Princess Eugenie Is ‘More of Her Own Person’ When It Comes to Her Bond With Her Parents, Says Expert
Unlike her sister Beatrice, Eugenie has quietly but deliberately carved out a life independent of her parents' turbulent shadow.
While the Royal Family is no stranger to public scrutiny, Princess Eugenie has mastered a delicate, modern art: the respectful distance. Unlike her sister Beatrice, who remains tightly woven into the fabric of the York household, Eugenie has quietly but deliberately carved out a life independent of her parents' turbulent shadow. Navigating the fallout of the allegations surrounding her father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, she has managed to balance the duties of her lineage with a fiercely guarded personal autonomy — proving that sometimes, the strongest family tie is the one allowed to stretch. This has been affirmed by Andrew Lownie, author of Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, who noted that Eugenie has "never been as close" to her parents as Princess Beatrice.
"She’s more of her own person. Beatrice is very much under the sort of thrall of Sarah Ferguson, and she’s the older, more responsible one in the middle," he told Women's Day. Eugenie, according to Lownie, is preoccupied with her own activities and may be out of touch with her father, Mountbatten-Windsor, especially as the arrival of his fifth grandchild approaches. The royal author further explained that she is most likely horrified by the claims against him, a sentiment shared by her husband's respectable family, who consider him married beneath them by mingling with the Yorks. "I know her husband’s family are pretty appalled," Lownie said. The author believes this is why Princess Eugenie has been branching out on her own in Portugal and limiting her contact within the royal fold.
Lownie sees Eugenie's connection with her father as "very fractured" and questions the former Duke's and his ex-wife Fergie's current degree of contact, pointing out that the sole recent communication appears to have been Fergie passing on Eugenie's baby news. “I don’t know how much contact there is between Fergie and Andrew. I mean, clearly she passed on the news about the baby, but that’s about it,” the author highlighted. Previously, Lownie had suggested that if Beatrice and Eugenie were wise, they should distance themselves from the Royal Family. However, he noted that this wouldn't be the case since their careers heavily rely on their royal status, focusing on client relations and leveraging connections made through their titles.
"They would say, ‘I’m giving up my title and just going to concentrate on my family and my career, but their career is all based on being a princess," he said. Meanwhile, Princess Beatrice maintains a close bond with her mother, the ex-Duchess of York, whom she views as her rock, while her relationship with her father, the ex-Duke, is complicated due to his scandals and public scrutiny. Princess Eugenie was recently dropped from the King's Foundation despite being chosen as a mentor only a year ago. This latest shift indicates she is moving towards solo living as she gets ready to welcome her third child this summer.
