Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s Working Role in the Royal Family Was “Squandered” by Their Parents, Royal Expert Says

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie at Coronation celebrations — (Image credit: Getty)

A royal commentator is saying that the decisions of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson “squandered” any chance that Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie had of becoming full-time working royals, The Daily Express reports.

While the two princesses are doing just fine working outside of the Firm—and have bright futures yet still—Kinsey Schofield, host of the “To Di for Daily” podcast, said the women’s futures are forever stilted because of Andrew and Fergie: “Beatrice and Eugenie can become whatever they want to outside of the royal family, but their parents have squandered any hope of the girls elevating themselves within the fold,” she said.

Princess Beatrice at Christmas at Sandringham

Princess Eugenie in a bright orange dress

Andrew has been embroiled in scandal over the years, and Schofield calls Ferguson a “loose cannon. It makes the royal households nervous.” (She just started a podcast of her own, “Tea Talks,” where she said she plans to “set the record straight.”) “Whether she’s telling the media about the ghost of the Queen haunting their corgis or mic-ing up to record a new episode of her brand-new podcast, there is no telling what she will say or do next, and the girls feel those repercussions,” Schofield said.

Andrew and Ferguson, who married in 1986 and divorced 10 years later, still cohabitate, as both live at Royal Lodge in Windsor. “We’re the happiest divorced couple in the world,” Ferguson told The Daily Mail in 2018. “We’re divorced to each other, not from each other. My duty is to him. I am so proud of him. I stand by him and always will. The way we are is our fairytale.” Ferguson’s comments preclude the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, but she has continued to stand by him through that, as well.

Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson walking side by side

Beatrice and Eugenie have been in the news recently: Both were in attendance at their uncle King Charles’ Coronation at Westminster Abbey on May 6, alongside their husbands Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank, respectively. Eugenie gave birth to her second son, Ernest, on May 30, and that same week Beatrice attended the Jordanian royal wedding on June 1.

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Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more.