The Real Reason Princess Eugenie Stayed Away from the York Family Summit Amid Prince Andrew’s Scandal

In the days that followed Prince Andrew's announcement that he would relinquish his royal titles amid the latest round of fallout from his scandalous association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced royal's immediate family reportedly gathered for a "family summit."

According to The Mirror, the family summit was reportedly held at Royal Lodge and was called to "discuss the changes and assess what the family’s future looked like in the face of such scandal."

One member of the York family (as Andrew's immediately family is often referred to, due to his now-former title as Duke of York), was noticeably absent, however: His youngest daughter, Princess Eugenie.

While Andrew and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson's oldest daughter, Princess Beatrice, was spotted at Royal Lodge following the announcement while the "informal family meeting" was said to have taken place, Eugenie was nowhere to be seen.

"The Royal Lodge 'summit' wasn’t a happy occasion and the family, once a strong unit, is fractured," a royal insider told the Daily Mail of Eugenie's noticeable absence from the meeting.

Although Beatrice did make the trip to Windsor to be with her parents in the wake of the shocking announcement and their public demotions (her mother, Sarah Ferguson, has also agreed to stop using her royal titles, which she had retained following her divorce form Prince Andrew in 1996), the Daily Mail reports she was obviously "distressed-looking" when she was seen leaving Royal Lodge after the family summit.

"She was on the phone saying she couldn't bring herself to look at the Sunday papers," a royal source told the outlet. "She looked absolutely devastated."

Following Andrew's surprise announcement that he would voluntarily relinquish his royal titles, reports suggested that King Charles had negotiated for Andrew to give the titles up voluntarily as opposed to be formally stripped of them as a move to protect his nieces, whose own titles would have been in jeopardy if Andrew were forcibly stripped of his.

The blows have just kept coming for Andrew and Ferguson, who are now said to be in talks to vacate their longtime Windsor home, Royal Lodge, as they go further into exile from royal life.