The newest member of the royal family is Ernest George Ronnie Brooksbank, daughter of Princess Eugenie and grandson of the Duke and Duchess of York.
George is considered a tribute to Eugenie’s father-in-law, the father of her husband Jack Brooksbank.
But it’s the third of those names, Ronnie, that’s garnered the most attention, as it appears to be a reminder of the late “galloping” Major Ron, the colorful, polo-playing father of the baby’s grandmother, Sarah Ferguson.
While Ernest is just getting started, Major Ron has experienced the ups and downs of life lived to the fullest – a dashing figure known for a string of high society affairs.
Major Ronald Ferguson and his daughter Sarah, Duchess of York at a polo match in 1988
Ronald Ferguson was Prince Charles’ polo manager for 21 years
Princess Eugenie’s second son, Ernest George Ronnie, was named in homage to Fergie’s father, Major Ronald Ferguson
A talented polo player and former polo manager to the Prince of Wales, his 1994 autobiography was aptly titled The Galloping Major.
The son of a country gentry, he spent his peaceful early years among horses and dogs, while from the age of eight lived on a 480-acre farm in Dummer, Hampshire.
Educated at Eton, he moved to Bishop’s Waltham before embarking on a 19-year military career with Sandhurst and service in the Household Cavalry.
While at Sandhurst, he attended the coronation process in 1953 with a thunderous hangover.
As a young officer, he later served as captain of the Sovereign’s escort during the Queen’s Trooping the Color birthday parade.
Perhaps Ronald was so taken with his enthusiasm that he nearly eclipsed Her Majesty.
It was reported that he was rebuked by the late Queen Elizabeth when his horse hid her from sight: “Back a bit Ron – they came to see me, not you.”
As a lifeguard lieutenant, he married his first wife Susan Wright, an 18-year-old debutante, in November 1956 at St Margaret’s, Westminster. They had two daughters, Jane and Sarah – grandmother of the newborn Ernest.
(News of the birth was kept secret for a week, until it was finally revealed that the child was born on May 30 and weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce. A sweet snap shows older brother August watching over Ernest with the Caption: ‘Augie loves being a kid already big brother’)
A date in 1972 with the 23-year-old daughter of a Colonel led to the collapse of Major Ron’s first marriage. His wife Susan sought solace in the arms of Argentine polo star Hector Barrantes.
He was educated at Eton before Sandhurst and completed a 19-year military career
Prince Charles with Major Ronald Ferguson at a polo match on June 6, 1987
Ronald Ferguson photographed shaking hands with Princess Diana at a polo match in 1985
Sarah and Jane were teenagers when Ronald and Susan divorced in 1974.
While raising his daughters as a single parent, the Major courted a number of society women, including Princess Diana’s mother, Frances Shand-Kydd, to whom he proposed.
Mrs. Shand-Kydd declined the offer and in 1976 he married his second wife, Susan Deptford. They had three children, Andrew, Alice and Eliza.
After Ferguson’s retirement in 1968, he devoted himself to the sport of polo, an interest that brought him into contact with the royal family.
Major Ferguson acted as the Duke of Edinburgh’s unpaid polo manager before filling the same position for Charles, then Prince of Wales, for 21 years.
It was his job to organize the prince’s game schedule, adapting it to his numerous official commitments, and looking after the prince’s horses and equipment.
The Duke and Duchess of York with Sarah’s father Ronald Ferguson and daughters Beatrice and Eugenie at the Windsor Horse Show
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with Ronald and members of the Royal Family on their wedding day
The Duchess of York on her wedding day with her father, Major Ronald Ferguson
It was through this connection that his daughter Sarah Ferguson, now the Duchess of York, met Prince Andrew.
Before their 1986 wedding, Sarah’s parents told The Washington Post that the couple first met when they were just three years old — at a polo game attended by both of their fathers (Major Ronald and Prince Philip).
When the galloping Majoar was photographed entering and exiting a London massage parlor in 1988, he gave up his role as manager of the Elite Guards Polo Club.
The Major was fiercely protective of his daughter Sarah, nicknamed Fergie, whose marriage to Prince Andrew ended in divorce in 1996.
The Duchess claimed she made the decision to pursue a career independent of the royal family.
Major Ronald Ferguson at his home, Dummer Down Farm, in Hampshire with his second wife Susan and daughter Eliza
The son of country gentry, he spent his peaceful early years on a 480-acre farm in Dummer, Hampshire (pictured).
Sarah Duchess of York with her father Major Ronald Ferguson before announcing her engagement to Prince Andrew in March 1986
And Sarah, who after their divorce displayed her father’s fighting spirit fighting back deep debt and personal despair, was doting on her beloved father.
He was not shy about speaking his mind, which he proved when he scathingly criticized the royal courtiers, accusing them of undermining his daughter’s marriage.
Soliciting controversy but striving for privacy, he told one journalist, “I’m nobody.” Nobody at all. I happen to be the father of the Duchess of York. I mean, that doesn’t make me particularly important, does it?’
In 1993, Major Ferguson also got into trouble over his association with Lesley Player, a woman with whom he had organized an international women’s polo tournament, after she claimed she had had an affair with Ferguson.
When he struggled with an illness later in life, he showed typical courage.
Major Ferguson was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1996, but received the all-clear in 1998 after undergoing radiation therapy.
He campaigned for the Coalition For Prostate Cancer and helped launch the UK’s first week of prostate cancer awareness by petitioning at 10 Downing Street calling for increased spending on research, screening and treatment.
However, in 2001 his cancer returned, but he took the news forcefully. “I have no intention of dying yet,” he said.
“I still play cricket and horseback riding and live as normal a life as possible.”
He offered words of hope to fellow cancer patients and their families, saying, “You can never get used to the word ‘cancer’ when it’s directly related to it.”
“Cancer is something that strikes instantly, and because you hear about so many cases of people dying from cancer, cancer is immediately associated with death.”
Major Ronald Ferguson pictured with his dog at his home in Dummer, Hampshire
“But it doesn’t have to be, in my case quite the opposite.” It doesn’t have to be.’
In November 2002 he collapsed, suspected of having suffered a heart attack, and was admitted to Basingstoke General Hospital.
He recovered after suffering a second heart attack on March 16, 2003, but at the end of a long struggle his condition worsened and he died at the age of 71.