Sometimes the best way to handle a storm is to step away from it, and that seems to be exactly what Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are doing as pressure mounts on their parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.
According to The Mirror, the sisters appear to “have quietly left the country while scrutiny on their parents intensified.” The renewed attention follows fresh reports about Andrew and Ferguson’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Even their decision to voluntarily relinquish royal titles and honors has done little to calm public outrage.
The pair have also been under growing pressure to leave Royal Lodge, their 30-room mansion in Windsor Great Park, which they’ve lived in since 2003. The property has become a symbol of their lingering connection to royal privilege despite repeated scandals.
As the situation worsened, both Beatrice and Eugenie were spotted abroad. The Mirror reports that Beatrice traveled to Saudi Arabia, where she attended the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh. She was seen at the same event last year while pregnant with her daughter, Athena.
Eugenie, meanwhile, has been seen in a much lighter setting. Interior designer Sterling McDavid shared an Instagram post from what appeared to be a recent girls’ trip to Paris. The post included a selfie of Eugenie by the River Seine with McDavid and art adviser Sarah Calodney, the Eiffel Tower glowing in the background.
The Mirror noted that “it is not known if either has yet returned to the U.K.” Their quiet departures come as the family faces fresh strain behind the scenes. After Andrew announced he would no longer use his royal titles, Beatrice was spotted attending what was described as a “York family summit” at Royal Lodge. Eugenie, however, did not attend.
“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 absence.
Beatrice, though present, appeared visibly shaken afterwards. The Daily Mail reported she looked “distressed-looking” as she left Royal Lodge following the tense meeting.
“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.”
The sisters’ decision to spend time abroad may be a bid for normality—or simply space—amid their family’s latest wave of controversy. With their parents once again at the centre of royal scandal, Beatrice and Eugenie appear to be doing what anyone might when family drama gets too loud: stepping away until the dust settles.
