Entertainment

You've Been Pronouncing Princess Eugenie's Name Wrong This Whole Time

by Tara Martinez
Jeff Spicer/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Outside the main royal family, it’s probably safe to say that Princess Eugenie is one of the more popular royals. She’s youthful, fun, and totally into social media. Given that she’s so open and in the public, one would think that the world would know how to pronounce her name. It turns out, though, that most people have been saying it wrong all this time. So, how do you pronounce Princess Eugenie’s name? It’s a lot less complicated than you think.

While many people unfamiliar with the name settle on a variety of incorrect pronunciations, there are a handful that are most widely used. They are as follows: “You-Jenny,” “You-Jay-Knee,” and “You-Genie.”

As Marie Claire recently reported, none of those pronunciations are actually correct.

In a 2008 interview with The Telegraph, Princess Eugenie actually clarified how her name is meant to be pronounced.

“Whenever we used to meet foreign people who were struggling with it, my mum and I would help them by saying, 'It's like Use Your Knees.' But whatever. I am now used to every pronunciation,” the princess told The Telegraph.

So, it’s basically “Yoo-juh-knee” with an emphasis on the first syllable. And you know what? When you listen to other people pronounce it that way, it actually does sound like “Use Your Knees." So, that’s a really great way to teach people how to pronounce it.

Here are a couple of examples of people pronouncing Princess Eugenie correctly:

Incorrect pronunciations of her name are probably the last thing on Princess Eugenie’s mind right now. She’s counting down the days until she gets married and there’s a whole lot of weird drama going on because of it. Princess Eugenie is set to marry Jack Brooksbank on Oct. 12. While royal family enthusiasts were treated to a televised royal wedding earlier in the year (Prince Harry and Duchess Megan’s big day was in May), the BBC has reportedly declined to televise Princess Eugenie’s wedding, despite the royal family’s request to do so.

The BBC allegedly turned down the opportunity to air the wedding because “they don't think enough people will tune in and that there isn’t enough support for the Yorks.” At least, that’s what a source told Mail on Sunday.

“The feeling at the Palace is that the BBC has dropped the ball,” the source continued. “At the end of the day this is going to be a huge Royal Wedding, with all the senior members of the Royal Family in attendance. But nobody wants to take the risk and spend the money it would cost to put it on air.”

If true, then it sounds like an awkward situation all around.

According to Cosmopolitan, though, the BBC confirmed that they won’t air the wedding. But that’s not stopping Princess Eugenie from going big on her wedding day. She and Brooksbank have reportedly invited 1200 members of the public to attend their wedding at Windsor Castle. So, even though it likely won’t be televised, the wedding will be a similar affair to that of Harry and Meghan’s and even Prince William and Duchess Kate’s wedding.

I don’t know about you, but I think the BBC is missing out!