Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie will be “desperate” for Prince Andrew‘s life to change, a royal expert has said.
Arthur Edwards said the princesses will still love their father because he has been “very kind” and “good” to them. The royal expert added there would be “no reason” why Beatrice and Eugenie wouldn’t love the Duke of York.
It comes as Andrew has faced intense public scrutiny over his friendship with the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and Chinese businessman Yang Tengbo, who is an alleged spy banned from entering the UK. Mr Tengbo denies the allegation.
Mr Edwards told The Sun‘s Royal Exclusive Show: “[Beatrice and Eugenie] would probably be like Sarah Ferguson, his ex-wife – probably desperate for him to have a change in his life, but it’s not going to happen.”
He went on to praise Andrew as a “good” father, but advised the prince to avoid further scandals and pursue a “quiet life”.
Beatrice and Eugenie are understood to have been at pains to boost their father’s spirits, including by visiting the Duke at his Royal Lodge home with their children.
A source told Hello! magazine in November that the royal siblings felt “quite protective” towards Andrew and had been spending more time with him.
Andrew has been largely absent from public life after he was removed from official royal duties in the wake of the Epstein scandal and a civil lawsuit in the United States brought by Virginia Giuffre, who said she survived sex trafficking and abuse by Epstein and alleged Andrew sexually assaulted her when she was under 18.
The Duke has strenuously and repeatedly denied the allegations and maintains he never met Ms Giuffre, with whom he reached an out of court settlement. The deal was not an admission of liability on Prince Andrew’s part.
Prince Andrew appeared at the funerals of his mother and father, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, and attended the coronation of his brother King Charles.
Mr Edwards told The Sun that Andrew’s interview with Maitlis, during which he denied knowledge of Ms Giuffre, was “an absolute disaster” for him and the Windsors. He added King Charles has had no choice but to cast his brother aside.
Andrew’s situation has sparked fevered speculation as to how he is able to sustain his royal lifestyle and continue to live at Royal Lodge.
A friend of Diana, the late Princess of Wales, told Channel 5 Elizabeth II would have left Andrew “something” in her will.
Richard Kay told the broadcaster: “We kind of think that the Queen must have left Andrew something. I suspect it was done long before she died, knowing, as she neared the end of her life, that Andrew was going to be a problem going forward, but we simply don’t know.
“Andrew, you must remember, was, it’s always said, her favourite son.”
