Even before the three cancer scares in the royal family affecting King Charles, the Princess of Wales, and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, Charles’ core group of working royals was thin, thanks to his long-held desire to helm a “slimmed-down monarchy.”
Now, with the King’s ability to carry out public engagements diminished, the Princess of Wales off of royal duty for the foreseeable future, and Prince William at his wife’s side as she faces cancer head on, there are fewer working royals than ever. After Prince Andrew’s resignation from royal duty and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s step back as working royals, the Firm is currently down to Princess Anne, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh (Prince Edward and Sophie), and Queen Camilla.
One would think this would be the perfect time for Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie to step in—but, heretofore, the two daughters of Andrew and Fergie have not been asked to perform any royal duties, which The Daily Express reports has left them “very upset” with their uncle as he essentially “ignores” the York sisters.
A close friend of Beatrice and Eugenie claimed the sisters are disappointed to not have been asked to step in during this time of need for the monarchy, with said friend telling The Daily Beast “They are very upset to have been ignored by the King as they feel they have a lot to offer, but they’re not surprised. They are sanguine about it.”
The friend added “It seems mean that the girls aren’t being used at all when they have made it clear they want to be of service, especially when Prince Andrew has been accepted back into the fold. They have done nothing wrong and they shouldn’t be visited with the sins of their father.” (True to the friend’s assessment, Andrew was all smiles at the Easter service at St. George’s Chapel yesterday, alongside Fergie.)
Another source—cited as “a friend of the wider family”—told The Daily Beast “Charles is very fond of the York girls but everyone, including them, accepts there is no place for them to be full-time working royals. And as the late Queen Elizabeth made clear, being a part-time working royal isn’t an option.”
Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, are thought to be close to Charles, and have lived in a four-bedroom apartment in St. James’s Palace since they married in 2020. Their two-year-old daughter Sienna and Wolfie, Edoardo’s child from a previous relationship, also live with them, and they “even pay market rent,” The Daily Express reports.
Eugenie, along with her husband Jack Brooksbank and their two sons, “spends most of her time at a luxury golf and ocean club in Portugal,” The Daily Express reports, “but stays at her sister’s St. James’s apartment when she is in the U.K.”
A former courtier said that “with hindsight,” it’s clear that Beatrice and Eugenie should have been made working royals, but, they added, “A dramatic change of course now would not be helpful for anyone. The York girls have built successful lives as private individuals.”
Charles’ “slimmed-down monarchy” could worsen in the future as Anne, currently 73, gets closer and closer to retirement. The Daily Express reports that there is a “possibility that Anne may want to scale back her packed schedule in a few years” (she is, after all, continually named the hardest working royal year-to-year), and in the meantime, “William and Kate are believed to want their three children to avoid full-time working roles until at least their mid-twenties.” Prince George, their eldest, is currently only 10 years old.
