Peter Phillip’s wedding was always going to be the type of event that gave us a pretty clear idea of what the relationships between the members of the British royal family were. And things pretty much progressed like we expected them to. Prince Harry wasn’t invited. Prince William and Kate Middleton attended. So did Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. And King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Andrew and Fergie, meanwhile, did not.
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But one particular moment has given people pause. Pictures of Prince William greeting his cousin Princess Beatrice with a kiss have made the rounds on social media. There have been no such pictures of the heir to the throne greeting Beatrice’s sister, Princess Eugenie, the same way. Eugenie, who recently announced she was pregnant with her third child, has always reportedly been closer to Prince Harry. And if this wedding proved anything, it’s that battle lines have been drawn.
And William seems to be fighting not just complicated family dynamics, but public perception. After all, a report from the National Audit Office, the U.K.’s independent public spending watchdog, just revealed that both Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have lived rent-free for almost 20 years in their respective apartments at Kensington Palace and St. James’s Palace. Their rents have reportedly been paid by the King, which means public money.
This is perhaps why people were so surprised to see William, always so cognizant of optics, greeting Beatrice so warmly. There have been reports for a while that William will change the monarchy when he’s king, but that might not be anytime soon. Recent reports indicate King Charles’ cancer treatment is working very well, and he won’t be stepping down anytime soon. So, some speculate this might just be William falling in line.
But it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s actually supportive of the York sisters. In fact, royal expert Emily Nash told Page Six that their presence at the wedding can’t be taken as a sign of approval from the family. “I don’t think you can read too much into the fact that they’re attending a family wedding, but it is also them coming in from the cold to an extent,” Nash said. “Because we’ve not seen them publicly for a very long time together and, with the wider family and of course, without their parents.”
“You have to remember this is, on the one hand, an institution, on the other hand, a family, and the two cross. But there are very distinct lines as well,” she said. “Certainly they are still members of the family, and there’s obviously a lot of concern and affection for them within the family,” Nash explained. “But, you know, the question remains: what becomes, in the long term, of their titles?”
Does that mean they’re in danger of losing their titles? “I think it’s way too soon to say,” according to Nash. And she even speculated that the two might even be considering if it’s all worth it. “I wonder if, in hindsight, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice ever think how things might be different for them had they not been given titles,” Nash said. Peter Phillip’s, for example, does not have a title, but still gets all the benefits of being Anne’s son.
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