Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have been forced to navigate the fallout from their father Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s scandal in very different ways, and one sister may have found an unexpected path to freedom.
“Beatrice and Eugenie have had an extremely tough period whilst their parents are publicly disgraced. Yet there has been a change in the perception of Eugenie,” royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams told the Daily Mail.
Eugenie, who recently gave birth to her third child, daughter Adelaide, moved to Portugal with her husband Jack Brooksbank in May 2022 before Andrew’s scandal reached a fever pitch.
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Prince Andrew, Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie.
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“The fact that [Adelaide] was born abroad and that Eugenie, who works remotely and Jack divide their time between Britain and Portugal also helps to distance them from the fallout from the scandals that have hit the Yorks,” Fitzwilliams added.
The move allowed Eugenie to feel “freer” than her older sister, who feels more constrained by their parents’ ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
“Beatrice is having to walk a very fine line right now thanks to her parents’ mistakes,” a source told New Idea. This stress is also compounded by the fact that she and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, have reportedly been having marital troubles.
“It’s not just herself that Beatrice has to think of; this affects her husband too, and he’s already at the end of his tether, courting any more drama is bound to put even more strain on him and their marriage, so it’s understandable that she wants to avoid the whole mess,” the insider told the media outlet.
The physical distance has helped Eugenie, but she isn’t as close to Andrew as Beatrice is — and that may be the underlying issue.
“Beatrice is the older sister. Initially it was not realized that she had been pivotal in advising her father on the catastrophically imbecilic Newsnight interview. It is now common knowledge after being dramatized,” Fitzwilliams noted to the Daily Mail.
Ultimately, Eugenie’s new home country may have given her more freedom from the York family fallout, while Beatrice’s deeper connection to her father leaves her with a much more complicated line to walk.