Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie’s lives have long resembled a fairytale – until now.
Their idyllic world has crumbled, with their father, Prince Andrew, finally relinquishing his royal titles – including the Duke of York – due to his association with late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein.
“They can hardly believe what has happened,” one palace insider tells New Idea.
“They are mortified and had no idea about the more lurid details of the scandal that has enveloped their parents. They have no idea how to move forward from this.”
Andrew, 65, forfeiting his dukedom, came as new allegations against him emerged in the late Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous new memoir, Nobody’s Girl.
She outlined Andrew’s alleged abuse of her as a 17-year-old, enabled by Epstein. Andrew vehemently denied her allegations and settled the matter out of court in 2022, without accepting liability.
Their mother, Sarah Ferguson, now no longer the Duchess of York, also maintained a friendship with Epstein. He once claimed Fergie took Bea and Eugenie, then aged 20 and 19, to visit him in the US when he was released from jail in 2009. While the royals have denied that such a visit occurred, the murky allegation only compounded the York family scandal.
“The truth is, Bea and Eugenie, right up until very recently, still clung to the hope that their parents were being truthful and that Epstein was just one of their rich, networking friends,” our insider says.
“They can’t ignore how compromising that association was. Now they know the details, they are horrified – and may never trust their parents again.”
New Idea can report that the scandal has driven a wedge between the sisters. Bea, 37, rushed to her dad’s side after he gave up his titles, while Eugenie, 35, has publicly stayed away. She also did not wish Fergie, 66, a happy birthday on social media on October 15 for the first time since 2019.
“The princesses are truly devastated,” our source adds.
Multiple outlets have reported that William, 43, was instrumental in having Andrew’s titles removed.
“William is calling the shots,” royal author Andrew Lownie told the Daily Mail.
“He is much more ruthless than King Charles, and he can see the huge reputational damage that’s been done.”
A second source further told the Daily Mail, “William urged his father to cut Andrew and Fergie loose over their connections to Jeffrey Epstein.”
While it was the King himself who personally pressured his brother to renounce his titles, our source says that it was with “William’s full support”.
