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Jack, the otherwise low-key husband of Eugenie, has been dominating headlines recently.
Earlier this week, the 35-year-old was pictured partying on a boat with three bikini-clad women in Capri just five months after his wife gave birth to their son, August.
The photos went viral and prompted salacious speculation, with one headline reading: “Good luck explaining these photographs to Eugenie, Jack!”
But apparently there’s more to the situation than meets the eye.
One of the women photographed alongside Jack wants to set the record straight.
Jack was on the Italian island ahead of the Unicef Summer Gala, which he attended as a brand ambassador for Casamigos tequila. It’s understood Jack's job at the charity ball was to keep an eye on the cocktail bar and mingle with famous guests, who included Katy Perry, John Legend and Heidi Klum.
A source claims Eugenie hadn't joined him on the trip because he was "there to work at the ball".
But royal watchers were quick to point out that the boozy boat ride hardly looked like a hard day’s work for the new father.
The party was seen exploring the caves dotted around the Capri coast, with Jack enjoying dips in the ocean with model Erica Pelosini, who swam topless alongside him. At one point he had his hand on Erica’s back as he guided her around the boat.
The former model has now apologised for "any embarrassment” the images may have caused for the royal couple and says she "regrets" going topless during the trip.
“I usually never go topless, but my bikini got wet and I decided to take it off. I know it does not look right for Jack and his family. I felt very bad for them when I saw the images of him surrounded by three women because his wife was not there,” she told Mail Online.
“It led people to make improper suggestions and jump to conclusions and it's very hurtful that people are thinking this. I'm very sorry if I caused any embarrassment to Princess Eugenie and Jack. It wasn't appropriate for me to be topless.
“Looking at the images, I can understand how they could be misinterpreted. I'm topless; Maria [Buccellati] is hugging him; and Rachel [Zalis] is also a very beautiful woman, but people are assuming the wrong things.”
Erica confirmed she, Jack, Maria and Rachel were friends and colleagues and had known each other for years. The Italian says she’d hoped to show her friends around the country and dine at her favourite restaurant.
She added that Jack had shown off photographs of his five-month-old son during the trip.
"He's a very proud father," Erica said. “He was very sad to be away from Princess Eugenie and his son."
Erica isn’t the only one who’s publicly thrown their weight behind Jack.
Eugenie’s mom, Sarah Ferguson (61), also rushed to her son-in-law’s defence, saying he was "just doing his job" as a brand ambassador.
"Jack, who was on the front page, is a man of such integrity," Sarah told the BBC. "He's just one of my most favourite people. I call him James Bond actually."
She slammed fans for reading too much into the photos.
"For them to make this story is completely fabricated, he works as an ambassador for Casamigos, and he was on doing his job, and so I think it's really important that we clarify that for Jack's sake.”
Sources: mirror.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk, thesun.co.uk, express.co.uk, eonline.com, tatler.com
