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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Jennifer Newton

Princess Eugenie received a very expensive gift from Queen - but she never used it

It's Princess Eugenie's birthday today - and no doubt she will be treated to some lovely presents.

Eugenie - a granddaughter of the Queen - turns 32 and she can probably count on her grandmother for a pretty special gift.

In fact, she bought a very special present indeed for Eugenie and her older sister Princess Beatrice when they were just children - but the pair never got to use it.

In 1997, she splashed out on the lavish Birch Hall for the girls. The Surrey mansion, which boasts seven bedrooms, was held for the sisters to use when they were older - as they were only seven and nine at the time.

The Queen with her granddaughter Princess Eugenie (Getty Images)

With a tennis court, a swimming pool and a separate two-bedroom house on the stunning estate, it could have made the perfect home for the girls and their mum, Sarah Ferguson.

But despite having the gorgeous Georgian property all to themselves, the sisters never actually moved into Birch Hall. In fact, it sat empty for two years.

According to the Mail, Fergie refused to move in, claiming she couldn't afford the huge upkeep costs.

Eugenie with her older sister Princess Beatrice at Royal Ascot in 2018 (Getty Images)

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Therefore it was sold for £1.5 million, with the money reportedly being put into a trust for the sisters to access when they got older. According to estate agents, it was being sold due to a "change of circumstance."

The house was sold again in 2016 - for a whopping £4.2 million.

Speaking at the time of the second sale, estate agent Andrew Russell from Strutt & Parker told the Mail: "It is probably one of the very best of north Surrey's village houses, there's not many that come on the market.

"The house itself is a very attractive and imposing-looking property. Some of the rooms are really quite dramatic, with high ceilings and full floor to ceiling sash windows.

Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie at the Super Bowl last month (NBC)

"Every summer the owners have opened up the gardens for a charity event with picnics and a live band, so the house is quite prominent in the village.

"The owners bought it from the trustees acting for the Queen in 1999. The trustees bought it in 1997 for the princesses and I imagine it was chosen because it's a pretty house in a popular village and the gardens are a real draw, it's more like parkland. But they never moved in."

One member of the royal family who could be sending Eugenie a present today is her cousin Prince Harry.

She was the first royal to visit him in the US since he and wife Meghan Markle moved there with their children after quitting the Firm two years ago.

The royal pair were pictured together in the stands for the Super Bowl last month - although were without Meghan and Eugenie's husband Jack Brooksbank.

Not only is Eugenie, mum to son August, the only royal to have met up with Harry in California, she could also be the only member of the family to have met his new baby daughter Lilibet.

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