Although not working members of the Royal Family, sisters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are still very much in the royal spotlight. As daughters of Prince Andrew, both Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, have had a difficult time lately as a result of scandals their father has been involved in.
Over the last few weeks, these issues have become worse for the royal sisters as a result of new claims made about the Duke of York in Andrew Lownie’s upcoming book ‘Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the Yorks’. According to the Daily Mail, one of the claims made in the book is that the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein reportedly once said that him and Andrew were “both serial sex addicts.” Lownie also quoted sources who made fresh allegations about Andrew’s conduct on royal tours, including claims that the prince took a number of women back to his Bangkok hotel room during the King of Thailand’s diamond jubilee celebrations in 2006.
While these allegations may have further damaged Andrew’ reputation, with his popularity having been low for years as a result of various scandals, it does not seem to have damaged the popularity of his daughters.
In a YouGov poll this month, both Beatrice and Eugenie have seen their popularity increase from May this year, with 39% of respondents having a positive view of the sisters.
Meanwhile, 25% of respondents had a negative view of the princesses.
For Princess Eugenie, 37% said they don’t know when asked about their opinions on her, while 36% of people said this about Beatrice.
While the sisters are believed to be close to their father, it is believed they are “utterly mortified” by some of the claims in the upcoming biography.
As reported by the Daily Mail, royal expert and biographer Ingrid Seward said Andrew’s daughters will be “finding this very difficult”.
She reportedly said: “I’m not surprised they haven’t come out and said anything in his defence. For his girls to show their solidarity publicly wouldn’t benefit them in any way.”