The welfare and status of the York princesses isn’t the highest concern for anyone, honestly. Prince Andrew spent much of the past fifteen years trying to convince everyone that Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie should be full-time working royals, with royal lodgings and royal staff and royal status and royal protection. It was one of the areas where Andrew and Charles had beef: Charles has been hellbent on streamlining the monarchy, and the York princesses didn’t fit with his image of a smaller, more efficient royal family. Now that Andrew has been royally neutered, what happens to Bea and Eugenie? No one really knows. But I found this Daily Mail article kind of interesting because it got into some stuff I was wondering about, mainly about where the princesses live and who pays for it and what will happen with Beatrice’s wedding next year. Some highlights:
The palace wants to ‘protect the princesses’: A royal aide yesterday confirmed that Beatrice and Eugenie will continue with a limited number of royal duties as before. ‘The Princesses do undertake a small number of royal engagements each year, as and when asked, and that will continue,’ a Buckingham Palace spokesman said. So we will see them on the Palace balcony after Trooping The Colour, at a couple of garden parties and the occasional evening reception.
Andrew will never see his daughters ‘promoted’ now: Now that he has been retired — be it temporarily or permanently — Andrew will not be able to promote his girls in quite the same way any more. ‘The promotion which Andrew had hoped for in terms of his daughters taking on more duties will now never happen,’ a royal source told the Mail yesterday. ‘They will have to focus on the day job.’
The princesses do have day jobs: Eugenie, 29, has a role at the Hauser & Wirth Art Gallery in Mayfair. She starts at 9am and leaves at 5pm sharp. According to a recruitment website, she can expect to be paid in the region of £32,000 to £34,000. Beatrice, 31, is vice-president of partnerships and strategy at Afiniti, an American software company where she focuses on ‘client development’. Her salary is unknown. Certainly, these jobs are not enough to keep them in the manner to which they have become accustomed, and Andrew has long subsidised their lifestyles.
The Queen is fond of the princesses: A Palace source said: ‘. . . there was a sense of everyone circling the wagons around the girls. There is a feeling that they must not be made to pay for the sins of the father. The Queen is particularly fond of Beatrice and Eugenie, and she respects the way that Andrew and Sarah have brought them up. Even though you may feel that they made such a mess of their own lives, they have been loving co-parents. The Queen will continue to invite Beatrice and Eugenie to Balmoral over the summer and she sees quite a lot of them at Windsor. They, in turn, are fond of ‘Super Gran’, as they call her. The feeling is that everyone wants to protect them from this hurt and from further hurt, rather than dance on their father’s ‘grave’.’
Beatrice’s wedding: High on the agenda is the immediate dilemma over Beatrice’s wedding. Planning is understood to be well underway for her 2020 nuptials and there was an expectation that details would be announced early in the New Year. In the light of what has happened this week, any re-run of Eugenie’s ostentatious Windsor Castle wedding last October can be ruled out. To be fair to Beatrice, nuptials to rival her sister’s were not something she desired, not least because her fiance, property tycoon Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, 35, was in a previous relationship from which he has a young child. So her wedding was always going to be less of a public spectacle, say sources. In addition, ‘[her mother Sarah] has got the big wedding out of her system and so [Beatrice] will have it in another much smaller royal chapel or else privately at St George’s Chapel in Windsor’.Where the princesses live: Beatrice lives — at least part of the time — in a taxpayer-funded apartment at St James’s Palace, while Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank, a wine merchant and ambassador for a tequila brand, live in Ivy Cottage, a three- bedroom house in the grounds of Kensington Palace. That is being rented to them at a ‘commercial rate’, which is said to be around £182,000 a year. It has always been assumed that Prince Andrew covers this cost. At weekends, Beatrice and Eugenie go home to the 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor, leased at a peppercorn sum to Andrew, where their divorced parents live together.
I find that interesting about the residences and who pays for what. My guess – and I’m really just talking out of my ass here – is that there will be a quiet move to separate the princesses from Andrew financially, and basically allow Beatrice and Eugenie to continue to live in SJP and KP the same way other “minor royals” have apartments there, by favor of the Queen. But yeah, the princesses will never be “working royals” in any kind of sense from here on out. And Bea’s wedding is going to be SUPER quiet. If Edo is even sticking around, because who knows.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Backgrid.
Wowza 182,000 a year? So that’s like 15,000k a month for a little three bedroom cottage?
I always thought that cottages were snug 1 bedroom set ups. Sounds more like a normal house size.
Can’t you just get a house in London with that money… Why blow it on rent?
I believe the cottages are around 1,300 square feet. An average 3 bedroom house in the UK is 750 square feet.
Buying a house in London for only 182k? I bloody wish.
lo, yes there are different types of cottage for sure. What a regular person might consider to be a cottage and what the royals consider to be cottages are probably not the same.
I can very easily see market rate for rental in that neighborhood being around US$20,000. Sale price for that house (if it were on one of the side streets between Holland Park and Kensington Park) would be between $5-$10 million, depending on size, condition and exact location.
For comparison purposes, it’s like real estate on Park or Fifth Ave in New York City.
“An average 3 bedroom house in the UK is 750 square feet”
Holy crow, those rooms must be the size of closets! My one-bedroom co-op in NYC is 750 square feet.
Too bad Andy didn’t protect and insulate Bea during his interview. Instead, he made her his alibi and a witness. Nobody’s come forward saying they saw them at the Woking Pizza Express yet, have they?
Andy is just plain stupid.
He shouldn’t have brought Bea up, but in fairness who really remembers if you went out with your father for pizza on a specific day? I don’t think she’s in the mess really. Cause this was just one of the many things that made him look like he was lying, not as spectacular as his sweating disease but still weird. I mean I’m sure both girls could verify their parents didn’t both travel at the same time so they weren’t left without a parent. If he had stuck with that it would have made more sense, but no he goes all out with TMI no one would remember.
Except for the whole travelling thing, the newspapers have now published lists of when they were both out of the country.
I mean these girls are privileged beyond belief but finding out your dad is a gross pedo along with the rest of the world must be really awful… like some big elephant in the room wherever you go.
^ Exactly this. I can’t stand most of the Royals in general but I feel for the York sisters and I hope they do get looked after. There will be people who judge them because of their father.
One thing which I find very interesting about all of this (and from watching the Crown) is how much ALL the Royals seem to love and crave the limelight. I kind of assumed that maybe Meghan and Kate did because they chose that life but because the others were born into it, so I thought they were less interested. Turns out I’m probably wrong and they’re all just like the Kardashians, competing for fame and popularity.
I do not consider the BRF like the Kardashians. Please walk with me on this one:
The Sovereign basically reigns but does not rule. Popularity with John Q. Public gives an individual some power or negotiating room. Example, The Queen Mum carried on the way she did for years because she was extremely popular with a large section of the public. Her longevity only made this section of the public larger.
Diana, could not be thrown out of the BRF and into the streets because of her popularity with John Q. Public . She had to be accommodated in almost all things.
I do not think Kate seeks the spotlight nor popularity at all. I think Kate would be happier only leaving her palace for hair dressing appointments and to go on Caribbean vacations. I think William is basically the same as Kate but he is jealous of Harry’s popularity. I do not think William seeks the spotlight but I do think he wants to be #1 in the popularity polls.
I think Anne & Sophie both want to be respected and seen as doing their “jobs” as opposed to popular and in the spotlight. Their Royal work has earned them this type of respect.
Oh my, off-topic but the front dart placements on Eugenie’s pleated dress are very unfortunate.
Yes they are. I also noticed that Beatrice’s dress with the cutouts looks as though the flesh-colored inner lining worked its way up, mostly on her right side, revealing quite a bit of thigh.
I will never ever understand why these two seemingly cannot get it right. Those darts were indeed unfortunately placed.
I know bad dress sense isn’t actually a heritable trait, but they certainly seem to take after Sarah. Curvy women, with no idea how to dress themselves.
What a nightmare for these girls to have their father be who he is, to have to know that about your dad’s criminal sexual actions.
On a shallow note, the top pic of Beatrice is probably the best I’ve seen her look.
Didn’t the majority of their generation get left large sums of money by the Queen Mother? I’m sure financially, they’ll be fine.
And they’ll inherit from the Queen when she passes.
In that top picture…..is the lining of Beatrice’s dress pulled up so high you can see her underwear? Or am I confused by wrinkle placement.
I thought the same thing!! Can’t tell if it’s her thigh/underwear or a weird wrinkle…
The “slip/lining” is short. It is almost at a diagonal across her thighs. You can *see* the slight gap at the top of her thighs. Can you IMAGINE how Meghan, and even Kate, would get crucified for this “wardrobe malfunction”??
It’s an unfortunate dress. Too bad because otherwise I think Bea and her sister look great in that particular pic.
On the one hand, my heart genuinely breaks for them and they shouldn’t be held accountable for the actions of their father.
On the other, the Republican in me says they should fund their own lifestyle – including paying rent out of their own pocket. And not mine. The money they all spend – with no accountability- is out of control.
Both Princesses have full time jobs, yet are frequently photographed at society/royal weddings in Europe, take multiple vacations every year, seem to have no regard for the cost of anything.
I feel badly for them; at the same time, they’re leading a pretty lavish lifestyle and definitely not subject to any “sorry, I have to work” scenarios.
From what I’ve read, the term cottage is misleading. In England and especially when referring to households of the royals, it’s more like a huge house. Some examples are the cottage in Wales where the Cambridges lived, and Nottingham cottage in KP where the Sussexes lived for a while.
Ivy Cottage isn’t secretly a huge place. You can see it in labeled maps of who lives where at KP. There are rare photos of it online, and Harry’s recent interview with Ed Sheeran took place in it. Nottingham Cottage likewise is small, with low door lintels Harry talked about hitting his head on frequently.
The farmhouse in Wales? Yes, that was four bedrooms on a posh private estate with four full-time staff while W&K leased it. Photos from the lease agent show it wasn’t a small cottage.
Old houses do tend to have lower ceilings. Nottingham cottage was 2 bedroom & 1,300 square feet. And Ivy Cottage was 5 apartments now converted in to one house. They are relatively large.
Also, David Linley, The Ear of Snowdon leases a “cottage” from the Duke of Beaufort on the Badminton Estate. It is my understanding that this “cottage” has 6 bedrooms and three principal receiving rooms (whatever a principal receiving room is).
I think the term “cottage” is used to describe a dwelling that is not the principal dwelling of a country or urban estate. However, I could be wrong in my definition and description.
Frogmore Cottage (formerly ‘Frogmore Cottages’) was five apartments now converted back to a single family home. Ivy Cottage is three bedrooms, previously used as office space for a lease manager.
I feel sorry for those two, not their fault their father is a pedo.
As for Fergie, she went to BP yesterday. I wonder if she was told that the tap is being turned off.
Fergie knows where all the bodies are buried. I think the Queen is aware of this and will handle her cautiously.
I have always found it odd that Eugenie is a co-founder of an anti-slavery/ human trafficking charity. Sorry but not buying it that they haven’t know Papa was dodgy these last 10+ years. Even if Eug formed that charity from a good place, it was her duty to report her father as otherwise she has a gross conflict of interest.
Both girls were around Epstein too, you don’t know where this desire comes from, from knowing a family friend could do that, to her or her sister being attacked. I don’t like to throw assumptions but her intentions don’t seem out of place. And honestly it’s good work.
Plausible deniability for the family. Don’t forget that their mother, Fergie, also took a $24,000 gift directly from Epstein in 2011 (a payment to her assistant).
I have never forgotten that either, someone else here mentioned yesterday that we need to see Sarah dragged in the mud too, right where she belongs.
I’m not even a UK citizen and it aggravates me that so far she’s stayed under the radar. She’s as conniving as they come and would do anything for money.
The York sisters shouldn’t be punished for Andy’s issues. They are truly innocent. Always have been. That being said…I think they’ve known for awhile now they weren’t going to be allowed to be working royals. They each have jobs. Someone is paying them. They have their inheritances from their great-grandmother and will be well taken care of by the Queen when she dies.
For that amount of money, Eugenie & Jack could purchase a home.
If Beatrice doesn’t want a huge wedding, give the woman what she wants. It’s her wedding after all.
“I think they’ve known for awhile now they weren’t going to be allowed to be working royals.”
Does anyone know for a fact if the “York Princesses WANT to be working Royals” or is this maybe what Andy Fergie want for them?
Something I find interesting is that neither Beatrice or Eugenie actually looked for (or appeared to look for) wealthy landed gentry or titled aristocrats to marry as Pippa Middleton did.
I’ve read that Jack Brooksbank’s parents have quite a lot of money. And Edo is kind of quasi Italian aristocratic isn’t he?
Not “my parents own large chunks of St Barts” rich like Pippa’s hubby but these aren’t just working class lads the York girls matched with
Regarding them wanting to be working royals, I remember years ago Bea saying “I want to be a Mini Mummy” and do charity work (hmm) like Fergie. I buy that Eugenie has a real job of sorts at the gallery (and as the DM reports, she comes and goes from her office 8-5 like any other working person) but Bea’s jobs have always sounded shady to me. But something tells me a chance to be on the Sovereign Grant, have funded offices with private secretaries, and have a slate of events would not be something either would say no to.
@Tourmaline Bea had her job for the last three years and was backed by one of her former internships. Any event related to tech probably has to do with Afiniti. here is a in depth article on her job
https://hrhprincessbeatriceblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/interview.pdf
She probeably more like is a face of the frim than anything she seem to plan to be with them for awhile,
“Princess Beatrice & Eugenie are being ‘protected’ & insulated from Andy’s debacle”
Is it wrong my first thought was “good”? Why should they bare their father’s cross? It’s not fair. Charles was always going to win, they’ll never be working royals. But they’re still grandchildren of the ruling monarch, she’s never going to get married at the local church hall.
There’s so many inaccuracies in the original article. B&E do charity work themselves, none of it is as representatives for the Queen. The SJP apartment is not paid by taxpayers, but rather sideways by Andrew/Queen with ‘private funds’. Plus we were told that apartment was given up before Eugenie’s wedding when Beatrice was based in NYC. Ditto Ivy Cottage.
Royal Lodge? Andrew doesn’t pay peppercorn rent because he doesn’t pay any rent. He paid for the 2002 restoration privately (or the queen or the oligarchs did), and in exchange he doesn’t pay rent. Beatrice and Eugenie inherit this pre-paid lease from him when he passes. Edward and Sophie have a similar, but not nearly as good, deal with Bagshot.
They did no wrong. They should be protected from being punished for the disgusting antics of their pedophile father.
Agree, I feel sorry for them.
Also Bea and Edo have no heat between them whatsoever.
Poor Bea and Eug! They are completely innocent, but will, unfortunately have to wear the stain of their father’s gross behavior forever. While no one will hold his actions against them, people will always think: “And your dad is a pedo” every.single.time. they are mentioned or photographed in the future. Shame.
There are times when karma comes with collateral damage and unfortunately for Bea and Eug, they are the collateral damage in this whole debacle.
I feel bad for them; none of this is their fault. They are innocent bystanders but they are going to have to deal with some of the fallout. And this will absolutely affect Beatrice’s wedding. I think now it will be 100% private, we might see a few pictures of Beatrice in her dress but my guess is that will be it.
I did appreciate the shade in the article about Eugenie’s wedding – “ostentatious” and “public spectacle” lol.
@Becks1, If Beatrice’s wedding is a 100% private affair, cannot she not sell exclusive pictures to the highest bidder as Peter & Autumn Phillips? Is Beatrice barred & prohibited from doing this because she is an HRH?
She’s not barred from it because she’s not a working royal, but Peter got in serious trouble with the Queen for doing that. The photos were casual, behind the scenes and were seen as embarrassing to the family. Zara was angry because she planned to sell her wedding too, but HM put her foot down. Instead, Zara and Mike did a photo exclusive with Hello with their first daughter.
@nota & Becks1, I heard (read somewhere) this story. Please comment if you know anything.
Autumn Phillips parents are by no no means poor or struggling just what would be considered in the USA comfortable upper-middle class. There was no way Autumn’s parents could have afforded even a very small semi-Royal wedding without as we Yanks say “mortgaging the farm and the house”.
Princess Anne refused to foot the bill for the expected semi-Royal wedding so Peter and Autumn had no choice but to sell an exclusive on their wedding pictures to raise the monies nece$$ary to have the expected semi-Royal wedding.
Do any fellow CBers have any information on this story?
I thought Autumn was Canadian?
I feel for them, it’s not their fault that their dad is a scumbag. They should be protected rn because they obviously weren’t protected as young girls with a dad like Andy inviting sex traffickers over for dinner.
Though I wonder if Beatrice’s wedding will even happen at all now. If I were Edo I would be looking for the exit right about now. Here’s hoping for Bea that it is a love match like she thinks and he sticks it out.
Sigh.
“Now that Andrew has been royally neutered” Not convinced he really has been – especially after this morning’s photo opt ride with HM. Charles needs to step it up big time here…..
Bea and Eug already have and will continue too, unfortunately, suffer their parents sins….
Meh. The York sisters laughed at Bishop Curry during Harry and Meghan’s wedding. After that stunt, I have little sympathy for them.
I’ve also found that people raised by racists tend to be racists…and Bea and Eug haven’t come out in support of the Sussexes either.
As far as I’m concerned: fuch em.
These women are 29 and 31. What is all of this talk about “insulating” and “protecting” them? What the f-ck is all of that about? They’re grown human beings. So why are they being treated with such kid gloves? “Oh we must protect them from their parents sins” “Oh we have to make sure they don’t pay for their father’s indiscretions.”
Don’t you think this is a remarkable contrast to how Meghan has been treated by the press? Meghan is CONSTANTLY held responsible for her family’s bad behaviour. And their sins are much smaller than Andrew’s! Everything everyone does that’s bad is Meghan’s fault, but these two women who get their whole lives subsidized on the tax payer dime because they can’t be bothered to work a job that allows them to pay their own f-cking rent “must be protected.” Give me a BREAK.
It’s a family. The older generations probably never stop thinking of the younger ones as “the children”. I can forgive their thinking being a little skewed in that regard.
Personally, I think the reason Meghan has gotten such a raw deal from the press is not royal backstabbing, but the press deciding to punish her for not giving them access to Archie.
I’m sorry, but that’s just bullsh-t. I’m from one of those families that you talk about. Yeah, you’re coddled, but at 30-f-cking-years of age, it’s well understood that you’re a damn adult and you don’t need to be protected from anything. It’s not understandable, it’s disgraceful, and it shows how they believe they should be treated as royals–as coddled, spoiled brats. I don’t have very much respect for a bunch of people who fail to look at reality in the eyes.
The press has been punishing Meghan since well before the birth of Archie, btw.
Well said, A!
I agree – well said, A.