Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have been told they cannot join the Royal Family at Royal Ascot this year amid concerns about the unfolding scandal involving the House of York and their ties with Jeffrey Epstein, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Sources say the sisters, whose names appear several times in the Epstein files, will not take their seats in the Royal Box at the prestigious horse-racing event in June, nor can they join senior royals for the Royal Procession.
The move is said to have ‘completely blindsided’ Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, who are already reeling from the arrest of their father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
But the MoS understands that the move is part of a wider decision to exclude the Princesses from all public-facing events for the foreseeable future.
It follows high-level Palace meetings about the role the pair should play given that serious questions remain about the extent of their relationship with the paedophile financier, including financial links.
The news comes amid reports of a gulf between the sisters and the Prince and Princess of Wales, who are said to be particularly keen to keep them at ‘arm’s length’ until details of any links are clearer.
A well-placed source told the MoS: ‘I’ve spoken to my friend who works at Ascot and they said the girls have been told they can’t be there this year.
‘Beatrice has taken it the hardest. She’s been completely blindsided by all of this.’
Princess Beatrice (L) and Princess Eugene (R) pictured at Royal Ascot at Ascot Racecourse in 2024
Prince William is also said to have advised other Royals not to appear in photographs alongside the pair ‘for the rest of the year’.
The move indicates that the Palace accepts that any suggestion Beatrice and Eugenie advanced their own interests by turning a blind eye to the source of the Yorks’ fortune poses a serious risk to the wider family.
Another source added: ‘Ascot would be out of the question because the royals have been told they can’t have pictures with the girls for the rest of the year.’
Being excluded from Royal Ascot will come as a particular blow to the Princesses.
It was a favourite event of the late Queen Elizabeth, and the Procession – which sees senior royals brought into the Royal Enclosure in carriages – has been a ceremonial tradition since 1825.
However, the source added that it would be impossible for the pair to attend because, traditionally, those who are part of the carriage procession stay at Windsor Castle the night before and have dinner with the family.
‘That’s another reason why it’s out of the question that the girls will be able to go, unless they are just there as members of the Royal Enclosure,’ they said.
Notably, William and Kate were careful to avoid being photographed walking alongside the Princesses at the royals’ Christmas Day church service at Sandringham.
Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, pictured leaving Aylsham Police Station after he was arrested on February 19
But another source said there was still ‘a lot of sympathy for the girls’ among the public, who were not ‘harbouring any bad feelings’.
And further support has come from an unlikely place – the Sussexes in Montecito.
Well-placed rumours suggest that Prince Harry has invited Beatrice to use his £11 million home as a bolthole.
Although he and Meghan have been closer to Eugenie and her husband, who remained in contact with the couple when they stepped back as working royals in 2020, Beatrice is said to have taken her father’s fall from grace hardest.
A source explained: ‘Harry has communicated with the girls, saying something along the lines of, “He knows what it’s like to be at the wrong end of the institution”.
‘He’s said there’s an open invite, especially for Beatrice, if she ever wants one.’
Concerns about the Princesses’ possible financial ties to Epstein have mounted in recent months.
They are known to have visited the disgraced billionaire in Florida days after he was released from jail in 2009 for prostituting minors.
As this newspaper revealed in November, Prince William is said to have been frustrated that his cousins refused his suggestion to subject their personal investments to an ‘ethics check’.
Princess Beatrice, pictured cheering at the racing while attending Royal Ascot last year, is said to have been offered Prince Harry’s £11 million home as a bolthole
The Palace is aware that Andrew and his business friends acted as Beatrice and Eugenie’s financial advisers and ‘no one is quite sure what might not be entirely above board’, a source has said.
The Charity Commission has also confirmed it is ‘assessing concerns’ about Eugenie’s charity, The Anti-Slavery Collective.
Figures reveal an income last year of £92,311, including more than £48,000 in donations, but total expenditure of £301,024. The most significant sum was spent on salaries, according to The Times.
A Charity Commission spokesman said: ‘We are assessing concerns raised in the media about charitable spending at The Anti-Slavery Collective to determine what role there is, if any, for the Commission.’
Royal commentators have also been asking about the provenance of Beatrice’s cash and connections.
In 2015, we revealed she went on 15 holidays in a year – including to Verbier, St Tropez and Ibiza – despite earning just £19,000 as a junior employee at Sony music.
The Epstein files also revealed Beatrice offered her mother advice on getting back into Epstein’s good graces and encouraged her father to give his disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019.
Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and Royal Ascot all declined to comment.
The MoS contacted Beatrice and Eugenie for comment.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.celebrity.land.co.uk ’
