Beatrice and Eugenie to keep Jubilee roles as public won’t punish them for Prince Andrew scandal, say experts
The i
Prince Andrew’s daughters are unlikely to be banished from Platinum Jubilee celebrations this summer because they have managed to successfully distance themselves from their father, according to royal experts.
The Duke of York’s decision to come to an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Giuffre in her civil sex claim against him is believed to have been motivated by efforts to protect the Queen’s Jubilee festivities, marking her 70 years on the throne.
PR agent Mark Borkowski said: “Clearly, the first priority of this act of settlement is to give the Jubilee a clean pair of heels away from him. This is to save further embarrassment to his mother, the Queen… the stench of an unresolved legal case was too dangerous.
“This is probably the last big state occasion linked to some anniversary… it’s the one thing this country does well, these events.”
While the monarch’s second son, who previously stepped back from public duties, will be absent from the celebrations, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie may well play a part.
Professor Pauline Maclaren, co-author of Royal Fever: The British Monarchy in Consumer Culture, said: “I don’t think Prince Andrew’s scandal will affect the two princesses and I would expect that they will still have roles to play in the jubilee celebrations.
Professor MacLaren, of Royal Holloway, University of London, added: “Both have managed to achieve quite separate identities, independent from their father’s, and I don’t think the public would expect them to be punished as well.”
Buckingham Palace has said the Queen and members of the Royal Family will watch the traditional RAF flypast from the palace’s balcony on Thursday 2 June. The monarch will also be accompanied at the Derby at Epsom Downs on Saturday 4 June.
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie appear to have gone to great efforts to distance themselves from the controversies surrounding their father.
Prince Andrew was missing from official photos of Princess Beatrice’s low-key wedding to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in July 2020, although he did walk her down the aisle. However the couple did share a photo featuring the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.
And in a demonstration of independence within the Royal Family, Princess Eugenie was seen with her cousin Prince Harry at the Super Bowl in the US.