Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank have announced they are expecting their first baby. The child will not be a prince or princess by birth due to the letters patent issued by King George V in 1917, which established only a restricted number of people close to the throne have the right to an HRH style and royal title.
The Queen could decide to offer Eugenie and Jack a title for their baby as a present but an exclusive Express.co.uk poll found the majority of readers thought the couple should turn down the offer.
The results showed 63 percent (1,077 people) thought Eugenie should reject the offer of a royal title for her baby while 36 percent (556 people) thought she should accept it. One percent (30 people) said they didn’t know.
A total of 1,663 took part in the online poll which opened at 11.30am yesterday and closed at 7pm today.
One reader said: “Only first and second in line to the throne should have royal status, those that carry out Royal duties should be allowed to receive payment too. There are too many hangers on.”
Another said: “The Queen must not even make such an offer. The Yorks are way down the line of succession and are not full time working royals.
“In fact none of them are full time working anything.”
READ MORE: Kate Middleton baby: How Eugenie could follow in Kate’s footsteps
A family friend has claimed the couple would be likely to turn down such an offer anyway and view a royal title as a “curse”.
They told Vanity Fair: “Even if the Queen offered them a title as a gift, it’s not Eugenie or Jack’s desire for their child to have a title.
“Eugenie knows that a title can be a curse as well as a blessing and she and Jack want their child to live an ordinary life and eventually work to earn a living.
“Titles really don’t matter to Jack and Eugenie, they just want a happy healthy child.”
Similarly, Princess Anne decided not to give her children, Zara and Peter, titles.
Speaking to Vanity Fair earlier this year, the royal said she believed her children would be “better off” without this privilege.
She said: “I think it was probably easier for them, and I think most people would argue that there are downsides to having titles.
“So I think that was probably the right thing to do.”
