Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice have celebrated their father, Prince Andrew in the past – but
how do they feel now that he may have cost them their roles in the royal family?
Prince Andrew's ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, has been remarkably open about the pair's decade-long
marriage.
In a 2007 interview with Harper's Bazaar, she revealed that Andrew was deployed on military
service only two weeks after their wedding and that she spent nearly the entirety of
her pregnancy with the pair's first daughter by herself.
Things didn't improve after Princess Beatrice was born.
In fact, Ferguson added that her husband only received 10 days of leave following the birth
and then he was right back out at sea.
In response, she claimed that the team at Buckingham Palace essentially told her to
deal with it.
She shared,
"When he left and I cried, they all said: 'Grow up and get a grip.'"
Beatrice was born only two years after her parents got married in 1986, which likely
made her mother's isolation feel even more intense.
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson's divorce became official in 1996, after the two first
separated in 1992.
Unlike a lot of divorced couples, Andrew and Sarah stayed close…
literally.
In fact, they both continued to live in Andrew's home, Royal Lodge, and the two raised their
daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, there together.
As Sarah once explained to The Telegraph, the relationship they have with their kids
was worth it.
She said,
"We are co-parents who support each other and believe that family is everything.
I'm proud of the job we have done together in bringing up our children and sustaining
a strong family unit.
Our bywords are communication, compromise and compassion."
That's not all that the family of four do together.
As numerous outlets have reported over the years, including The Guardian, Andrew has
also made a point to take family vacations with Sarah, Beatrice, and Eugenie.
In 2016, Princess Eugenie opened up in an interview with Harper's Bazaar about her day-to-day
routine.
After revealing that she typically goes to bed at midnight, Eugenie added that the one
thing in the world she can't do without is her family, including her mom, Sarah Ferguson,
and her dad, Prince Andrew.
After explaining that both her mother and her sister, Princess Beatrice, are the people
she turns to when faced with tough decisions, Eugenie revealed that her dad is, quote, "the
rock" of the family.
Eugenie has also previously credited both of her parents with helping her and Beatrice
stay grounded and focused under the constant scrutiny of both the media and the public
at large.
"I must explain that the British press at the moment is completely and utterly cruel
and abusive and so invasive."
As she once said, her parents are the reason she's able to hold herself together.
Eugenie shared with British Vogue,
"We've had some serious grounding from our parents.
They've had their fair share of terrible media interest and it makes us stronger."
Of the two sisters, Princess Eugenie is a lot more forward-facing than her more private
sister, Princess Beatrice.
While Beatrice doesn't have a public Instagram account, Eugenie does, and it certainly seems
like she loves to use that account, in part, to celebrate the relationship that still exists
between her parents.
In July 2019, Eugenie turned to Instagram to congratulate her parents on what would
have been their 33rd wedding anniversary, concluding the post by writing,
"Thank you for always being the best of friends and bringing us up together."
In a lot of ways, it seems like one reason Eugenie feels so comfortable celebrating their
wedding anniversary is because Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have done so much work
together to appear as a united team for their children.
While Andrew has not commented publicly on their relationship, Sarah explained to the
Mirror,
"Well, we're very happily divorced.
It might sound strange but we believe very firmly in what we've got."
Princess Beatrice gave birth to her first biological child with husband Edoardo Mapelli
Mozzi in September 2021.
While many of her family members were able to be on hand to help welcome little Sienna
Elizabeth into the world, one person was notably absent.
Just as he was not able to be present for Sarah Ferguson's pregnancy with Beatrice,
Prince Andrew also missed out on the birth of Beatrice's daughter in London.
The reason, however, couldn't be more different.
The reason Andrew couldn't be there for Beatrice is that he was reportedly hiding out in hopes
of avoiding Virginia Giuffre's legal team, who intended to notify him of Giuffre's intent
to sue for sexual abuse and assault.
According to CNN, Giuffre's team was eventually successful, and Andrew ended up not meeting
his first granddaughter until two weeks after she was born.
A source expressed surprise about that fact to The Sun, saying that even given Andrew's
circumstances at the time,
"It is quite something that he had to wait almost two weeks before he met her."
While their status as the daughters of Prince Andrew means that Princess Eugenie and Princess
Beatrice have always been a part of the royal family, the two have had decidedly smaller
roles in the institution when compared to Prince William and Prince Harry.
Those roles have been pared down over the years, with both girls having professional
jobs outside of their royal duties.
This is partly due to Prince Charles' desire to have a smaller circle of working royals
in general, but also likely partly due to the ongoing sexual abuse lawsuit against Andrew.
Some have speculated that any hopes that Eugenie and Beatrice might have had of being worked
into the royal family in a larger way have likely been dashed as a result of the case.
While royal experts agree that Andrew's recent loss of his royal affiliations and titles
will not directly impact his daughters, commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told inews.co.uk that
it is "very unlikely" either woman will be allowed to step up into any new royal positions.
Additionally, both could be called upon to testify against their father.
After Andrew decided to press ahead for a full legal trial by jury, many began speculating
that both Eugenie and Beatrice, among others, could be asked to give depositions in the
case.
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