As a poll shows that four out of five Britons want Sir Keir Starmer to officially strip Prince Andrew of his dukedom, and the clamour mounts for him to be chucked out of his 30 bedroom mansion Royal Lodge, it will be of some solace to Beatrice and Eugenie that at least their own titles aren’t going anywhere. As the phrase goes: ‘Born a princess, always a princess’.
Yet there is no telling when their fairytale is set to turn dark. Because though they’ve so far done sterling work keeping their fascinators below the parapet of the York decimation, it’s only a matter of time before some scattered fire falls on them.
On the face of it the York juniors don’t stand to lose much. As non-working royals their official appointment book had already been getting slimmer by the year. In the past they would both deputise for the late Queen when no one else could do it, but under the almost-reign of the Prince of Wales even these jobs have stopped.
Though Princess Eugenie was recently nominated as a mentor for the King’s Foundation’s 35 under 35 network, since the death of their grandmother the only time the York Sisters have played a royal role has been going to church with the family.
Though William is very fond of his cousins (they will always be invited to Christmas at Sandringham — on the understanding that their plus ones aren’t the York seniors), he seems to be asserting a ruthless streak when it comes to who’s In and Out at the palace these days. “It was him who was completely determined to get rid of Sussan H — who is his Godmother by the way — when she made that gaffe”, says one of the Queen’s courtiers, referring to the fact that in 2022 Lady of the Bedchamber, Lady Susan Hussey was forcibly put out to pasture after she repeatedly asked activist Ngozi Fulami, where she was “really” from.
Prince Harry and the Princesses have always been reportedly close friends (UK Press via Getty Images)
“I would imagine that William, perhaps subconsciously, thinks of the girls as tainted by association”, the courtier adds.
It is no surprise that the warring princes take different positions on York policy. Though Prince Harry has long cordially despised his uncle (it was even alleged by Andrew Lownie that they got into a punch-up in 2013), he is understandably sympathetic to the potential pariah-hood of his cousins.
“I know Harry has been texting Uge a lot”, says a friend of Eugenie. “There are lots of jokes about them going to live as exiled royals together in Portugal”.
This might actually be more than idle cousin bants, as a few years ago Prince Harry bought a plot on the Costa Terra, where Eugenie lives with her husband Jack Brooksbank and two sons, so perhaps a mini ex-royal community is not out of the question.
What will be a bone of contention is Eugenie’s London home, Ivy Cottage on the grounds of Kensington Palace, which — in grand York tradition — she pays a peppercorn rent for. And this brings us to the great question; how much did the princesses know, or how much should they have known about the murkiness of their parents’ dealings? And how many perks came their way because of them?
That both princesses were introduced to many of the nastier members of their parents’ gang is unquestionable. Among other events, Jeffrey Epstein was at Beatrice’s 18th birthday party, and boasted in newly released emails that Sarah Ferguson was “the first to celebrate my release with her two daughters in tow,” when he got out of prison after serving his first sentence.
(Dave Benett/Getty Images for The)
It is also well documented that Fergie thought nothing of introducing her daughters to the likes of P Diddy and sex-offending fashion entrepreneur, Peter Nygard. So far, so not the princesses’ fault. Things get a bit grimier though when you get into the world of freebies. It is unsurprising that as the children of Airmiles Andie and Freebie Fergie the princesses have always had a weakness for holidays and gifts, what will come under increasing scrutiny in the months to come is what form these royal boons have taken.
A red flag was hoisted in 2022 when it was revealed that Princess Beatrice had received £750,000 as a wedding present from Turkish millionaire Nehebat Isbilen. Though it was subsequently shown that this was part of the dodgy dealings of the businesswoman’s financial advisor (who she took to court for misappropriation of funds) it goes to show the shady world the princesses have been brought up to move in. If I was a betting woman, I‘d wager that revelations like this will start to come thick and fast in the coming months.
Embarrassing parents everywhere are linking arms and forming a conga line as they revel in the fact that nothing they’ve ever done or will ever do, can bring as much shame on their children as the ex-Duke and Duchess of York. While the poor princesses, like humiliated kids everywhere, will have to take comfort in the fact that if we know one thing about ludicrous parents: they are going to do what they are going to do.