Prince William’s Relationship With Beatrice & Eugenie Takes a Dramatic Turn After He ‘Threatened’ to Take Away Their Royal Titles
At this point in the scandal involving Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson due to their ties with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, it feels like there’s both nothing new that could ever swing public opinion in their favor, and likely a lot of bad things that could still come out. That’s partly why the British royal family is finally taking steps to distance itself from Andrew and Fergie. But, does that include their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie?
The Times had previously reported that one of the side effects of their father giving up his titles and honors instead of having them stripped is that their status will remain largely unchanged. Not just that, the outlet said the two would continue to be known as the “York Sisters” despite their father giving up his “Duke of York” title, and added that this was the King’s decision.
Related: Here’s what each royal inherited from Queen Elizabeth
However, in the face of Prince Andrew’s apparent refusal to give up his lease at Royal Lodge, there have been new developments. According to the News Agents podcast hosted by Emily Maitlis, who conducted Prince Andrew’s infamous BBC interview that saw him lose his status as a working royal, William potentially threatened his cousins, with the removal of their titles if their father doesn’t give up his lease.
According to Maitlis (via the Daily Beast), “the Palace told ITN and the Press Association—the big wire services—to crew the gates outside Royal Lodge at 8 p.m. because, and this was the phrase they used, ‘there may be passing traffic.’ Nothing more was said — just that there may be passing traffic,” on Thursday.
She also added, “There was a question over whether there had been, earlier in the day, a meeting between Prince William and the princesses Beatrice and Eugenie saying, ‘You’ve got to get your dad to move out of Royal Lodge, otherwise we will start re-examining the state of your own titles.’ They are, at the moment, allowed to be princesses, but there was pressure being put on them. Obviously, you can see why Andrew, as a father, would want to keep his daughters happy and keep their titles in place.”
This comes after recent reports from The Sun that Andrew had laid out a series of demands in order to vacate his home. He is said to want Frogmore Cottage, which used to be the home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, as a new home for himself. Not just that, he also wants Sarah Ferguson, who lives with him at Royal Lodge, to be able to live in Adelaide Cottage, the home Prince William and Kate Middleton are about to move out of.
Whether King Charles and Prince William are willing to compromise on that to get Andrew out of Royal Lodge remains to be seen. For now, it seems like they’re putting pressure on Prince Andrew’s daughters, whether that is designed for them to convince their father or pressure him into making the right decision.
