Some royal watchers believe Prince William is taking on a more decisive leadership role as questions swirl around Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
As scrutiny aimed at their parents, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson, and their ties to predator Jeffrey Epstein continues to plague the British monarchy, a new report claims the Prince of Wales is stepping up as the scandal continues to unfold.
William’s influence
William seems to be exerting more influence over key decisions, including an apparent move to distance the royal family from his cousins, according to author Andrew Lownie.
“William, I think, is calling more of the shots now,” Lownie said during a joint video hosted by his “The Lownie Report” podcast and James Fairclough‘s “Throwing the Book at Them” podcast, as reported by Britain’s Daily Express.
The future king may be shaping how father King Charles III and the royal family as a whole are responding to mounting controversy, in this case concerning Beatrice and Eugenie’s place within the royal fold.
“So there’s definitely a change going on,” explained Lownie, who wrote the 2025 book Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, “and I get the sense also that there’s a bit of distancing even from the Sussexes, clearly from the Waleses.”
Royal Ascot fallout
Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have been fixtures at Royal Ascot for years, making reports of their expected absence this year all the more notable. By: RPE / MEGA
A major development that recently made headlines is the alleged banning of Beatrice and Eugenie from Royal Ascot this summer.
The former Duke of York’s daughters, who have long attended the prestigious and glamorous horse-racing event, are reportedly no longer welcome to join senior members of the family there.
“Well, I think the decision to ban them from Ascot is interesting,” Lownie noted.
“The line that they’re pushing is that they were never going to go to Ascot in the first place, and it does seem odd to be so public about this distancing,” he continued.
“They could have just quietly said to them, ‘Listen, you know, please don’t turn up.’ So I think it is a very clear indication that the royal family either know something or suspect something, and they therefore feel the need to distance themselves from the daughters,” he explained.
“Now, this could be pressure from William. Charles may be changing his mind. He has been, of course, very sympathetic to [the York sisters] over the last few months,” he added.
A quiet rift?
Scrutiny over Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein have cast a shadow over their daughters. By: Europa Press / MEGA
Royal commentators have suggested that tensions between William and his cousins may have been building for months.
During his video with Lownie, Fairclough said he’s observed a pattern in how the royal family has handled recent controversies, alleging that The Firm has started “taking action before we then find something out.”
The attention on the York sisters has certainly intensified in recent months after they and their parents were named in documents released by the U.S. Justice Department as part of the Epstein files.
Though Beatrice and Eugenie haven’t been accused of any wrongdoing, Lownie thinks their standing within royal circles still may have shifted significantly, alleging they’re now viewed as “toxic” and could “perhaps [be] more involved than people realized.”