Meghan Reportedly ‘Distancing’ Herself From Harry’s ‘Tarnished’ Cousins Beatrice & Eugenie—She Doesn’t ‘Want to Be Associated’
The recent scandals involving Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have, of course, affected their two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. And though the two aren’t senior royals and are reportedly well-loved by everyone in the family, there’s no doubt that association with them is considered controversial these days. They, after all, still retain the York title, which doesn’t really have a great reputation these days.
Now, The Mirror is reporting there are even more people trying to distance themselves from them. The outlet claims that, like his father, Harry will probably have “a lot of sympathy” for his cousins, but Meghan Markle could be looking to “distance” herself from them, considering the “sensitivities” of Andrew’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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Royal expert Duncan Larcombe said Harry is likely to be concerned about his cousins, who have always had a “massive soft spot” for him. “Harry has always been close to Beatrice and Eugenie,” he told the outlet. “They didn’t see a massive amount of each other growing up because they didn’t live very close to each other, but they’d always get together for Christmas at Sandringham.”
But according to him, Markle could have a clearer view of the situation and how it will be perceived. “With Meghan, there’s a divide there,” he explained. “The Jeffrey Epstein situation is hugely sensitive, especially in America, and of course Epstein, [disgraced film producer] Harvey Weinstein, and Ghislaine Maxwell were photographed together at Beatrice’s 18th birthday.”
And considering the fact that Prince Andrew’s connections to Epstein have been under renewed scrutiny after a book by Epstein survivor Virginia Giuffre titled Nobody’s Girl, and emails published on the Mail on Sunday that revealed Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, apologized to Epstein weeks after publicly disowning him in 2011.
“Meghan will be very aware of the sensitivities as she’s very media conscious. She won’t want to be seen to be too sympathetic towards them, so will keep her distance. I don’t think she could object to Harry privately supporting them, but they will be on very different pages,” the royal expert said.
However, the expert made it clear that on Andrew and Sarah Ferguson the two are likely on the same page. “Neither Harry nor Meghan will want to be seen to be associated with Andrew or Sarah Ferguson. From Meghan’s point of view it’s probably a commercial thing, from Harry’s point of view it’s probably more of an emotional thing.”
Royal expert Christopher Wilson recently told the Daily Mail the status of the princesses had been “tarnished” as a result of their parents’ scandals, and that it could affect them monetarily. “The princesses use their titles to earn money – and if that starts to dry up as a result of their father’s disgrace, they may be tempted to follow their mother Fergie’s example of accepting more and more low-grade offers to use their face and name in order to rake in the cash.”
Beatrice and Eugenie were reportedly used as leverage to convince Andrew to give up his titles and move out of Royal Lodge. And reports indicate the pressure came from Prince Harry’s older brother, Prince William. Emily Maitlis, who conducted the Newsnight interview with Andrew in 2019, where he denied ever meeting Virginia Giufree, said on her News Agents podcast, “They are at the moment allowed to be princesses, but there was a bit of pressure, we understand, being put on the princesses to say this is going to happen.”
