Princess Eugenie’s husband-to-be Jack Brooksbank ‘dated older ladies'

[dricia]

WINE merchant Jack Brooksbank will marry Princess Eugenie – the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York - today at Windsor Castle.

But who is the guy who's managed to charm the ninth in line to the throne?

Jack might be a 'commoner' in the Royal eyes but he is a descendant of the Brooksbank baronets and reportedly a distant cousin of Eugenie’s. (Her mother, the Duchess of York, is the great-great-granddaughter of Lady Julia Coke, who is the daughter of Jack's great-great-grandfather, Thomas Coke.)

Son of George Brooksbank, 68, a chartered accountant and company director, and his wife Nicola, 64, Jack has a younger brother called Thomas, 29 - a possible candidate for best man.

Jack was privately educated at Stowe School in Buckingham where the likes of Prince Harry's exes Chelsy Davy, Cressida Bonas and Florence Brudenell-Bruce were also students.

"He's a good lad," an old friend told Fabulous. "At school he was a laugh. He was pretty sporty - played hockey, rugby and tennis - but not the kind of bloke who was showy.

"He didn't do anything ridiculous to make himself look 'cool' or to get the attention of the girls but he still caught their eye.

"He dated a couple of girls two or three years above him but wouldn't brag about it or treat them like some of the boys did, he was just a nice guy. He liked the older girls."

But even though his parents forked out for his education, Jack didn't excel academically.

"He’s a charming boy and all that but not the most intelligent," his Grandmother Joanna Newton said.

"Jack has always had lovely manners and has always been a good egg.

"I would call him ordinary, I wouldn’t say there is anything special about him, he’s a good-looking, nice chap and I think it says a lot about Eugenie that it’s him she wants and it’s lovely."

After school he gave university a miss, choosing instead to launch himself straight into a career in hospitality.

He went on to work at Chelsea’s Admiral Codrington pub, from where he was poached by businessman and nightclub owner Piers Adam and employed by the Markham Inn nearby.

It was at the Duke of York's 50th birthday on the Swiss ski slopes of Verbier that Eugenie and Jack first brushed shoulders, causing a spark that lit a beautiful romance.

Princess Eugenie was just 19 at the time, in February 2010, and studying English, politics and history at Newcastle University.

With her own reputation for hard partying, the pair got on famously and forged a bond that even endured a period during which she worked in New York with art auctioneers Paddle8 in 2013.

The pair are said to have chatted over Skype to keep the fire burning despite being kept apart by thousands of miles and several hours-worth of time zone.

The couple got engaged while on holiday in Nicaragua in January this year.