On May 30th, Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank welcomed their second son, Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank. Ernest joins big brother August Philip Hawke Brooksbank, who is now two years old. Buckingham Palace announced the news of the birth on June 5th. I still believe it was timed that way for two reasons: one, white royals are afforded the chance to actually recuperate and spend time with their child before making a birth announcement and two, the palace believed that they could overshadow Prince Harry’s appearance in court. In any case, Eugenie got to announce the birth how she wanted, on Instagram, with the first photos. Then less than two weeks following Ernest’s birth, he was added to the line of succession:

An official change to the British line of succession has been made! Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank’s second baby, Ernest George Ronnie, has officially been added to the line of succession on the royal family’s website.

While Ernest was born on May 30th, his name was only recently added to the official list, making him 13th in line to the throne, just behind his big brother, August Brooksbank.

He is also the first of Queen Elizabeth’s great-grandchildren to be born following her death in September and the third grandchild for the Duke and Duchess of York, Prince Andrew, and Sarah Ferguson. With his addition to the official order of succession, Princess Eugenie’s uncle Prince Edward moves down a place, and Edward’s teenage children — James, Viscount Severn, and Lady Louise — subsequently move down a slot.

[From People]

From what I can tell, Ernest was added on June 9th or 10th, meaning it took Buckingham Palace about ten days to update the line of succession online. Which is, traditionally, pretty standard. New babies are usually put on the list within a week or two. Which makes it even more notable, racist and appalling that Buckingham Palace made a point of waiting OVER SEVEN WEEKS in 2021 to add Princess Lilibet’s name to the line of succession. Following that disgusting move, one of King Charles’s first moves as monarch was refusing to update Archie and Lilibet’s titles for more than six months on the line of succession.

Photos courtesy of Eugenie’s IG, Cover Images and Avalon Red.