love story has a surprisingly normal beginning.
The couple first met by chance at the Swiss ski resort of Verbier, when Eugenie's university friends introduced the then-19-year-old to Jack.
Far from a "commoner", he had been educated at $13,000-a-semester Stowe private school and connected almost instantly with the princess; a slow-burn romance blossomed between the pair.
But it wasn't all smooth sailing in their early days and in 2013 Eugenie moved abroad to New York after landing a job with online auction house Paddle8.
The distance would have been difficult for any couple to navigate, but they made it work with plenty of Skype calls and visits across the pond.
By the time Eugenie returned to London, Jack was becoming known as a heavyweight in the hospitality industry and was managing the popular Mahiki nightclub in London.
It's the same club where Eugenie, along with sister Princess Beatrice and cousins Prince Harry and Prince William, spent some of their rebellious nights out in their 20s.
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But Jack was always interested in a more family-oriented career goal; establishing a chain of pubs in the UK.
"It has been my dream since I was 18. I have fond memories of Sunday roasts in pubs with log fires, and it's something I want to recreate," he once said.
Perhaps it was his down-to-earth nature that kept Eugenie so smitten with her man through the seven years they dated before he popped the question in 2018.
"I was over the moon," Eugenie told BBC 1 of the proposal in 2018. "[It was a] complete surprise. But it was the perfect moment, we couldn't be happier."
WATCH: Princess Eugenie reveals her engagement ring. Story continues after video.
He even chose a Cartier ring featuring a pink sapphire that closely resembled the one Eugenie's father, Prince Andrew, presented to her mother, Sarah, Duchess of York in the 1980s.
The royal family announced the pair's engagement in January 2018 and just a few months later, in October, the couple said "I do" in a lavish royal wedding at Windsor.
Prior to the ceremony, Eugenie told BBC 1: "It's nerve-wracking because you want it to be perfect but then you realise that you're going to be with the person you love forever and nothing else really matters"
Tying the knot at St George's Chapel, the same place where Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex wed, Eugenie and Jack opted for a more understated opulence on their big day.
The princess wore a custom gown by designers Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos, featuring an off-the-shoulder design that highlighted a scar on her back from scoliosis surgery.
And just two years later the couple had more exciting news to share: they were going to become parents!
In September 2020 Buckingham Palace confirmed Eugenie was pregnant and her child with Jack arrived in February 2021, a healthy baby boy they named August Philip Hawke Brooksbank.
Now proud parents, the surprisingly low-key royal couple are making the most of private family time in their son's first years.
Relive Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's beautifully normal royal romance in the stunning gallery below.
![The ring Jack chose a Cartier ring with a pink sapphire for his bride, while Eugenie revealed the Queen was among the first people she told. She said: "Granny actually knew right at the beginning. She was very happy, as was my grandfather [Prince Philip].](https://d3lp4xedbqa8a5.cloudfront.net/s3/digital-cougar-assets/now/2022/05/04/1651619283196_GettyImages-931320164.jpg?width=690&height=&mode=crop&scale=both&anchor=topcenter&quality=70)
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