King Charles’ Easter line-up will look even more lonely this year as the crisis-hit monarch makes a bold decision.
Having been dragged further into Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s fall from grace in recent weeks, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice will be notably absent from today’s high profile service.
Royal sources confirmed to The Mirror last month that the pair will not be attending the event, with the ‘agreement and understanding’ of the King.
The ominous decision has sparked uncomfortable questions about who is really paying the price for Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s downfall. And now an insider close to the sisters has revealed their true feelings on the so-called ‘snub’.
Hinting at the heartbreak behind closed doors, an insider who knows Beatrice and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi tells the Mirror that the struggling sisters are “just getting on with their lives as much as they can“.
The source also said that while Beatrice has been staple guest at the Easter service in previous years, “they are spending Easter with Edo’s family which has been planned for a long time.”
Meanwhile, Russell Myers, the Mirror’s royal editor, warns: “The fallout has also had a devastating effect on their daughters. While there is no suggestion either Beatrice or Eugenie is guilty of any wrongdoing – their very mention in the Epstein files is an uncomfortable truth for the King and his family.”
Away from the perils of her parents’ scandal, the rumour mill has been spinning about Beatrice’s marriage, with claims suggesting that she and Edo might move stateside in an attempt to get a fresh start.
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However, this has been shut down by the couple’s spokesperson, who said: “These rumours are nonsense. Their lives are in the UK“. A source close to the couple also told the Mirror that the gossip that their marriage has been struggling is laughable.
Charles and Queen Camilla will be joined by Prince William and Princess Catherine for today’s church service, but recent public events have been mired by protestors and hecklers – with the public outcry over Andrew and his ties to convicted sex offender Epstein showing no signs of calming down any time soon.
Andrew, who was arrested on his 66th birthday on on suspicion of misconduct in a public office, has been totally shunned from public life by his elder brother, who has said he will support the police in their ongoing investigations. Sarah Ferguson has gone to ground since the scandal began to intensify last Autumn, keeping her “distance” from Andrew, with whom she remained very close in the decades since their divorce.
Keeping – for the most part – out of sight at his new home given to him by the King on the Sandringham Estate, the royals will be hoping this Easter that things go off without a hitch, and without any reminders of the disgraced former duke. As Mirror royal editor Russell Myers puts it, “even in times of religious celebration, there is no forgiveness for the shame he has brought on the Royal Family.”
When Charles first took the throne, he seemed keen to welcome Andrew and Sarah “back into the fold” with the pair invited to Christmas celebrations in 2023 in Norfolk with the other royals, Myers points out, but after “the latest tranche of documents released by US investigators probing Epstein’s horrific crimes unveiled Andrew and Sarah’s sickeningly close relationship with the sex offender – even after he was convicted and jailed.”
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The correspondence made public that appears to come from accounts belonging to Andrew and Sarah paints a very different picture than how they had previously described their relationships with the paedophile. Both of them claimed that they had cut contact off with Epstein shortly after his conviction for child sex crimes. Instead, messages from both of them seemingly continued on, with new insight revealed into their shared dynamics.
But it was mentions of Beatrice and Eugenie in the Epstein files that have thrown a major spanner in the works for the King, who is known to be very close to both his nieces and have great affection for them. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by either Beatrice or Eugenie, and their father has always denied any wrongdoing.
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In 2015, Epstein claims in one email to a redacted account that Beatrice “likes” him. In another 2011 exchange, three years after his conviction, a correspondent, seemingly Ferguson, tells the paedophile that Beatrice believes he should be free to move on with his life after serving his time. The email was sent after Ferguson publicly disowned Epstein to the media, while staying in contact with him behind the scenes.
The sisters also appear to have visited the sex offender with their mother after his release from prison, documents in the files indicate, when they were aged 19 and 20 respectively.
While reports have swirled that Beatrice and Eugenie were ‘banned’ from the Easter service, it’s understood that the sisters came to an agreement with their uncle, the King, that they would not be attending.
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Seemingly hoping to shut down the rife speculation about his nieces, the King appears to have offered Eugenie and Beatrice an olive branch after the Easter decision by inviting them to Royal Ascot this summer.
Of the Easter absence, a pal of Beatrice’s recently told Hello magazine: ‘ They will get criticism whether they go or not – and not just that event. They just can’t win. Bea has found the scrutiny very hard, especially the strain of the past few weeks. It has felt as though things have been in freefall, and she’s being hammered and bullied by commentators.”
The insider claimed that both Eugenie and Beatrice know who the victims are in the Epstein scandal, and that it isn’t them, but pointed out, “people forget about the human element of what they’ve been going through, too”. However, senior royals have remained in touch with the sisters the insider claimed, making sure they are all right amid the turmoil.
Royal expert Jennie Bond tells the Mirror on the other hand that Prince William “is determined to put some clear blue water between his family and the Andrew scandal.”
Meanwhile, royal historian Marlene Eilers Keonig tells the Mirror that Beatrice and Eugenie “cannot be blamed for the sins of their fathers.” She says that given the nature of the religious celebration, Charles’ ‘agreement’ is questionable. “It’s Easter Sunday, it’s the resurrection, I would have brought them in the church.”
However, she believes that it “could be a way of protecting them” from the controversy, “because it’s the first big event” since the scandal reached fever pitch. “I think the King cares about his nieces very much. He sees them in a precarious situation,” she adds.
Marlene also says that in her view, if Charles invites them to Royal Ascot, “that’s his prerogative as uncle Charles” adding that they will never appear at diplomatic functions like State Dinners because they are not working royals. “They’ve got a lot to live with right now,” she warns.
