Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice are being banned from the royal family over their links to Jeffrey Epstein.
Buckingham Palace continues to tighten the screws following the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor in connection with his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. According to Air Mail, his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, have suffered a further blow, effectively being shown the door within the royal family.
The first warning sign was the ban on attending Royal Ascot, Britain's premier horse race, where the York princesses are no longer invited. According to the same source, Prince William strongly advised other family members to avoid photographs with his cousins and keep them "at arm's length" until at least the end of the year.
The reason is new details from the published Epstein files. Evgenia's name is mentioned there more than 300 times, and she, along with her sister and mother, Sarah Ferguson, Andrew's ex-wife, visited Epstein's Miami mansion in 2009 while he was under house arrest for sexually motivated crimes. Ferguson, incidentally, referred to Epstein as a "legend" in their correspondence and proposed marriage.
It's worth remembering that Andrew himself, already stripped of his title, has been in disgrace for several years. In 2019, he was forced to resign from public office after a disastrous interview about his friendship with Epstein. In 2022, Queen Elizabeth II stripped him of his military ranks, and in the fall of 2025, Charles III took the unprecedented step of permanently stripping his brother of his title of prince, the status of His Royal Highness, and all the associated privileges. Andrew was also evicted from the 30-room Royal Lodge residence in Windsor and moved to modest accommodation on the Sandringham estate.
The impetus for such harsh measures was the confession of one of Epstein's victims, Virginia Giuffre, who claimed that at the age of 17 she had sexual relations with the prince (the case was settled out of court in 2022), as well as the discovery of emails proving that Andrew continued contact with Epstein after his conviction and allegedly forwarded him confidential government documents.
The final arrest, on February 19, 2026 (Andrew's 66th birthday), marked the culmination of his downfall. The former prince is now suspected of abuse of office and leaking classified information. Charles III issued a personal statement, emphasizing, "The law must be upheld," and promised the authorities his full support.
As for Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, their public disgrace doesn't yet mean complete ruin. Privately, their ties will likely remain. However, the very fact of their ban from Ascot and the ban on joint photos sends a powerful signal: the monarchy no longer intends to risk its reputation, even for the sake of its closest relatives.
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