There are moments in every young woman’s life when she wants nothing more than to be close to home, and all that is familiar.

Giving birth, with all its unpredictabilities and vulnerabilities, is undoubtedly one of them. Which is what makes the Buckingham Palace announcement on Tuesday so revelatory.

‘Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank are delighted to announce the safe arrival of their daughter,’ it informed the nation.

As tradition dictates, the key details of the newest royal arrival were recorded – date of birth, August 3; time of birth, 6.20pm; weight, 6lb 9oz – along with one other striking detail: Princess Eugenie’s daughter was not born in Britain, but in Lisbon, Portugal.

This makes the baby girl, whose name is yet to be revealed, one of the very few royals in the line of succession to enter the world abroad.

More than being merely historically noteworthy, the arrival of Baby Brooksbank – whom Eugenie introduced to the world on Instagram, with an image of her lying on her tummy wearing a £100 sleep suit and hat from Princess Marie-Chantal of Greece’s luxury children’s clothing range – signifies much more.

Because with her birth, a distinct shift in the dynamics of the troubled House of York, and in the broader Royal Family, has been laid bare.

The Brooksbanks’ decision to welcome their daughter 1,000 miles away on the Iberian peninsula underlines just how deeply rooted the couple have become in the country – the strongest indication yet that home, for Eugenie, is no longer defined by the royal estates on which she grew up.

Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's daughter was born on August 3 in the Portuguese capital

Eugenie and her family moved to Portugal in 2022 (picture from Eugenie's Instagram)

For what began as a second home increasingly appears to have become the family’s preferred and, in effect, primary base.

There can be little doubt that Eugenie’s feelings towards her disgraced father Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor have influenced her move to Portugal’s Alentejo coast.

Whereas her sister Beatrice is more of a ‘daddy’s girl’, Eugenie is said to be repelled by her father’s behaviour, and has distanced herself from him.

Indeed, Andrew is said to have found out she was pregnant only via his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, with whom Eugenie keeps in touch.

Now she has given birth and is recovering in her £3.6million oceanside luxury villa near the pretty village of Melides, locals have heard whispers that Sarah – who has not been seen publicly for a considerable time – has arrived to help look after her fifth grandchild. Staff at the nearby O Fadista restaurant, which the Daily Mail visited this week, say Eugenie, Jack and Sarah are regulars at the pretty whitewashed building on the main Rua Nova that serves generous pots of seafood rice.

One waiter said: ‘Eugenie and her husband are regulars and have been here quite a few times with friends. Their mothers have also been here several times but I’ve never seen the father, Andrew.

‘Now Eugenie has had a baby, there has been talk that Sarah is back in Melides to help her with the new little one.’

If she had given birth just a matter of weeks ago, she would also have been able to call on another family member for a hand. Because Eugenie, 36, isn’t the only young royal to have put down roots in this idyllic corner of Portugal.

CostaTerra Gold & Ocean club, near Melides, boasts a stunning beach and beautiful water

Her cousin Prince Harry, with whom she has a good relationship, and his wife Meghan have also established their own foothold close to Eugenie, using their luxury holiday home as a staging post between California and London, visiting just last month.

It means this increasingly fashionable corner of Portugal, known as the Iberian Hamptons, has become something of a new breakaway royal power base – at least for those who no longer feel entirely at home within Windsor’s orbit.

The couples both own villas a 90-minute drive south from Lisbon, tucked away in the 722-acre exclusive Costa Terra community, nestled between the chic coastal villages of Comporta and Melides.

Melides has the vibe of St Tropez in the 1960s: all secluded beaches, a stylish and cool place not yet discovered by the masses.

Costa Terra also boasts a host of other wealthy residents, from billionaire entrepreneurs and bankers to privacy-hungry celebrities, including George and Amal Clooney. It’s thought that the Clooneys were introduced to the area by American property developer Mike Meldman, who bought the Costa Terra plot in 2019 for £435m before developing luxury homes on it.

Clooney and Meldman were business partners in tequila firm Casamigos, selling it in 2017 for a reported $1billion (£790million). Jack Brooksbank worked for Casamigos for several years.

Before their divorce in 2022, supermodel Gisele Bundchen and American footballer Tom Brady also owned a property nearby.

Eugenie and Harry’s homes are tucked between sand dunes within the Costa Terra resort, immersed in pine forests, with access to a mile-long stretch of sandy beach front.

Harry and Meghan bought a luxury holiday home in Portugal in 2023

Harry playfully throws his daughter Lilibet in a pool in Portugal

The mood is all ‘barefoot luxury’ and residents have a ‘club village’ with multiple eateries using the finest local organic produce. The resort also features an 18-hole golf course designed by golf guru Tom Fazio, a wellness spa, an equestrian centre and shooting sports.

Another local attraction is Christian Louboutin’s five-star boutique hotel Vermelho – named after the iconic shade of red that coats the sole of the designer’s shoes – in nearby Melides where a double room in high season costs £919 a night. In short, the area has all the understated glitz a young royal could possibly desire – with privacy, too.

Jose Santos, president of the local tourist board, told the Daily Mail: ‘For us to have Harry and Meghan and Eugenie and her family as guests and residents is such a fantastic advert for the area. It’s a closely-guarded secret – well, up until now – but word is getting out and we are getting more and more people coming here. But the locals are very discreet and they don’t talk about them.

‘It’s great the new one was born here – she will be Portuguese if she wants – it underlines the close relationship between our two countries and strengthens our centuries-old alliance with Britain. Costa Terra where they live is very exclusive and the security is very tight. Unless you live there or are invited as a guest of one of the residents, you can’t get in.’

One can perhaps see why Eugenie chose this environment for the days after her birth, rather than London. She had used the exclusive Portland Hospital, one of the capital’s premier maternity units for the birth of her two sons, August, five, and Ernest, three.

Eugenie herself and her older sister Princess Beatrice, 37, were also delivered in the luxury facility. This time, however, Eugenie and Jack, 40, chose the Hospital da Luz in Lisbon.

While one of Portugal’s leading private hospitals, it provides a far more clinical setting than the bespoke boutique experience offered at the Portland.

Its website boasts of just 36-minute waiting times and it offers vaginal births for 5,450 euros (£4,670) while a caesarean can cost up to 8,550 euros (£7,320).

It seems the new baby will now be welcomed into the community with open arms. A local councillor in the town hall building nearby told the Daily Mail: ‘I see Eugenie and Jack quite often. We live very close and I knew she was pregnant as I saw her bump. I would often see them in their Range Rover car as well.

‘They are very friendly and always wave to say hello and they both also speak a little bit of Portuguese, which has really impressed everyone in the village. They go for a walk on the main street and go to the restaurant and no one bothers them.

‘It’s mainly locals here and not many foreigners, so no one really knows who she is – but of course the people in Melides know but we don’t bother her. We leave her alone to get on with her life.

‘I heard on the radio their new baby was born in Lisbon, so she is Portuguese by birth, which is wonderful for us here. Everyone is delighted for them.’

Eugenie, who occasionally shares a picture of beach days with her young family on social media, has spoken warmly about life under the Portuguese sun and the sense of normality it affords.

She also speaks fondly of how her sons August and Ernest have grown accustomed to living by the ocean. ‘They love swimming,’ she said in one interview. ‘The sea in Portugal’s a little bit rougher. So we’ve got our feet in, but Augie is a fish. He literally loves it and we have whales and dolphins all across the walls [of her home].’

Speaking on Jessie Ware’s Table Manners podcast shortly after they first arrived in Melides, she described her new-found freedom. ‘This is why Portugal is the dream because I can go to the supermarket in my exercise gear and my hair piled on my head and not mind. Not care,’ she said. ‘No one cares.’

She and Jack first moved part-time to Melides in 2022, choosing to mix home and work after Jack took on a role running UK property sales and marketing at the Costa Terra resort. For several years they divided their time between Melides and their grace-and-favour Ivy Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace.

Meanwhile, the Sussexes were thought to have fallen in love with the exclusive enclave on a visit to see Eugenie in 2023. They bought a home close by the following year.

Meghan’s Instagram posts offered glimpses – albeit carefully curated ones – of their holiday in Portugal last month. One image shared is the front of a family-run seafood restaurant in Melides, O Melidense, a down-to-earth eatery where payment is cash only and the fish stew is served in small metal cauldrons.

Other images show the family playing in a swimming pool and frolicking on the golden sands of a secluded beach, without another soul in sight.

So far, so wholesome – but Meghan still managed to splash some cash, shopping in a colourful homeware shop, Vida Dura, where she spent around £300 – including £65 on a toilet brush holder.

On its website, the business describes itself as ‘Where Hard Life Meets Elevated Living’.

In a touch worthy of Meghan’s own As Ever lifestyle brand, the website describes their products as ‘Craftsmanship Meets Soul’ saying, ’Our collections are not just products, they are experiences. Hand-crafted by local and international artisans, each item is a testament to the art of living well.’

Hence, staff revealed, Meghan bought a comedy porcelain loo brush holder with a decorative motif of a dog cocking its leg against a tree, along with two terracotta pots and a lamp.

A source at the shop said: ‘We had no idea it was Meghan at first. She came in wearing a wide-brimmed hat and she was with some other people. I’m pretty certain Harry wasn’t there.

‘It was only when she came to pay that I recognised her. She smiled and we joked about the items she had bought and she said she was having a lovely holiday; everyone does in Melides.’

While Meghan didn’t post an image from Vida Dura, she did of another shop interior which the Daily Mail identified as Caju Comporta in Comporta.

A member of staff told the Daily Mail: ‘The first we knew Meghan had been in was when one of our regulars spotted the picture on her Instagram. Then we saw it and recognised her. She had the hat on and she had come in with friends to have a look around. She picked a few things up but didn’t buy anything and then she left.

‘I’ve no idea why she decided to post a picture of the shop interior. Maybe she liked the display of kitchenware and crockery that we had on display. That’s always very popular with tourists.’

Aside from the obvious attractions of Melides, surely the most significant for the royal cousins is a simple one: each other.

Harry is thought to have found comfort in having a second home close to Eugenie, one of his few remaining family allies. Their bond pre-dates their marriages, forged in the skiing holidays of their childhood and those Christmas gatherings at Balmoral.

And, of course, in adulthood Harry and Eugenie’s family lives have somewhat played out in parallel, with both enduring – albeit for very different reasons – difficult relationships with their fathers.

Little wonder, perhaps, that Costa Terra has become such a tempting escape from reality for them both.