CLOSE Princess Eugenie and longtime boyfriend Jack Brooksbank are tying the knot after more than six years together. USA TODAY 
 
 Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank pose in the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace after they announced their engagement in London, Jan. 22, 2018. (Photo: Jonathan Brady, AP) 
 
 LONDON — Another royal wedding is in the cards in Britain this year. Buckingham Palace announced Monday that one of Queen Elizabeth II's granddaughters, Princess Eugenie, will marry her long-term boyfriend, Jack Brooksbank. 
 
 The couple was introduced by friends during a ski break in Verbier, Switzerland, and have been dating for more than six years. They got engaged in Nicaragua earlier this month, the palace said. 
 
 Eugenie, 27, is the daughter of the queen's son Prince Andrew the Duke of York, 57, and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, 58. 
 
 Princess Eugenie attends The Serpentine Galleries Summer Party at The Serpentine Gallery on June 28, 2017 in London, England. (Photo: Jeff Spicer, Jeff Spicer/Getty Images) 
 
 “The Duke and Duchess of York are delighted to announce the engagement of Princess Eugenie to Mr. Jack Brooksbank,” the palace said in the statement. 
 
 “The wedding will take place in the Autumn of 2018 at George's Chapel in Windsor, with further details to be announced in due course.” 
 
 St. George's Chapel, the mini-cathedral at Windsor Castle, will be busy this year: it's also the venue for the much-anticipated May wedding of Prince Harry, 33, and his fiancée, American actress Meghan Markle, 36. 
 
 Engagement photos of Eugenie and Brooksbank were taken in the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace, where Eugenie, wearing an Erdem dress and Jimmy Choo pumps, showed off her ring, a padparadscha sapphire (a pinkish orange gem) surrounded by diamonds. 
 
 The wedding will take place in the Autumn of 2018 at St George's Chapel in Windsor, with further details to be announced in due course. pic.twitter.com/3oL6F6hoYG — The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) January 22, 2018 
 
 The son of an accountant, Brooksbank, 31, was educated at a posh British school and grew up among the upper-class, aristocratic socialites who hang out with the young royals. Instead of college, he went into the restaurant and bar industry, and first worked as a bartender. 
 
 He's been the manager of Mahiki, a tropical-themed Mayfair nightspot for the rich and famous, including Eugenie's cousins, Princes William and Harry. And since 2016, he's worked as a U.K. brand representative for Casamigos Tequila, the spirits brand co-founded by George Clooney. 
 
 Princess Eugenie's engagement ring contains a padparadscha sapphire surrounded by diamonds. (Photo: Jonathan Brady, AP) 
 
 The princess and Brooksbank had a long-distance relationship for several years when she moved to New York in 2013 to work for Paddle8, an online auction house. 
 
 Eugenie, who graduated in 2013 from Newcastle University with a degree in art history and English literature, has worked at Christie's in London and at the Royal Collection at Buckingham Palace. 
 
 Both her parents expressed joy; the Duchess of York gushed in a series of tweets: "They float with laughter and love," she wrote in one post. 
 
 "Jack is an absolutely outstanding young man and Eugenie and he have got to know each other over a number of years, and I'm really thrilled for them," Andrew tweeted. 
 
 The couple traveled to the queen's retreat, Balmoral Castle in Scotland, during Prince Harry's 32nd birthday celebration in September 2016 to ask the queen to give them her blessing to get married, British media reported at the time. 
 
 HRH - 'We are overjoyed at the news today that Eugenie and Jack have got engaged. Jack is an absolutely outstanding young man and Eugenie and he have got to know each other over a number of years, and I'm really thrilled for them.' — The Duke of York (@TheDukeOfYork) January 22, 2018 
 
 Eugenie is eighth in line to the throne — and will move down to ninth when Prince William's third child is born in April — so technically, she doesn't need the queen's permission to marry. But she is close to her grandmother and would be expected to consult her before making a public announcement. 
 
 Princess Eugenie of York and her boyfriend Jack Brooksbank at the wedding of Pippa Middleton and James Matthews on May 20, 2017. (Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS, AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 Eugenie's older sister, Princess Beatrice, 29, had been expected to announce her engagement to her American-born boyfriend, Dave Clark, a few years ago but they broke up in 2016. Beatrice is expected to play a prominent role in her sister's wedding. 
 
 The princesses are two of the 91-year-old queen's eight grandchildren, with her now-retired husband, Prince Philip, 96. 
 
 It is not clear yet whether Brooksbank will be given a title by the queen on the day of the wedding, as is typical when a princess marries a non-royal. 
 
 It's also unclear where they will live, but one possibility is a cottage or apartment at Kensington Palace, where they'd join her royal cousins. 
 
 Prince Andrew Duke of York and his daughters, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, on June 10, 2016 after attending a national service of thanksgiving for the 90th birthday ofQueen Elizabeth II at St Paul's Cathedral in London. (Photo: JUSTIN TALLIS, AFP/Getty Images) 
 
 The York princesses are the daughters of the queen's second-eldest son and "Fergie," divorced since 1996, who are still close and living in the same house, Royal Lodge. (They've even been subjected to will-they-remarry rumors in recent years.) 
 
 Although Beatrice and Eugenie are relatively high up in the royal succession, neither is expected to ever reign. 
 
 More: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle make their first appearance of year 
 
 Read or Share this story: https://usat.ly/2DvSI31 

 Tweet with a location 
 
 You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more 

 There will be two royal weddings in 2018, after it was announced today that the queen’s favorite granddaughter, Princess Eugenie, is to marry her boyfriend Jack Brooksbank. 
 
 Buckingham Palace said in a statement issued this morning on behalf of her parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, that the couple “became engaged in Nicaragua earlier this month.” 
 
 The wedding will take place in autumn this year at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, the same location chosen by Harry and Meghan Markle. 
 
 In a break with tradition, the palace published a highly informal picture of the couple that appears to have been taken on a cellphone in a bar. Brooksbank wears a white, collared shirt and jacket and his fiancée wears an unzipped leather jacket. 
 
 The couple has been dating for seven years and an announcement has been expected for some time. 
 
 Brooksbank works in hospitality. 
 
 According to the Daily Mail, Brooksbank was privately educated and skipped university in favor of starting work, taking a job at a Chelsea pub beloved by London’s jeunesse d’oree—the Admiral Codrington, commonly known as the Cod. 
 
 He was then hired by London club promoter Piers Adam and his partner Guy Pelly to manage their club, Mahiki. 
 
 He left that role in 2016 to set up Jack Brooksbank Ltd., which specializes in the “wholesale of wine, beer, spirits, and other alcoholic beverages,” reports the Mail. 
 
 The groom’s parents were quick to voice their delight to the Daily Express:
– Prince Harry won't be the only British royal to tie the knot this year—and he'll share not just a calendar year but a wedding venue with his cousin. Princess Eugenie, 27, will marry longtime boyfriend Jack Brooksbank this fall, per a Monday statement from Buckingham Palace. Eugenie is the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York, that is, Queen Elizabeth II's son Prince Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson. The BBC reports the princess will retain her title upon marrying and may choose to take Brooksbank's name if she wishes; she is currently eighth in line to the throne. USA Today reports the couple have been together for six years after meeting via friends while on a ski holiday in Verbier, Switzerland. The two got engaged in Nicaragua in January and will wed at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. The Daily Beast notes the palace seemingly "[broke] with tradition" in pairing the announcement with a casual photo of the couple that looks as if it was taken using a cellphone in a bar.