Princess Eugenie was rejected from university because her grades were “not good enough” — but she was immediately offered a place once it emerged who she was, a senior lecturer has claimed.
Her application to study a BA honours in English literature was said to have been turned down by an admissions officer at Newcastle University who had not realised that she was a member of the royal family.
The university was allegedly “horrified” once it emerged that it had rejected Eugenie, who is eighth in line to the throne, without offering her a place on an alternative degree course.
Martin Farr, a senior history lecturer at Newcastle, made the allegations at a convention for the anti-monarchist campaign group, Republic, in the city.
The Duke and Duchess of York’s daughter, 27, who gained two As and a B at A level, ended up studying a combined BA honours degree in English literature, history of art and politics and graduated in 2012 with a 2:1.
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Dr Farr said: “We had at Newcastle university one of the Queen’s granddaughters, Princess Eugenie. And a friend of mine who is Italian was the admissions officer for BA English literature and received one application for the undergraduate degree that was not good enough and so discarded it. Apparently the university was horrified she had been rejected before she was offered a place for another degree.”
A university spokeswoman said: “If an applicant does not have the actual or predicted grades to meet the requirements for a particular programme, it is common practice for them to be considered for alternative programmes. Dr Farr was not involved in the admissions process that took place at that time and he would have no knowledge or insight into any of the decisions.”