On the same scale as my shocking discovery a few months ago that Prince Harry's real name is not actually Harry, I've learned that I've been pronouncing Princess Eugenie's name wrong for, well...always. And so has the entire MarieClaire.com team (Because "I'm only pronouncing it this way because you are!" etc.).
Princess Eugenie, the first cousin of Prince William and Prince Harry who's known for her extravagant hat choices (though not as extravagant as her sister Princess Beatrice's), is set to wed longtime boyfriend Jack Brooksbank next month at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. It's only fitting that we do Eugenie justice and learn to pronounce her name before she walks down the aisle. Let us begin.
The Breakdown
There's typically three ways people pronounce Eugenie's name:
Exhibit A: "You-Jenny"
Exhibit B: “You-Jay-Knee"
Exhibit C: “You-Genie” (like "Genie in a Bottle")
However, none of these are correct. According to a 2008 Telegraph interview with the princess herself, it's actually pronounced “You-Juh-Knee" with a stress on the "you."
"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,'" she says. "But whatever. I am now used to every pronunciation."
Am I Saying This Right?
The BBC reporter in the video below does a great job at pronouncing her name, which does actually sound like "use your knees" when you listen to it a few times.
So does this little girl:
The Conclusion
My entire life is a lie, and now I will have the phrase "use your knees" stuck in my head until the wedding on October 12.
