The more we know about the former Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson’s scandals, the more surprising it is that they somehow maintained such close ties to the British Royal family until recently. The fact that the two have been stripped of their titles and basically banished at this point doesn’t even feel like enough of a punishment considering their ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. But they’re not the only ones under scrutiny.
All eyes have also been on Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, their daughters. Especially after the two were recently seen for the first time since their father was stripped of his prince title and ordered to vacate Royal Lodge. The Daily Mail published pictures of the sisters, who were reportedly “spotted chatting intensely in the street,” with the outlet saying that at one point they appeared “to be consoling one another” before “sharing a close embrace as they said goodbye to one another.”
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Sound staged? Well, a lot of people thought so, considering the two being out together is already rare, but out having emotional conversations on the street? And today, Rob Shuter’s ShuterScoop is reporting that “the public display was anything but spontaneous,” with one source saying, “I think they knew exactly what they were doing. They’re rebranding as survivors—victims of their parents’ scandals, not participants.”
Another source added, “People want to forgive them. If they stay clean—no cash-for-favors, no scandals—the sympathy will stick,” while one more adds, “You can’t live rent-free at St. James’s Palace and Kensington Palace and cry poor on the pavement.”
This comes after rumors that Andrew isn’t even done facing the consequences of his own actions. Andrew Mountbouten Windsor‘s titles being stripped is, reportedly, just the beginning. According to royal biographer Andrew Lownie, who recently published Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, worse things are coming.
“Andrew is going to be charged with various public offences and misconduct in public office… he’ll probably go to jail,” the author said NewsNation. “The case against him is pretty clear. He’s absolutely, he’s toast.”
But if anyone’s expecting his long and obvious connections to Epstein, or the accounts of sexual abuse to be the thing that does him in, they might be disappointed. “He won’t go down for sex trafficking,” Lownie explained. “It will be for financial impropriety.”
His victims probably won’t care what he goes down for, as long as he faces some sort of justice, which he has escaped so far. It’s hard to argue that having his titles stripped and having to move from a big mansion to a smaller house where all his expenses will still be covered by King Charles is much of a punishment. If anything, it’s damage control, and not very good one.
Lownie indicated that Andrew reportedly spent a lot of money on his trips as a trade envoy. The Metropolitan Police has said it is “actively looking into” claims that Andrew asked a protection officer in 2011 to dig up personal information about his accuser, Virginia Giuffre. And the author also indicated that Ferguson’s charity work could be looked into. “She’s been basically using charities to make money. So she’s gonna be in trouble there,” Lownie said.
It remains to be seen if Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie can manage to separate themselves completely from all the trouble their parents have brought upon themselves.
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