Where Beatrice & Eugenie Stand With Prince Andrew After He Got Axed From The Royal Family
It must not be easy to be an alleged sexual predator and keep your family close. Prince Andrew, Duke of York, learned this lesson when he was removed from royal duties and financially cut off by King Charles after Virginia Giuffre, one of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's victims, publicly accused Queen Elizabeth II's second son of sexual abuse when she was a minor. Most of the royal family turned their back on him, but not his two daughters. Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie still keep in touch.
The two princesses are the Duke of York's only children, and they were just kids when their parents' marriage ended as a result of Sarah Ferguson's scandalous affair photos with John Bryan. Beatrice, 9th in line for the throne, has one daughter with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, a stepson, Christopher, and is expecting a new baby. Eugenie, 11th in line for the throne, has two sons with her husband Jack Brooksbank, toddlers August and Ernest. Hello! has shared that the two princesses and their kids have been visiting Prince Andrew in an effort to cheer grandpa up. Similarly, Ferguson insists that she still supports him, even if the Yorks had to miss to the Christmas retreat, given the alleged closeness of the Duke of York with alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo (per The Guardian).
A duke cut off from the herd
The disastrous 2019 BBC one-hour interview about Virginia Giuffre's accusations against him marked a before and after in his life: Buckingham Palace issued a statement announcing his suspension from royal duties, and that he was to step down from all 230 of his patronages. On top of that, the royals themselves have responded to the Jeffrey Epstein drama by shunning him since. "He [Andrew] just doesn't have that many friends anymore," a source told the Daily Mail. Giuffre, who claimed she was a minor when the Duke of York engaged in sexual activities with her, even showed a picture of them together on Epstein's island, Little Saint James, where she was allegedly trafficked. In February 2022, he settled out of court with Giuffre, and his reputation is unlikely to recover.
However, when Beatrice got married in 2020, for example, her father still walked her down the aisle, despite the scandal surrounding him at the time. In 2024, both princesses take their kids to visit him on the weekends. A source told Hello!, "They are spending far more time with him now than they have done in recent years."