Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have seemingly kept their distance this week as their parents, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Sarah Ferguson, have been sent into turmoil amid the ongoing scandal
Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s parents, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, 65, and Sarah Ferguson, 66, have faced a barrage of public backlash and intense scrutiny due to new scandals tied to their past associations with the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence in the US for her crimes. This has led to both of them relinquishing their royal titles, despite Sarah retaining her Duchess of York title following their divorce in 1996. Andrew has always vehemently denied any allegations against him.
While Andrew had already announced he would voluntarily give up the use of his titles, King Charles has taken things a step further by taking legal steps to formally remove his younger brother’s royal titles. In addition, it was confirmed that Andrew and Sarah have been told to vacate their residence at Royal Lodge, a 30-bedroom Crown Estate property, where they’ve resided together despite their split.
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It is understood that Andrew will move to a property within the grounds of the Sandringham estate in Norfolk. Meanwhile, Sarah is said to have found her own private accommodation and will not live with Andrew for the first time since 2008.
Amid the ongoing scandal involving their parents, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have been keeping their distance abroad. Eugenie, 35, has been enjoying a girls’ trip to Paris, having shared a snap posing with friends on the River Seine, with the Eiffel Tower serving as a stunning backdrop.
Meanwhile, Beatrice, 37, has been in Saudi Arabia attending the Future Investment Initiative event in Riyadh. Sunil Sharma, host of the Rational Voices with Sunil podcast, shared a photo of himself alongside the 37-year-old royal, captioning it: “A Royal Moment. Nice to meet and chat with HRH Princess Beatrice.”
Despite not being a working royal, it’s thought that Beatrice likely attended the event representing Afiniti, where she holds the position of Vice President of Partnerships and Strategy. And while their parents lose their royal titles, the sisters will keep theirs.
As daughters of a son of a Sovereign, HRH Princess Beatrice and HRH Princess Eugenie will keep their titles in line with King George V’s Letters Patent of 1917. Despite retaining their princess titles, the sisters’ lives will undoubtedly change, and they now face an unprecedented level of interest in their family life, through no fault of their own.
Commenting on the likely impact this will have, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams remarked: “This will be a deeply painful period for the sisters as their parents are both likely to languish in public disgrace and foreseeably so.”
In recent times, the sisters have become ‘rare visitors’ to Royal Lodge, maintaining a “dignified silence” amid the ongoing scandals, despite the Yorks being a close-knit family. However, amid the ongoing scandals, Beatrice and Eugenie have maintained a “dignified silence,” say experts.
Instead, they are concentrating on raising their own young families, advancing their careers and striving to maintain some semblance of normality. However, it’s not been easy for the sisters, particularly Beatrice, who was always a ‘daddy’s girl’, according to Sarah’s biographer and royal expert, Ingrid Seward.
So, it was perhaps unsurprising that Beatrice was spotted driving to her parents’ Windsor home on Monday. Body language expert Judi James observed that Beatrice displayed facial expressions that seemed to be “a stab of bravado” in the face of “unwanted attention”.
The expert suggested that despite her attempts to demonstrate resilience, at certain moments the princess appeared to show “some distress”. Beatrice and Eugenie have not yet publicly commented on their parents’ controversy.
The Daily Mail revealed how Eugenie, now a mum of two, once described her relationship with her sister and mother as “a tripod” in a 2008 interview. However, a family friend told the publication this week: “The tripod has collapsed. Obviously, they will continue to support their parents, but they feel so let down.”
Sarah marked her 66th birthday on 15 October, but in a surprising twist, it was the first time since 2019 that Eugenie did not publicly recognise her mother’s birthday on social media. It remains unknown whether Eugenie or her older sister, Beatrice, sent any private birthday messages.
The sisters have been known to be extremely close and have claimed to be each other’s “rock”. Away from their parents’ scrutiny, they’ve faced personal battles such as Beatrice’s dyslexia and Eugenie’s childhood spinal surgery to correct her scoliosis, and no doubt will lean on their sisterly support during this time.
