HOT NEWS: Princess Beatrice and Eugenie Torn Apart As They face fresh Andrew dilemma after King Charles’ ‘decision’
HOT NEWS: Princess Beatrice and Eugenie Torn Apart As They face fresh Andrew dilemma after King Charles’ ‘decision’
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are said to be facing a renewed family dilemma after King Charles extended an invitation for them to spend Christmas at Sandringham, a move that has reopened painful questions about loyalty, optics and where they should be seen at a time of deep division within the Royal Family. According to The Mail on Sunday, the sisters are caught in what one source described as a “tug-of-love” after their disgraced parents were effectively pushed to the margins of royal life.
With Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson now excluded from the public-facing royal fold, Beatrice and Eugenie find themselves pulled in competing directions by the demands of the institution on one side and family loyalty on the other. Sources told the paper that the situation has become a “logistical and emotional nightmare” for the siblings. Both women are said to remain loyal to the King and to the monarchy, while also feeling deeply devoted to their parents. One insider explained that the pressure is particularly intense for Princess Beatrice.
Beatrice is feeling particularly under pressure as she feels she ‘has to be in three places at once’ on Christmas Day,” the source said. Staying at her new Cotswolds home with interior designer husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, their children and her mother is thought to be her preferred option. At the same time, she is said to feel a diplomatic obligation to be seen with the wider Royal Family at the King’s Norfolk estate.
Complicating matters further is her relationship with her father. The source added that Beatrice also feels compelled to spend what could be one final Christmas at Royal Lodge with Andrew, “despite his fall from grace over the Epstein scandal”.
“Unless she makes a decision to pick one side and one side only, she will spend a lot of time in the car,” the source said. “Overall it falls to the princesses to soothe family divisions. They are struggling with Christmas.”
Princess Eugenie, by contrast, is said to feel slightly less conflicted. Now based largely in Portugal with husband Jack Brooksbank and their children, she is geographically and emotionally removed from some of the immediate drama.
Eugenie was tempted to stay in Portugal with her family and husband Jack Brooksbank,” the source said. “She is so settled there, far from all the drama.”
Andrew’s position within the Royal Family has been precarious for several years. Following his disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019 and the subsequent civil case brought by Virginia Giuffre, Andrew was stripped of his military titles and royal patronages in early 2022.
Andrew has always denied claims he had sex with Giuffre when she was 17, and settled a civil case with her for a reported £12m with no admission of liability.
In October, Buckingham Palace announced that Andrew would be stripped of his royal titles and will move out of his home at the Royal Lodge in Windsor.
King Charles initiated a “formal process to remove the style, titles and honours of Prince Andrew”, who will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, the palace said.
The royal family also announced that Andrew would voluntarily stop using the title Duke of York and give up his honours as a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order and Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter.
However, as daughters of the son of a monarch, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie retain their titles in line with King George V’s letters patent of 1917.
