Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s lack of royal status has been blamed on their “link with Prince Andrew”, a commentator has claimed.
The Duke of York’s daughters are not currently working members of the Royal Family.
However, King Charles’s slimmed-down monarchy, plus the departures of Prince Andrew, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle as working royals, has meant that there are more royal patronages to be filled.
Richard Fitzwilliams spoke exclusively to GB News to explain whether or not Beatrice and Eugenie would likely be asked to become working royals.
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He said: “[Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie] are happy the way they are at the moment in the sense that they’re happily married, they’ve got careers, and they’ve got families.
“But on the other hand, they would probably like to increase the amount of work they do.”
According to the royal commentator, public opinion would not be favourable towards Beatrice and Eugenie as working royals.
Fitzwilliams continued: “Having said that, as working royals, they would get money from the Duchy of Lancaster.
Beatrice and Eugenie are Prince Andrew’s daughters
PA
Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are happily married and have families
PA
In a US civil case, the Duke of York was accused by Virginia Giuffre of sexually abusing her on three occasions when she was 17 years old.
In an interview with BBC Newsnight in 2019, Prince Andrew stressed that he had no recollection of ever meeting Giuffre, and has repeatedly denied the allegations.
In February 2022, Giuffre and the prince reached an out-of-court settlement for an undisclosed amount, including no admission of guilt on the claims against the Duke of York.
There are several royal patronages which need to be filled now that there are fewer working royals, and the Princesses of York could be the Royal Family’s answer.
However, Fitzwilliams suggested this is “unlikely”.
He explained: “The palace is reviewing the patronages and we’ll have to wait for that review before we know anything.
“It just seems unlikely there’s going to be a change for the time being.”