Eugenie Once 'Got in Trouble' After Posting an 'Off-Limits' Photo of Dad Andrew
Long before his fall from grace, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor enjoyed the privileges of royal life, holding prestigious titles and carrying out ceremonial duties. In 2018, he attended his first Trooping the Color as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards, a role he later lost owing to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein. At the time, Princess Eugenie shared a photo of him standing inside a Buckingham Palace corridor in his military uniform. She later admitted the post landed her in hot water, as it had been taken in an area not accessible to the public.
In an interview with British Vogue, after her engagement with Jack Brooksbank, Eugenie said of her Instagram debut, "I recently got in trouble for posting a picture of Papa in a corridor of the palace that was off-limits to the public." "A family snap from Balmoral?" suggested Tyne Lewin, her personal assistant. In the same sit-down, she also spoke of honoring her father, saying, "I'm trying to decide which picture to post on Instagram for Father's Day." Mountbatten-Windsor, who once held the Colonel of the Grenadier Guards title, was stripped of all his military honors by the late Queen Elizabeth in 2022, after his links to Epstein resurfaced.
The corridor that Eugenie was referring to is a private section of Buckingham Palace, not open to visitors. Such areas are restricted because they form part of the royal household's private spaces or backstage zones used for official functions, staff movement, or family access and are not meant to be seen by outsiders. When Eugenie posted the picture, she unintentionally breached royal protocol about exposing non-public areas. At Buckingham Palace, only designated State Rooms like the Throne Room, the Ball Room, and the Grand Staircase are accessible to the public during the Summer Opening.
While it was evident that Eugenie once enjoyed a loving relationship with her father, the same cannot be said now, after the release of the latest Epstein files. A close friend of hers told Page Six, "I know that Eugenie feels like she's being tarnished with a brush that's not hers, that's her father's." Even so, the York sisters are trying their best to remain in 'good spirits,' but, according to her pal, "it's a s--- show, a never-ending s--- show." Previously, reports suggested that Eugenie had cut off Mountbatten-Windsor owing to her work for The Anti-Slavery Collective. Calling that speculation partly true, the friend added, "I would not say they are estranged; that's not 100% true."
Regardless, the York sisters will not be cutting off their father completely, despite his many misgivings. Talking about their alleged emotional turmoil, royal author Robert Jobson told HELLO!, "They [Beatrice and Eugenie] must be overwhelmed and aghast by this." Adding on the same lines, a close friend of the princesses also told the outlet, "The sisters are not abandoning their father. They aren't turning their backs on him. But everything is obviously very strained and hard."