Princess Beatrice and Eugenie’s life in exile as ‘royals bar them from four events’

With both of their parents now firmly outside the royal fold, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie now face a similar ‘exile,’ and several key royal events this summer will show provide a clue to their futures

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Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie face joining their parents in ‘exile’(Image: Getty Images)

Less than three months ago, the Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie spent Christmas at Sandringham with the rest of the Royal Family. But in the wake of their father’s arrest, their mother’s flight from the UK and the emergence of further damaging details of their family’s association with wealthy sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, things appear to have changed.

According to a recent report, His Majesty the King has come to believe that welcoming the two princesses to any future public events might not be the best thing for The Firm’s image. While the King’s younger brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has consistently denied all of the allegations against him, and His Majesty appeared initially to believe that the princesses were blameless of any wrongdoing, opinions seem to be changing behind the scenes.

In the most recent batch of files connected to the Epstein investigation, both Beatrice and Eugenie’s names crop up rather frequently – Eugenie appears to be mentioned more than 300 times. While the presence of any one person’s name in the vast cache of documents is not in itself evidence of wrongdoing, in the world of the royals, appearance is everything.

There are a number of significant events on the royal calendar over the next few months that will serve as a litmus test for the two princesses’ future standing within the Royal Family.

They are the Commonwealth Day service, which will take place in a few days’ time at Westminster Abbey, the Easter Sunday service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor next month, any one of the three Royal Garden Parties scheduled for May, and the traditional carriage procession at the beginning of every day of Royal Ascot, in June.

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The princesses’ reputations have been tarnished by their father’s scandals(Image: AP)

Were Beatrice and Eugenie to be seen at any of these events, it would send a message that they are still considered unsullied by the scandals that have surrounded their parents but, according to royal watchers, the signs are not good.

One royal source told The i newspaper that while Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, might attend Royal Ascot in a private capacity, they were unlikely to be part of the traditional pomp and ceremony ahead of each racing day: “They might attend the races among the crowd but they can’t be seen in the royal carriage procession with all this going on.”

There is no current expectation that either of the princesses will be present at the Commonwealth Day service on 9 March or, for that matter, at the Trooping the Colour ceremony in June.

Royal biographer Russell Myers added that while Prince William had invited his cousins to help him and his wife Catherine host a garden party at Buckingham Palace, it seems almost certain that this summer he will be following his father’s lead: “He can’t be seen to be acting out of turn against the King,” he said, “and there is no indication that he wants to.”

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Prince William is reportedly in favour of taking a tougher line on the princesses(Image: Samir Hussein/WireImage)

According to the Mail on Sunday, the Prince and Princess of Wales are now determined to keep Beatrice and Eugenie “at arm’s length” at least “for the rest of the year”. The Sunday Times reports that the Prince and Princess of Wales had been “careful” to avoid being alongside the princesses as far back Christmas Day at Sandringham.

Royal biographer Andrew Lownie, whose bestselling book Entitled at least in part precipitated the fall of the House of York, told People magazine that while the King maintains a sentimental affection for his nieces, William is keen to draw a line under the whole affair, and that includes taking a “tougher” approach on Beatrice and Eugenie.

The Mirror has contacted both Buckingham Palace and representatives for Princess Beatrice and Eugenie in connection with this story, but has yet to receive a reply.