As scandal has swirled around former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, questions and curiosity have also focused on his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
They have all been keeping low profiles lately in the continued fallout from his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with Ferguson’s whereabouts unknown and the subject of much speculation.
For Beatrice and Eugenie, however, there has been a growing media focus on their titles, accommodations in royal residences and places within the line of succession.
“It’s very difficult with both their parents in different ways implicated with this terrible scandal,” said Chandrika Kaul, a professor of modern history at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, in an interview.
“It’s difficult for them because at a personal level … they must feel in some way part of the problem, but at another level, they probably want to distance themselves.”
Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, are ninth and 12th in the line of succession. They have established their own careers and have never been working members of the Royal Family.
Married with two children each (Beatrice also has a stepson), they have family homes outside the royal sphere — Beatrice northwest of London and Eugenie in Portugal. They also have accommodations in royal properties.
Princess Eugenie, left; her husband Jack Brooksbank; Princess Beatrice, right; and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, second from right, attend the Royal Family’s Christmas Day service at St. Mary Magdalene’s church at the Sandringham estate in eastern England on Dec. 25, 2023. (Chris Radburn/Reuters)
Over the years, they have focused some of their time on philanthropy, although Eugenie recently stepped down as patron of the charity Anti-Slavery International.
Amid the scandal, which saw their father arrested and subsequently released under investigation last month, there appears to be some public sympathy.
“People are not associating them with the actions of their parents,” said Justin Vovk, a royal historian and member of the advisory board of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada, in an interview.
That there would be sympathy, Vovk suggested, comes down to the difference between knowledge and proximity.
“Obviously, there’s no doubt about the fact that Beatrice and Eugenie had proximity to Epstein. We know about Sarah taking them on that very ill-advised lunch meeting in Miami after Epstein was released from prison,” he said.
“But I think what is preserving them in the public eye for the time being is the fact that … there’s no indication of them being involved in anything that their parents were involved with.”
Sarah Ferguson, left, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice, right, attend the Royal Ascot horse racing event in Ascot, England, in June 2015. (Toby Melville/Reuters)
Still, they have been the focus of much recent media curiosity and speculation.
“There is this growing call about their status and their place,” said Vovk.
Some of the public discussion lately, Kaul noted, has been around whether they should renounce their titles.
For Kaul, the answer is clear.
“I think they should,” she said. “I think it would go down rather well with the public if they were to voluntarily give it up … even if they didn’t particularly want to.”
Kaul looks to the example of their cousin, Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall, who does not have a title and has established herself in her own career.
Zara Tindall, left, Princess Beatrice, her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, right, and stepson Christopher, second from right, arrive to attend the Together At Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey in London, England, in December 2024. (Henry Nicholls/AFP/Getty Images)
“Zara has managed that really well … I don’t think the public necessarily feel that she’s not part of the Royal Family,” Kaul said.
Whether Beatrice and Eugenie should keep the title of princess had been a focus of speculation outside the current controversy around their father.
“There is this growing belief that when William becomes King, he will remove those titles from them in an effort to stream down the royal house, similar to what we’ve seen in Denmark and the Netherlands,” said Vovk.
The removal of Andrew’s titles as a result of his actions doesn’t disinherit Beatrice or Eugenie, he noted.
“As male-line granddaughters of the sovereign, they are fully entitled to the residences, to the place in the succession, to their titles,” Vovk said.
“The removal of Andrew’s titles should not be viewed at this point as an act that completely disenfranchises his descendants.”
While Beatrice and Eugenie are closely related to the most senior members of the Royal Family, it is difficult to know how close they actually are personally to their aunts, uncles and cousins, particularly as media stories swirl based on unnamed palace sources.
Royal cousins gather before holding a vigil beside the coffin of their grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, in Westminster Hall in London in September 2022. In the third row from the back are Princess Beatrice, left, and Princess Eugenie. (Aaron Chown/Reuters)
“We have heard everything from Eugenie is still really close with Prince Harry” to reports that “the rest of the Royals are fed up with the girls and want them out,” said Vovk.
“I don’t think we can accurately assess, because so little information has been released.”
He’s sure that’s been intentional.
“Any statement or comment that might be made even in the most … shrouded or vague terms will be leapt on by the public, the media commentators…. It will be devoured,” he said.
“So … in this situation it is better for everyone involved to just keep the family relations private.”
Keeping up with Canada
Chief Christine Longjohn, left, of Sturgeon Lake First Nation, northwest of Prince Albert, Sask., shakes hands with King Charles at Buckingham Palace in London on March 11. (Aaron Chown/AFP/Getty Images)
King Charles has been keeping up his Canadian connections over the past couple of weeks.
Five days after welcoming Treaty 6 chiefs from Alberta and Saskatchewan to Buckingham Palace, he had an audience with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
The chiefs formally invited Charles to Saskatchewan this summer for the 150th anniversary of the treaty’s signing.
The grand chief of the Confederacy of Treaty 6 First Nations, Joey Pete, said Charles also “expressed his concern” after hearing about a separatist push in Alberta during the face-to-face meeting with Indigenous leaders, The Canadian Press reported.
“We made him aware of the separatism issue in Alberta and the threat to treaty it represents,” Pete said in a news release.
“He expressed his concern and committed to learning more.”
WATCH | King Charles meets with First Nations chiefs:
King Charles sits down with Saskatchewan First Nations chiefs
First Nations leaders on the Prairies say King Charles expressed concern about the separatist push in Alberta. A delegation of Treaty Six chiefs, including several from Saskatchewan, met with the monarch in London.
For Chief Christine Longjohn of Sturgeon Lake First Nation, northwest of Prince Albert, however, the issue of Alberta separatism was not such a focus of their time with Charles.
“We don’t want that to be the highlight of the visit. The highlight of the visit was to formally invite his majesty to the 150 years of commemoration. His [great-great-great-grandmother] Queen Victoria has signed treaties within Treaty 6,” Longjohn said.
On Monday, Charles held an audience with Carney.
In a post on X, Carney said it was “an honour” to meet with Charles in London.
“Our sovereign and the Commonwealth remain an enduring part of our national story — pillars of continuity in a changing world.”
Our Sovereign and the Commonwealth remain an enduring part of our national story — pillars of continuity in a changing world.
An honour to meet with His Majesty King Charles III today in London. pic.twitter.com/yoiYvwCHKr
—MarkJCarney
Beyond that, however, there is no public sense of what the two discussed.
Conversations during audiences, the Royal Family notes on its website, “are entirely private. No written transcript or recording is made.”
Still, there is a sense that current issues may have been top of mind.
“The meeting probably covered everything. It probably covered Trump. It probably covered Alberta separatism, Middle East, Ukraine … all of it,” said Vovk.
Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, meets with King Charles at Buckingham Palace in London on Monday. (Aaron Chown/The Associated Press)
Kaul noted that not all visiting prime ministers get an audience with the King, so we can read something into the fact that Carney did.
One message the audience sent, she said, “was very much about how Britain stands shoulder to shoulder with Canada.” Another could have been emphasizing the idea that Canada is an important part of the Commonwealth.
“I think even if you don’t know what was discussed, the very fact that there was this meeting, I feel, is symbolically important,” Kaul said.
Charles also met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy this week, and met recently with Finnish President Alexander Stubb.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, meets with King Charles at Buckingham Palace in London on Tuesday. (Aaron Chown/Getty Images)
“There definitely seems to be a ramp-up in terms of who the King is meeting right now,” said Vovk.
“I imagine it has much to do with continuing for the European Union and Britain to be strengthening those ties, bringing Canada more into that orbit at a time when … the United States is calling upon allies that it has, quite frankly, alienated over the past year.”
Welcoming the Nigerian president
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, centre, smiles as King Charles speaks during a state banquet in St. George’s Hall at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England, on Wednesday. (Yui Mok /AFP/Getty Images)
Another world leader received a more formal and elaborate welcome from King Charles this week as Nigerian President Bola Tinubu and his wife, Oluremi Tinubu, were in the U.K. for a state visit.
“The friendship between our two countries, Mr. President, is a partnership of equals that has brought us both enormous benefit,” Charles said during his speech at the state banquet Wednesday night at Windsor Castle.
“It has been described to me as a deeply spiritual connection — beyond churches and mosques — a deep bond through which we have strengthened our shared security, ensured our economies are more prosperous and empowered each other to believe in a more hopeful future.”
Still, he acknowledged “a shadow” that hangs over the connections between the two countries.
“There are chapters in our shared history that I know have left some painful marks. I do not seek to offer words that dissolve the past, for no words can,” Charles said, referencing colonialism.
The visit had the usual hallmarks of most state visits: along with the glittery banquet, there was a carriage procession and a chance for the guests to review items in the Royal Collection that have a connection to their home country.
King Charles, centre, and Tinubu look at art in Vicars’ Hall at Windsor Castle on Wednesday. (Isabel Infantes/Reuters)
There were, however, some differences, with the BBC reporting that there were accommodations for Muslims because the banquet was occurring during the fasting month of Ramadan.
The visit was, Kaul noted, fraught and problematic, given current circumstances in Nigeria.
“It has endemic issues with political violence and corruption and lawlessness and really deep-rooted economic and social issues,” she said.
But she also cautioned against “reading too much into the timing of this,” because such visits are organized so far in advance.
As for another official visit — the long-rumoured one by King Charles to the United States that might be on the books for next month — there continues to be no official word.
Gathering for Commonwealth Day
King Charles, centre, Prince William, Queen Camilla and Catherine, Princess of Wales, attend the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey in London on March 9. (Arthur Edwards/Reuters)
Senior members of the Royal Family came together at Westminster Abbey for the Commonwealth Day service a few days ago.
In his Commonwealth Day message, King Charles spoke of a “remarkable association that spans every ocean and continent” with a diversity of culture, language and faith.
“In a world that can feel increasingly fragmented, this voluntary union of free association remains rare and precious,” he said, noting its ability to be a forum for “open and honest discussion” and the “untapped potential” it holds for trade.
As much as the annual gathering is billed as a celebration of the Commonwealth, there was a sense that another issue was looming large for the organization this year.
“It does feel like the messaging around Commonwealth Day has largely been preempted by the Commonwealth voicing its very understandable concerns about Andrew and his place in the line of succession,” said Vovk.
The U.K. government has said it is considering introducing legislation that would remove him, but such action would require acceptance by all the Commonwealth realms.
Princess Anne, second from left, speaks to performers at the end of the annual Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey on March 9. (Aaron Chown/Reuters)
Leaders of Australia, New Zealand and Canada have said they’re on board with doing that.
“It’s interesting we haven’t heard from the others,” said Vovk.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has said the King’s younger brother should be removed from the line of succession for his “deplorable” actions.
Royally quotable
“Every woman has a story. And these stories must be told. Because when we live in a culture of silence, we empower violence against women and girls.”
— Queen Camilla, in a speech marking International Women’s Day.
Queen Camilla, centre, president of Women of the World, stands with guests at a reception to mark International Women’s Day at St. James’s Palace in London on March 10. (Aaron Chown/Reuters)Royal reads
Royals and celebrities are being warned by their representatives and advisers to watch what they say when they are out of the house — or palace — as lip-reading means videos can be posted online and translated in seconds. [The Guardian]
King Charles opened the world’s longest coastal walking path during a visit in southeast England. He also hit the DJ decks during a visit to Manchester. [ITV, BBC]
Prince William said he remembers his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, “today and every day” as he shared a photograph of them together to mark Mother’s Day. [ITV]
William surprised a morning radio show host by joining him during his 1,000-kilometre tandem bike ride challenge. [BBC]
Catherine, Princess of Wales, has revealed she has been avoiding alcohol since her cancer diagnosis. [The Independent]
Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, have accused the author of a new royal biography of “deranged conspiracy and melodrama.” [BBC]
King Charles smiles as he inaugurates the King Charles III England Coast Path at Seven Sisters National Nature Reserve in Seaford, England, on Thursday. (Chris Jackson/Reuters)