Eugenie and Beatrice are left to pick up the pieces of a long-running nightmare (Image: Instagram)
Seeing an image of their father on all fours on top of a woman in the Epstein files was distressing enough, but now a fresh photograph will be forever seared into the minds of Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
The picture in question captures a visibly shaken Andrew Mountbatten Windsor slumped in the back of a car following 11 hours in police custody. The former prince was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office on Thursday — his 66th birthday, no less — and has since been released, though he remains under investigation.
Sarah Ferguson, his ex-wife and mother of his daughters, is conspicuously absent as the scandal engulfs her once tight-knit family. According to the latest reports, she spent January at the £13,000-a-day Paracelsus Recovery Clinic in Zurich, Switzerland.
She is now reportedly somewhere in the UK, “laying low with friends” and “in constant tears.”
As Eugenie and Beatrice are left to pick up the pieces of a long-running nightmare that has undoubtedly plagued them for years, royal experts and those close to the sisters have laid bare the devastating personal toll of their father’s arrest.
It is understood that the ‘horrified’ York sisters held ‘crisis talks’ at the weekend in an attempt to navigate the impossible situation they now find themselves in. Andrew is the first royal in modern history to have been arrested — a development that follows months of intense scrutiny surrounding his links to Jeffrey Epstein.
Beatrice and Eugenie retained their royal titles when King Charles unceremoniously stripped their parents of all their honours, but there are concerns their careers and finances could suffer significantly as a result of the scandal engulfing the monarchy.
Whilst not comparable to the allegations Andrew faces, their mother’s connection with Epstein has also left her daughters ‘mortified’. Emails released in the latest batch of documents suggest everything from urgent financial requests and a marriage proposal.
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Until very recently, both sisters remained fiercely loyal to their parents – even as their father faced sexual abuse allegations, which he vehemently denies. But in the weeks before the former duke’s arrest, Eugenie is said to have decided to ‘cut off’ her father entirely.
“There is no contact at all, nothing,” the insider said last month. “It’s Brooklyn Beckham-level – she has completely cut him off.”
Meanwhile, Beatrice had been attempting to maintain some relationship with her father as she was spotted horse riding with him and her daughter Sienna last month. The princess also recently invited her parents to her youngest daughter’s christening.
Royal expert Ingrid Seward suggests that both sisters will have been ‘extremely upset’ by their father’s arrest last week. “I’m sure they weren’t expecting it,” she told the Daily Mail.
“It’s really embarrassing and distressing for them both.”
It has been claimed that no member of the Royal Family was aware of police plans to arrest Andrew at his temporary residence in Sandringham last week.
As Andrew’s daughters, Beatrice and Eugenie were raised in an exceptionally privileged environment, enjoying numerous luxury holidays before establishing their own lives. Seward believes they must now confront an uncomfortable reality: the true source of the funds their parents deposited into their accounts.
“All the doubts will have come crashing in – those holidays they had as children, the funds their father put in their bank account, all the lovely things they enjoyed,” the author said. “Sadly, they’re going to start doubting everything their father ever told them.”
One acquaintance of both Eugenie and Beatrice told the outlet they remain in contact with their embattled parents – though relations are strained, with the princesses caught between loyalty to their mother and father, and their dismay over the Epstein scandal. They are also conscious of public perception and cannot be seen publicly alongside Andrew and Sarah.
Beatrice and Eugenie retained their royal titles even after thier father was stripped of his own (Image: GETTY)
Seward believes both daughters will be experiencing profound anger towards Andrew, alongside immense disappointment with their mother: “They’ll be asking how both their parents could be so stupid.”
Whilst they navigate the crisis privately, Eugenie and Beatrice are understood to be adopting differing strategies – though they have pledged to remain united and display solidarity publicly.
A source told the publication: “Eugenie will stay silent, but Beatrice will be very conflicted. Although no believer that her father is an innocent, she is aware that his mental health is suffering – something ‘stiff upper lip’ Andrew may not recognise. She took the decision to be seen with him and Sienna [her eldest daughter, aged four] at Royal Lodge in late January just before the Epstein files dropped. She will almost certainly keep some sort of contact with her father, but out of sight.”
Eugenie, considered more forthright than her elder sister, will reportedly have expressed her views towards her father candidly, and has not been photographed with him in public for a considerable period.
Both princesses are understood to be deeply distressed that their names appear in the Epstein files – including mention of a Christmas card featuring their photographs, purportedly sent by Andrew. Correspondence from Sarah Ferguson also indicates they travelled with their mother to meet Epstein just days following his release from prison for child sex offences in 2009.
Jennie Bond, the BBC’s former royal correspondent said: “I hesitate to criticise another woman’s parenting, but what kind of mother takes her daughters – then aged 20 and 19 – to Miami for lunch with a convicted paedophile? Epstein had only been out of jail for five days when Sarah took Beatrice and Eugenie to see him.
“Of course they weren’t children then – they were young adults. But I can only presume they didn’t know about Epstein’s conviction. If they had, then surely they would have questioned their mother’s decision.”
In a separate email, dated March 2010, Epstein appears to enquire about a potential trip to New York, asking: “ny?” Fergie replied: “Not sure yet. Just waiting for Eugenie to come back from a sh*****g weekend.”
This message was sent around the time of Princess Eugenie’s 20th birthday, which she celebrated with her then-boyfriend, now husband, Jack Brooksbank.
Both princesses are understood to be deeply distressed that their names appear in the Epstein files (Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Regarding the correspondence, Bond questioned: “And what kind of mother writes, albeit jokingly, about her daughter’s love life to a man who abused children?”
Beyond the emotional turmoil, Beatrice and Eugenie must also contend with the financial repercussions of being caught up in a worldwide scandal. The fallout could have a significant impact on their husbands’ business interests.
Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi is a property developer and founder/CEO of Banda Property, a prestigious design and development firm, whilst Jack Brooksbank currently works for Mike Meldman’s Discovery Land Company, which develops luxury residential communities.
Indeed, Beatrice’s husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi has reportedly already lost out on several business ventures – including the proposed redevelopment of Royal Lodge – as a direct consequence of Andrew’s fall from grace, according to the Mail. Beatrice and Eugenie may have retained their HRH titles, but they’re likely to adopt a significantly lower profile going forward.
One particular concern surrounds their charitable endeavours; Beatrice works with four youth organisations, whilst Eugenie co-founded the Anti-Slavery Collective, which supports sex-trafficking victims. Due to their father’s situation, there have been demands for them to withdraw from these roles.
Some have gone further, calling for the sisters to relinquish their HRH titles voluntarily and retreat from public life. However, they maintain a close relationship with Charles, who is understood to be offering private support as they navigate this dramatic change in circumstances.
Royal author Andrew Lownie suggests Andrew may have only agreed to leave Royal Lodge in an attempt to protect his daughters and ensure they could maintain their royal status and the associated privileges.