Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were back in the family fold at King Charles’s early Christmas lunch this week, and a royal expert suspects ‘sympathy’ was on the menu
After skipping Kate Middleton’s annual carol service, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were welcomed with open arms at the royal family ’s early Christmas party at Buckingham Palace. The sisters, aged 37 and 35, beamed as they arrived together at the gates of the Palace for what is one of the royal family’s long-standing festive traditions.
Their presence at the early Christmas lunch came after what has been an incredibly difficult time for the young royals, whose parents Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson have been mired in the scandal surrounding their relationships with the late sex offender and trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
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But former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond tells the Mirror she believes King Charles is following in his late mother’s footsteps when it comes to his relationship and his support for the young royals sisters.
“Whatever you think of their parents, Beatrice and Eugenie have not been accused of doing anything wrong,” she said. “They have had to watch their parents being humiliated and publicly criticised over many years, and yet they have remained close to the rest of the royal family.
“Their Grannie, the late Queen, showed them great affection and the King also seems keen to protect them. So I think everyone would have been very welcoming at the Palace lunch. I was pleased to see them looking so bright and happy.”
The topic of Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles and right to reside at Royal Lodge in October, has dominated much of the media conversation about the royal family in recent months following more revelations about Epstein and increasing pressure on US President Donald Trump to release the government files on the investigation into his crimes.
The King’s younger brother was also heavily criticised by US legislators for what they called his “silence” in response to a request to undertake a “transcribed interview” about his years-long relationship with Epstein, as part of a probe into the government’s handling of the case. He denies all allegations against him.
But while it continues to make headlines around the world, Jennie suspects the topic of Andrew and Sarah would not have been up for discussion at the family lunch this week.
“I imagine the ‘elephant’ in the room would be any discussion about Andrew and Sarah,” she told us. “That would just be too awkward for all involved.”
She also said Prince William, who attended the lunch with Kate, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, would have “particular sympathy” for what his cousins Beatrice and Eugenie are going through because of his experience with his own parents.
“He had to endure endless publicity about his parents as he was growing up. Of course the headlines then were for very different reasons: the disintegration of his parents’ marriage. But it was still traumatic for a young boy. You have to feel for these young women.”
The festive party at the Palace on Tuesday is a long-standing tradition for The Firm, and usually takes place the week before Christmas Day with around 70 of the monarch’s relatives on the guest list. t is a chance for them to celebrate Christmas ahead of December 25, as not all of them join the main event at Sandringham for the morning church service and Christmas dinner.
According to Jennie, the big question now is where Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, along with their children, will celebrate the day itself.
She added: “Christmas is all about family: so where do they go? Do they show loyalty to their parents – and will their parents even be together on Christmas Day?
“Do they join the rest of the royals at Sandringham? Or do they spend the festivities with their own little families and their in-laws? In the end, Christmas is all about children and making it special for them. So I suspect Beatrice and Eugenie will go wherever they feel their little ones will have the most magical time.”
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