Princess Eugenie Vs Princess Beatrice: The Difference Between Their Stunning Styles

Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York, daughters of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, have never known a life outside of the spotlight. The elder sister, Beatrice is ninth in line for the throne, while Eugenie lands in the 11th spot. As far as the royal family is concerned, they certainly are not as high profile as their cousins Prince William or Prince Harry, but that's not to say they totally fly under the radar. As Beatrice once told British Vogue, "we are young women trying to build careers and have personal lives, and we're also princesses and doing all of this in the public eye."

There are times that the public eye has been unkind to the pair of princesses, especially when it comes to their style moves. While some of their fashion moments have not been fan favorites, the pair are still making a name for themselves as public figures and fashion icons in their own right. Through it all, they have one another to lean on. As Eugenie said in British Vogue, "We're the only other person in each other's lives who can know exactly what the other one is going through."

While the siblings  are often mentioned in the same breath, it's important to remember they are unique individuals with their own interests, passions, and sartorial instincts. From their headpieces down to their footwear, here are some of the differences between Beatrice and Eugenie's styles.

If you follow the royals, then you've likely noticed that the women in the royal family always wear hats for special events like weddings and other occasions. This is a part of British royal family tradition that can be traced back to the 1950s. "When it comes to a special occasion in British society, the special occasion is not complete without a hat," Hilary Alexander, fashion director at the Daily Telegraph, told ABC News. "There has to be a hat, it's part of the social fabric."

And this is a rule that Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice take to heart. They've been seen wearing all manner of headpieces, some of which have been appreciated for their fun flair. While others, like the ostentatious pieces that the sisters wore to Princess Catherine and Prince William's wedding, drew hurtful public backlash against Beatrice and Eugenie.

The pair of royals certainly are drawn to bold headpieces, but their preferred hat styles sure seem to be different. Princess Eugenie is often seen in a more classic hat with a full brim, while you're more likely to spot Princess Beatrice in a fascinator. Of course, that doesn't mean they're opposed to other styles of headpiece. As previously noted, Eugenie does sport fascinators on occasion; Beatrice is clearly not opposed to wearing wide-brimmed hats.

When it came to wedding day style, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie took totally different routes when it was time to pick their respective gowns. That said, the princesses' dresses did have one thing in common: they were absolutely stunning. 

For her nuptials, Princess Beatrice leaned into family tradition. She borrowed her dress from her grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. The vintage gown was designed by Sir Norman Hartnell and originally worn by the queen in the 1960s before it was passed down to Beatrice and altered slightly for her wedding. The classic dress featured silver detailing, puffy cap sleeves, and a full skirt. Needless to say, it was a wedding dress fit for a princess.

Princess Eugenie's wedding dress, on the other hand, was not an heirloom piece. Rather, it was designed for the royal by Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos. Unlike the off-white frock worn by her older sister, Eugenie's gown was a crisp white. It featured a unique bodice with the sleeves folding down and forming a V-neck. Although there was less detailing on Eugenie's dress, the long train made it perfect for the lavish wedding, which was much larger than Beatrice's. While her dress wasn't vintage, the headpiece certainly checked the "something borrowed" box: Eugenie's stunning wedding day tiara was on loan from Elizabeth and previously belonged to the Queen Mother.

When Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice were young girls, their parents would dress them in adorable identical outfits. The sisters' days of matchy-matchy ensembles are long behind them, but that's not to say they don't occasionally coordinate in subtle ways. At the 2024 Royal Ascot, for example, the siblings both wore light pink dresses with light pink hats... and that's about all their outfits had in common. 

On the second day of the races, Princess Beatrice opted for an elegant floral midi dress by Zimmerman. The style features full-length puff sleeves and a bedazzled sash around the waist. She finished the highly feminine and delicate look with a pink floral fascinator affixed to loose curls. 

In comparison, Princess Eugenie's pink ensemble was much less fussy. She sported a short-sleeved midi dress with a simple collar and button-down bodice. The ribbed fabric added texture to the look without any extra frills or embellishments. She finished the chic ensemble with a matching pink hat and tassel for a polished and festive appearance. While Eugenie and Beatrice took different approaches to "pretty in pink," both without question stuck the landing.

Although both Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice have both worn bold patterns and prints over the years, the eldest of the two seems to gravitate towards them more often. Whether it's polka dots, plaid, or floral, Beatrice likes to keep her clothes interesting with elaborate and colorful designs. Although neither of the princesses is a stranger to patterned dresses, Princess Eugenie is the one of the pair more likely to wear simple, plain-colored clothes instead of the eye-catching prints that her older sister is often seen in next to her. 

This tendency was clear when the pair walked the red carpet at Vogue World: London 2023; Eugenie wore a satin gown in one beautiful teal tone, while her sister Beatrice wore a black gown decorated in a blue and yellow floral pattern. More recently, at the 2024 Royal Ascot, Beatrice displayed her love for floral prints again. She wore a pink floral dress early in the week, and donned a green floral number by Emilia Wickstead later in the week. 

Princess Eugenie's style does tend to lean more simple than Princess Beatrice's, but that doesn't mean she gets overshadowed by her older sister. On the contrary, Eugenie often dazzles when she wears chic, comfortable, and understated styles. An excellent example of this happened recently when Eugenie turned heads wearing a gray knit dress while attending a panel on sustainable fashion. The Amor Knit Dress by Gabriela Hearst retails at $1,550. Eugenie wore the light gray version, though the design comes in several colors. Despite the neutral color, the ribbed pattern and soft fabric keep the dress from seeming basic. Instead, it perfectly strikes the balance between timeless and modern. The cashmere silk fabric also fit her perfectly, so it looks like it was made for her. And the simplicity of the knit, collared dress allowed her to appear both polished and casual.

She finished the outfit with a pair of fashionable, but practical, suede brown pumps and small hoop earrings. She also kept her makeup and hair fairly subdued, with her brunette waves kept down around her shoulders. Instead of the floral prints and pastel hats often seen on royal ladies, this outfit, along with others worn by Eugenie, is an excellent demonstration of how the princess makes a statement with subtle looks. 

As previously noted, of the two royal sisters, Princess Beatrice is the one we see most often making a statement with patterned fabric. She's rocked up to events in florals for ages, but lately, she's gravitated toward polka dots. Beatrice's love of polka dots is very on trend: In recent years, the whimsical pattern has spotted on celebrities like Margot Robbie, Jennifer Lawrence, Selena Gomez, and Zoë Kravitz. 

When she does wear the bold print, she tends to stick to a neutral color palette, typically picking black and white dresses. For example, she wore a white maternity dress with puff sleeves and black dots to Wimbledon in 2021. The following year, she wore a black dress with a large white polka dot pattern and bow clasps to Royal Ascot. We hope to see much more of this playful aesthetic, which Beatrice executes so well.

Her dotted frocks make a statement while feeling youthful and energized. "Polka dots have an enduring charm that sets them apart from other prints like florals and stripes," Orlagh McCloskey, the co-founder and creative director of Rixo, told The Guardian. Perhaps that's why we love seeing them on Beatrice. The royals attend so many formal events that it's easy for their fashion to start to feel repetitive and stuffy. Changing things up with a pattern like this is the perfect way for Beatrice to bring fun into her wardrobe.

While Princess Beatrice experiments with new prints, her younger sister, Princess Eugenie, has been going through a style transformation of her own. She looked particularly elegant wearing an olive green dress as a wedding guest in 2024. She was photographed in this look outside Chester Cathedral while attending the ceremony for her school friend Olivia Henson and her now-husband Hugh Grosvenor. The understated but luxurious look was ideal for the occasion. The dress featured a silky pleated skirt, which moved beautifully in the breeze, and a fitted long-sleeve bodice in the same color. She accessorized with a handheld gold clutch, delicate gold necklace, gold rings, and a netted hat. The classic style was perfect for the summer wedding, as she looked flawless without distracting from the bride. 

Another time she mastered understated glamour was while walking the red carpet in a beautifully draped high-neck gown with silver jewelry and sparkling heels. Classically elegant style moments like these are reminiscent of Old Hollywood starlets, which totally checks out. Eugenie's wedding dress was partially inspired by one of Grace Kelly's signature looks, after all. These sophisticated dresses are surefire sartorial wins.

One area of fashion where Princess Beatrice particularly excels is footwear. It seems like she has just the right pair of pumps for every occasion, and we love seeing how she uses shoes to make a statement. She often adds a surprising pop of color with her heels, like the stunning blue shoes that she paired with a plain white dress for the Victoria and Albert Museum Summer Party in 2018. The bright color made the ensemble fresh and exciting, and the silver detailing on the pointed toe made them stand out even more. She gave another memorable shoe moment while attending the Serpentine Gallery Summer Party in 2014 in a pair of strappy lavender heels. With these iconic looks and many others, her shoe collection may be the most enviable part of her closet.

Princess Eugenie also has a collection of beautiful shoes, though she's less likely to use them for a pop of color and more likely to wear neutrals or match the shoes to her outfit. What's more, Eugenie isn't exactly the biggest fan of stomping around in heels all day. "I wear a dress and boots to work. I've started wearing high heels, which is so grown-up. But they're painful by the end of the day," she said during an interview with Harper's Bazaar. 

Both Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are usually mindful of the royal dress code when the occasion calls for it, but if one of them is going to push the envelope with more revealing styles, it's more likely to be the younger of the pair. Some of Eugenie's most inappropriate outfits have caught the public's attention because she showed more skin than we've learned to expect from the royal family. Back in 2009, Eugenie arrived at meet and greet with Chelsea F.C. legend Frank Lampard in a flouncy dress, hemmed at her mid-thigh and showed more of her legs than bargained for when the wind whipped the fabric up. And when Olivia Henson and Hugh Grosvenor wed in 2024, Eugenie turned heads in a long black gown with a super high slit, hitting well above her thigh, which showed a lot of leg when she walked.

When you look at what the two princesses wore to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding, you can easily see the difference between their styles when it comes to how conservatively they dress. Princess Eugenie wore a light blue dress with short sleeves cut a few inches above her knee, while her sister attended the same event in a more full-coverage long-sleeve dress that came down to her mid-calf. While these outfits worn by Eugenie are by no means scandalous compared to normal fashion standards, they are a bit risqué for the royals.

We know that Princess Eugenie has mastered elegant styles, especially when she wears more subdued looks. One way that she still presents that elegance even when wearing brighter and more bold outfits, is by choosing well-tailored garments. Although both the princesses like to get creative and think outside the box with their style (especially when it comes to their hat choices), some of Eugenie's most well-received fashion moments have been when she embraces classic styles in a clean and crisp look. 

For example, she looked stunning in a traditional, well-fitted dress that she wore to the 2017 Royal Ascot. The garment was hard to miss — in a good way — thanks to the vibrant red hue of the material. What's more, the careful tailoring and pleated details, which Eugenie often wears, made it stand out even more. The fit and flare style was perfectly fitted to her bodice, with mid-length sleeves and a v-neck. The dress cinched her nicely at the waist before coming down into a full-pleated skirt. She finished the tailored look with a small handbag and matching hat with red flower details. 

As members of the royal family, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are expected to follow rules of conduct that apply to their fashion. That said, they haven't let that get in the way of taking style risks. Both royals have worn unique and daring looks that have caught the attention of the public and the tabloids. Some of those risks have paid off, while others have led to public backlash. 

They were met with particularly harsh criticism after wearing undeniably memorable headpieces as wedding guests at Prince William and Princess Catherine's wedding. Years later, when Meghan Markle and Prince Harry got married, royal watchers were quick to revisit the sisters' previous hat choices, and some wondered if they'd up the ante for this round. As one royal watcher wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter (via Daily Mail), "I just need to know if Princess Beatrice is going to out-silly her current silliest hat record."

Fortunately, the sisters have each other to lean on when handling the tough feedback for their style. "We're each other's rocks," Princess Eugenie said to British Vogue. "There was a horrible article that had been written about Beatrice and she got really upset. We were just about to step out and she had a bit of a wobble and cried. I was looking after her. And then about an hour later, I had a wobble and started crying and Bea was there for me." This sisterly bond sure deserves a tip of the fascinator.