The man set to become the newest member of the royal family is a former waiter who spurned university and a job in the City to set himself up in the pub trade.
Jack Brooksbank is the son of chartered accountant George Brooksbank and his wife Nicola.
The 31-year-old’s ancestors include Stamp Brooksbank, who was Governor of the Bank of England in the 18th century.
Jack Brooksbank worked as a meet and greeter at City bar restaurant Devonshire Terrace when he started his relationship with Princess Eugenie
Brooksbank, pictured (centre), at a tequila event last year, has risen to the top of London’s hospitality industry by moving through a number of top pubs, clubs and restaurants
He was educated at £10,000-a-term Stowe school in Buckinghamshire, whose former pupils include businessmen Richard Branson and John Sainsbury.
Rather than follow many of his peers into finance degrees and the City, Jack got the backing of his parents to go straight to work after school, heading for the hospitality industry.
He worked as a waiter and took a job at Chelsea’s Admiral Codrington, a gastropub just a short walk from Sloane Square and in the heart of Made In Chelsea country.
It was there that he met businessman Piers Adam, who brought him around the corner to The Markham Inn, also in Chelsea.
Mr Adam previously described him as a ‘phenomenal’ operator, who was happy dealing with staff and customer issues.
In his three years at the Markham, Jack got to know Prince Harry and his friend Guy Pelly and began to move in royal circles.
Jack and Eugenie were introduced by friends more than three years ago during a skiing holiday to Verbier
James and his friend celebrated the New Year in celebrity hotspot Malibu, California after his company became ambassadors for a celebrity-backed brand of tequila
The former waiter and pub worker set up his own drinks distribution firm and has since been pictured with friends at a number of promotional nights
Jack said of his time at the pub: ‘At the Markham Inn, I had to deal with lots of strange people, and everyone was demanding. I also got to know the locals, which I loved.’
From there he went on to help run the Mahiki nightclub in Mayfair, one of the capital’s most exclusive nightclubs and also a favourite of Prince Harry and the young royals.
Despite reports he elebrated his 21st birthday – before he knew Eugenie – dancing with a naked stripper, Jack has more recently insisted he doesn’t spend much time drinking with revellers in his nightspots.
He previously said: ‘I leave work at 11pm and head home. I’m not a big drinker. People think we party a lot but actually we are very quiet. For me it’s a case of going home and watching a DVD.’
Jack is said to have settled into the family well and is very popular with Eugenie’s mother, the Duchess of York (pictured at a charity ball last May)
The Duchess told of her pride at her new son-in-law in this tweet last night
But he knew his way around a bar well enough to become a brand ambassador for Casamigos tequila, the brand part-owned by Hollywood star George Clooney, last year.
Brooksbank has previously spoken of his dream of opening a chain of country hostelries, saying: ‘I have fond memories of Sunday roasts in pubs with log fires, and it’s something I want to recreate.’
Jack and Eugenie were introduced by friends more than seven years ago during a skiing holiday to Verbier in Switzerland.
‘There was an immediate attraction and since that meeting, they have barely been apart,’ a friend later recalled.
‘Eugenie was studying at Newcastle when they met and Jack was working in London, but they made the relationship work.
Despite running a nightclub, Jack has insisted he tends to head home at 11pm and watch a DVD. He is pictured with journalists and revellers at a cocktail event last year
Brooksbank helped run Mayfair nightspot Mahiki, a favourite haunt of the young royals
A friend of the pair previously said: ‘She is very uncomplicated. She’s a doer, a worker, as is Jack. They are very suited.
‘Jack’s always worked hard. He chose not to go to university so that he could get on the career ladder and Eugenie loved that. She didn’t care at all that he was a waiter. She might be a princess, but Eugenie comes with few airs and graces.’
After months of rumours, Jack proposed to his princess in Nicaragua earlier this month and the Royal Family announced today that they are to marry this autumn.