Following the removal of Prince Andrew’s princely title on October 30, after renewed attention to his links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, questions have now arisen over the official status of his two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
King Charles III’s latest ruling confirmed that the 65-year-old will now be formally known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and that both he and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will be evicted from their longtime residence.
King Charles’ Formal Action
In a statement from Buckingham Palace, officials announced: “His Majesty has today initiated a formal process to remove the Style, Titles and Honours of Prince Andrew. His lease on Royal Lodge has, to date, provided him with legal protection to continue in residence. Formal notice has now been served to surrender the lease, and he will move to alternative private accommodation.”
This decision followed the posthumous publication of a memoir by Virginia Giuffre, who had accused Andrew in 2019 of sexually abusing her on three occasions while she was a minor after being trafficked by Epstein. The two reached an out-of-court settlement in 2022, but Giuffre took her own life earlier this year.
Her memoir detailed new allegations of sexual encounters with Andrew during her teenage years. Just days before its release, the Duke had already relinquished his Duke of York title.
Beatrice and Eugenie’s Titles Unlikely to Be Affected
Although both Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have now lost their royal styles and privileges—Sarah after her email describing Epstein as a “supreme friend” came to light—experts believe that their daughters will not face the same consequences.
According to royal historians, Princesses Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, are expected to retain their titles under King George V’s 1917 Letters Patent. This ruling states that the children of a sovereign, as well as the children of a sovereign’s sons, are automatically granted royal status at birth. These rights can only be revoked by the reigning monarch under exceptional circumstances.
Additionally, as neither Beatrice nor Eugenie are working royals and do not perform official duties on behalf of the King, their father’s scandal is not seen as damaging to their independent lives or professional reputations.
“As far as Beatrice and Eugenie go, I think there’s an appreciation of the fact that this scandal doesn’t involve them,” royal commentator Victoria Murphy previously explained. “And it’s not fair for it to impact them directly in the independent lives they are carving out for themselves.”
Public Backlash Over Title Retention
Despite these legal and historical protections, anti-monarchists have expressed frustration online over the princesses keeping their titles.
One Instagram user commented under Princess Eugenie’s recent post: “I can’t wait for the day that they have to make new Instagrams because they won’t be allowed to even use ‘Princess’ in any form!”
Another added: “Why does she get to keep her princess title? If her father is stripped of his, then so should his daughters.”
On X (formerly Twitter), many echoed similar sentiments: “It doesn’t make sense that the York sisters keep their titles when their father is no longer Duke of York. Anyway, their family is already disgraced.”
Another user questioned, “Why should THEY have the HRH and Princess titles when MANY of their first cousins do not? These titles are a symbol of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s arrogance and self-importance.”
Supporters Defend the York Sisters
Still, several others came to the Princesses’ defense, emphasizing that neither Beatrice nor Eugenie have been implicated in any wrongdoing or shown to have known about their father’s alleged actions.
“As they should, they can’t be blamed for their father’s actions,” one supporter wrote. “Andrew has caused them enough stress and humiliation—this wouldn’t be fair on them.”
Another agreed simply: “It’s not their fault.”
