Tea, Titles & Tiaras: A New Royal Baby’s Name, Andrew’s Balmoral Exile, and Pippa’s Car Park Trouble

Tea, Titles & Tiaras with Emily Darlow

August is almost finished, the schools are out, and most of the royal family is either at Balmoral breathing Highland air, aboard a private yacht in the Mediterranean doing unspecified relaxing things, or at a Berkshire horse trial.

So, we will make the most of what we have, because what we have is rather lovely. There is a baby name with a beautiful backstory, a birthday celebrated entirely on someone else’s terms, a summer guest list with one very deliberate gap, a planning dispute that has made Pippa Middleton rather unpopular in Kintbury, and a royal family in Norway carrying more than their share of worry. Let’s get into it.

Welcome, Adelaide Elizabeth Annina Brooksbank

Two weeks after her birth in Lisbon, Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank have named their daughter, and the name is extraordinary.

Adelaide Elizabeth Annina Brooksbank arrived on 4 August, Eugenie’s own birthday, which is a rather lovely gift to give your mother. She weighed 6lb 9oz and, according to her mother’s Instagram announcement, the whole family have been enjoying “the most special, cosy and love-filled time” since. Big brothers August, five, and Ernest, two, were photographed meeting their sister, and the images are as sweet as you would expect.

The name is, in the language of royal naming, doing considerable work. Adelaide links directly to two queens. Queen Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen was the wife of King William IV, and it was William IV who commissioned Queen Victoria’s famous Wheat-Ear Brooches for her in 1830. Those brooches were passed down through generations and eventually worn by Eugenie herself as hair slides at her wedding reception in 2018.

The name is also shared by Maria Adelaide of Portugal, a nod to Lisbon, where Eugenie and Jack have made their home. Elizabeth is a clear tribute to Eugenie’s late grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. Annina, an Italian nickname derived from Anne or Anna, carries what experts describe as a subtle link to Princess Anne and, according to Hello! magazine’s baby name specialist, can be interpreted to mean “little Anne” or “grace.” There may also be a personal connection to Eugenie’s friend Annina Pfuel, a Bavarian designer and creative director.

“Named after three people we love and admire past and present,” Eugenie wrote.

King Charles and Camilla issued a statement of delight. Adelaide is fifteenth in line to the throne. She is, in every way, extremely welcome.

Princess Anne Turns 76 without making a fuss.

On Saturday, Princess Anne celebrated her 76th birthday in the way she has apparently decided all birthdays should be celebrated: by going to a horse trial and not making a fuss.

Zara Tindall, to her enormous credit, gave her mother the best possible present entirely by accident. Competing at the Hartpury International Horse Trials and British National Championships in Gloucestershire, Zara rode her seventeen-year-old horse Class Affair to victory in the British Open Championship, claiming gold and a prize of £5,000.

It was her first major championship win in nearly twenty years. Her last individual title had been at the 2006 World Equestrian Games. She said afterwards she was “super happy for everyone” and notably delighted to have finally won at Hartpury after never managing it at Gatcombe, where the annual horse trials are held on the family’s own estate.

Anne’s strict rule about birthdays, that they be devoted to her charities rather than herself, meant she spent the day much as she spends most others: working. The King and Queen sent warm wishes on the official channels. William and Kate followed. The Princess Royal, true to form, did not appear to notice any of it.

Who’s In, Who’s Out at Balmoral’s Summer Retreat

Balmoral has now officially closed to the public and opened its gates to the family for the annual summer retreat, and the guest list tells its own story.

Charles has been there since late July, initially at Birkhall, his private house on the estate, before moving to the main castle for the more formal family stay. Camilla has joined him, though reports suggest she is spending a portion of the break separately with family of her own, which Charles fully supports.

William and Kate are expected, along with the children. Edward, Sophie and their family will come. Anne will pass through briefly because she has engagements. Princess Beatrice and Eugenie will visit with their families once Adelaide has settled.

Andrew will not be there. A source with knowledge of the King’s thinking has told the Times his presence alongside other royals would raise “considerable sensitivities.”

Whether he has been formally told not to come, or whether everyone has quietly agreed he won’t, the outcome is the same. He is at Sandringham. The family is in Scotland. Between those two things lies a great deal that nobody has said publicly and probably never will.

Pippa’s Car Park Problem

Meanwhile, in the village of Kintbury in West Berkshire, Kate’s younger sister Pippa Middleton and her hedge fund manager husband James Matthews have been told to dig up a car park.

They built it last year on an open meadow at their £15 million Barton Court estate without planning permission, then submitted a retrospective application arguing it served local anglers who had lost access to a nearby station car park.

West Berkshire Council was unmoved. Planners described it as a “visually intrusive and urbanised feature” incompatible with the beauty of the Wessex Downs National Landscape and raised concerns about impacts on the nearby River Kennet chalk stream. An appeal was dismissed in July. The car park must go.

This is the second planning dispute the couple have managed since buying Barton Court in 2022. The first involved a popular footpath, Mill Lane, that locals had used for decades under the previous owner, the late Sir Terence Conran. The Matthews blocked access, installed “no trespassing” signs and denied a public right of way had ever existed.

Thirty-five residents backed by the Ramblers Association have applied to the council to have it formally registered as a public footpath. An inquiry is ongoing.

Neighbours have been quoted in various outlets as less than delighted. One local told the Express the car park was “moving unsightly parking out of sight of the applicants to the detriment of the residents and the heritage of the area.” They did not appear to be writing with warmth.

Another blow for the Norwegian Royal Family

Finally, another hospitalisation for the Norweigian Roayl Family.

King Harald, 89, was admitted to Rikshospitalet in Oslo on Monday with fluid retention caused by cortisone treatment for haemolytic anaemia, a blood disorder in which red blood cells are destroyed faster than the body can replace them. The palace confirmed he will take two weeks’ sick leave, with Crown Prince Haakon serving as regent.

This is his third hospitalisation this year. Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Haakon’s wife, underwent a successful lung transplant in June following years of worsening pulmonary fibrosis. Queen Sonja was hospitalised in May with heart problems. Princess Astrid, the King’s sister, was also admitted to hospital in May.
Until next week, keep the tea piping hot and the tiaras polished.