‘The royals won’t be dragged down by Andrew’: Camilla and William are leading ‘anti-York faction’ as pressure mounts on Charles to ‘lance the boil’ and exclude Beatrice and Eugenie from royal line

Queen Camilla is among those ‘leading the anti-York faction’ in the Royal Family, closely followed by Prince William, it has been claimed.

The King’s wife is said to have been ‘instrumental’ in pushing her husband to act to punish Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in the wake of the Epstein scandal.

The Queen has apparently also concluded that all the Yorks, including Princesses Beatrice, Eugenie and their children, should be excluded from the line of succession.

Royal expert and biographer Phil Dampier said bluntly today: ‘Relations between the Yorks and the rest of the royals are at an all-time low.

‘If moves are being made to take Andrew out of the line of succession there must be a possibility that Beatrice and Eugenie, as well as their children, will also be taken out, lancing the boil once and for all.’

A royal insider claimed the Queen and William are pushing Charles for ‘clearer action to distance the institution from the entire York branch of the family’.

‘The King is still very fond of Beatrice and Eugenie though,’ the source added.

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Princess Eugenie looked glamorous in purple at Poppy Delevingne’s 40th birthday bash

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Beatrice, who is also not a working royal, was with husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi at the party

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The King, Princess Anne and Queen Camilla at a Buckingham Palace garden party last week

‘William isn’t as close to Beatrice and Eugenie as Harry is but in the past few years, he has invited Beatrice and Eugenie as well as other cousins to help him and Catherine host one of the Buckingham Palace garden parties.

‘They weren’t there at this year’s one on Friday. Only Zara was there out of the cousins. At the moment their presence at any royal event is going to completely overshadow everything’.

It came after royal author Andrew Lownie claimed in the Daily Mail that Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson had a sexual relationship with P Diddy. The disgraced rapper allegedly bragged about his sex life with Ferguson.

Phil Dampier said: ‘Queen Camilla has taken on the cause of abused women and so it’s deeply embarrassing and difficult for her to be associated with the Yorks and their sordid past.

‘It seems ridiculous that when Eugenie’s third child arrives he or she will be above Princess Anne for example. But that’s the system.

‘Times are changing fast and if the future of the monarchy is at stake I think the King, followed by William, will take appropriate action.’

Mr Dampier believes the Prince and Princess of Wales, as the future King and Queen, ‘need to separate themselves from any toxic relationships’.

He went on: ‘Kate has not said anything publicly but friends tell me, although she was worried about Andrew’s mental state and future, her attitude has hardened and she fully supports anything William does to distance themselves from them.’

The King has been loyal to his brother and made sure he had a new home after he left Royal Lodge in Windsor.

‘I’m told that when the King returned from his very successful tour to the US he went straight to Sandringham – but didn’t see or talk to his brother Andrew at all,’ Mr Dampier said.

‘Queen Camilla was delighted with the US visit and really enjoyed it.

‘The last thing they need is to be dragged down by Andrew and his ex-wife and so it’s vital they don’t associate with them.

‘The problem is that there never seems to be an end to the revelations, and there are fears more will come out, and even involve Bea and Eugenie more deeply.’

These tensions appear to have seeped into how Eugenie’s pregnancy was announced last Monday.

The MoS exclusively revealed that the Palace became involved in issuing a formal proclamation only after Eugenie’s cousin Zara Tindall, one of the few to have been entrusted with the news, persuaded her to write to the King.

Queen Camilla’s name was missing from the congratulatory missive from Charles released by his office a week ago.

‘Her attitude is that they are all a stain on the monarchy,’ a source told The Mail on Sunday’s Barbara Davies.

The same source said of the Queen’s views on Andrew: ‘She took a back seat on the scandal for quite a while out of deference to the King’s familial loyalties and to his health. But as the King’s health has improved she was instrumental in pushing him to act.’

The Prince of Wales also remains furious at the way his uncle’s misdemeanours have cast a shadow across the monarchy he will one day inherit.

According to the source: ‘William was keen to keep the girls close and not let them be tainted by the sins of their father and the stupidity of both parents, but the Epstein revelations mean he has abandoned that plan.

‘The way he and Kate have pointedly not publicly welcomed the baby news is a sign of how things have changed.’

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The Prince and Princess of Wales are said to be ‘keen’ to keep the Beatrice and Eugenie close but have ‘abandoned that plan’ following the Epstein Files, a source told The Mail on Sunday

The impending arrival of Eugenie’s third child has also heaped further pressure on the ongoing debate about Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s place in the line of succession.

Calls for him to be removed have extended to suggestions that the entire House of York, including Beatrice, Eugenie and their descendants, should suffer the same brutal fate.

While Eugenie is currently 12th in line to the throne, her new baby will be 15th, displacing Prince Edward who, unlike his nieces, is a working royal, clocking up 313 official engagements in 2025.

Last week a visibly pregnant Eugenie and her sister Beatrice joined pop royalty Taylor Swift and a host of A-listers at Poppy Delevingne‘s 40th birthday party in London.

Eugenie’s baby bump was proudly on show beneath a black dress paired with an electric purple mac, and her thrilled husband Jack Brooksbank was at her side.

Despite the problems caused by their errant parents Andrew and Fergie, her older sister Beatrice was also all smiles as she walked into the Hart pub with her spouse Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.

Also on the extraordinary guestlist were Taylor Swift and her NFL star fiancé Travis Kelce, who had flown into the UK to celebrate Poppy’s birthday.

Princess Eugenie‘s official announcement a week ago, that she is pregnant with her third child offered a rare piece of good news for her parents.

The younger daughter of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson is 12th in the line of succession and her unborn child will be 15th – pushing Prince Edward down to 16th.

Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank‘s happy news was released in an official statement sent out by Buckingham Palace – not by the private office she shares with older sister Beatrice.

King Charles also showed his personal support for his niece and her husband by adding that he is ‘delighted’ – but there was no mention of the child’s grandparents in the 52-word statement.

The announcement from the monarch’s own office was shared on the official Royal Family social media feeds

Andrew and Fergie, who are in hiding due to the Epstein files, have seen their reputations shredded. They also dragged their daughters into the scandal in their sycophantic emails to the convicted paedophile.

Buckingham Palace officials also revealed the couple’s sons August, five, and Ernest, two, are ‘very excited’ to welcome a younger sister or brother to the family.

In a photo shared by Eugenie, Ernie, wearing a Chelsea football kit, and Augie, wearing a long-sleeved grey T-shirt, are holding a picture of a baby scan.

The 36-year-old princess wrote in an accompanying caption on Instagram: ‘Baby Brooksbank due 2026!’ followed by a series of red heart emojis and one of a baby.

A Buckingham Palace statement said: ‘Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie and Mr Jack Brooksbank are very pleased to announce that they are expecting their third child together, due this summer.

‘August [aged five] and Ernest [aged two] are also very excited to have another sibling join the family.

‘His Majesty The King has been informed and is delighted with the news.’