23 March 2023 , 07:00
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Prince Harry's relations with many of his royal family members might be hanging by a thread - but that's not the case with one of them.
The prince is still known to be extremely close to his younger cousin Princess Eugenie, who celebrates her 33rd birthday today.
The two royals grew up together, sharing family holidays as children and before hitting London's hottest nightspots when they were older.
And Eugenie, who is pregnant with her second child, is one of the only royals to have appeared in Harry and wife Meghan Markle's Netflix docuseries after visiting them at their home in Montecito, California.
Prince Harry with younger cousin Princess Eugenie (Getty Images)
Eugenie with Harry's former girlfriend Cressida Bonas (Getty)Their strong bond means that Harry was happy when his cousin attempted to play matchmaker between him and her friend, Cressida Bonas - but it ended up with the two royals then having to endure an awkward phone call.
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In this memoir Spare, Harry recalled how he was introduced to actress and model Cressida and sparks flew.
They arranged to go out on a date, getting to know each other over dinner - and a few weeks later there was a second date, where Harry dropped her home afterwards.
She didn’t invite him in but Harry says he went in for the kiss, however, his "aim was off" resulting in a very awkward moment.
Harry is close to cousin Eugenie (Getty Images)He writes: "She turned, I tried again on the return trip, and we managed something like a graze. Painfully awkward."
The next day, Harry says he called his cousin to tell her about the evening and to fill her in on the awkward end - but Cressida beat him to it.
He writes: "Discouraged, I told her the date had gone well but the ending had left something to be desired. She didn’t disagree. She’d already spoken to Cressida. She sighed. Awkward."
Eugenie with husband Jack Brooksbank (Tim Rooke/REX/Shutterstock)However it obviously wasn’t as bad as Harry feared, and Cressida was up for trying again so they arranged another date. The pair ended up dating between 2012 and 2014.
They split when Cressida reportedly became overwhelmed with the spotlight that came with dating a royal.
Now happily married to Meghan and with children Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, Eugenie is also married to husband Jack Brooksbank.
They have a two-year-old son called August and are expecting their second child later this summer.
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Also announcing the news on her personal Instagram account, Eugenie shared a photo of young son August kissing her bump.
In the photograph, taken by Jack, Eugenie, dressed in a woolly hat, beams as August, in a burgundy winter hat, matching trousers and wellies, embraces her and kisses her bump, as they stand next to a fence in a leaf-strewn field.
Eugenie wrote: "We're so excited to share that there will be a new addition to our family this summer."