Princess Beatrice, who is the eldest daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, looked distressed when she was photographed driving away from Royal Lodge this week
Princess Beatrice has been left “absolutely devastated” at the latest scandal surrounding her dad Prince Andrew, it is reported.
The 37-year-old woman appeared distressed when she was photographed driving away from Royal Lodge hours after her father announced he would no longer use his titles or honours. Since Andrew’s declaration last Friday, more grim allegations and bombshells emerged about the royal, including how he has barely paid any rent on Royal Lodge in 22 years.
It has affected Beatrice significantly, royal sources have claimed. One said: “She was on the phone saying she couldn’t bring herself to look at the Sunday papers. She looked absolutely devastated.”
When Beatrice was 20 and her younger sister Eugenie was 19, the women went with mum Sarah to the US to visit paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein following his release from prison in 2009. Yet, amid the latest furore, it has emerged Andrew had asked his police protection officer to investigate claims Virginia Giuffre had a criminal record. The 65-year-old prince has always denied all the allegations against him.
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The picture leaves both Beatrice and Eugenie, now mothers themselves, in difficult places. One royal expert has claimed the sisters should consider going one step further and rescind their princess titles – even though they themselves have done nothing wrong.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine and author of Sarah: The Life of A Duchess: “Giving up their titles would give them freedom from their parents, stop them being tarred with the same brush and be a clear sign that they want to make their own way in the world. I think people would hugely respect them for it and, I think, ultimately, they would be happier.”
But Beatrice and Eugenie were exposed to their parents’ money-making ventures from their earliest years. Beatrice, for instance, was still a baby when the then Duke and Duchess of York were paid a whopping £250,000 for a 48-page spread in Hello! magazine, including pictures of their daughter in the bath.
Yet now, neither Beatrice and Eugenie receives public money from the Sovereign Grant – which funds the monarch’s official duties – and both juggle private careers with family life and charity work. Neither women is a full-time working royal, but it is thought their titles are undoubtedly of huge benefit to them in the world of business.
Last April, the sisters were lauded as “Royal Family’s Secret Weapon” on the cover of Hello! magazine. Gushing about her daughters, Ms Ferguson said: “They miss their grandmother but learned so much from the late Queen – humility and goodness with compassion and strength. They are brave and bold and stand like giant oaks in the wind and don’t break.”
