Before the Epstein Files, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie were hugely adored but the demise of their parents’ reputation is having a startling effect.

When a star goes supernova its black hole sucks in all around it – Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was no celebrity ‘star’ but his implosion has finally dragged his daughters down. Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, have not spoken publicly since Andrew’s arrest at Sandringham, in Norfolk, on suspicion of misconduct in a public office on February 19th.

In early 2025, YouGov polls showed the princesses had each grown in popularity from the year before, with Beatrice seen positively by 41 per cent of Brits, while Princess Eugenie was liked by 40 per cent. The sisters are ninth and twelfth in the line of succession to the throne, with Andrew eighth, as some Commonwealth countries have started to debate whether he should be removed entirely.

When the Epstein Files revelations first started to rock Andrew and Sarah Ferguson last month, it would have been unconscionable to suggest the princesses should join their dad and also be axed from succession.

Jeffrey Epstein’s emails show no direct communication between the vile US paedophile and either princess.

Instead both young women are only mentioned in email exchanges from either Epstein to Fergie – such as asking her if her two daughters would show his goddaughter around London – or by Fergie to Epstein, such as her uncouth remarks about Eugenie being away on a “sh***ing weekend”.

Beatrice, Sarah Ferguson and Eugenie (Image: Getty)

Princess Eugenie was 19 years old at the time her mum wrote that and had just started dating her now-husband, Jack Brooksbank, with whom she shares two children.

It’s claimed Eugenie is “disappointed” in her mother for making the remark to Epstein, a beast who clearly would have enjoyed such salacious gossip.

The one suggested interaction the princesses did have with Epstein was when emails suggest they joined – or planned to join – their mother on a flight to New York to meet the pervert after his release from prison in 2009.

But mud sticks and through their parents’ weakness, both princesses are starting to lose the goodwill of the nation, as our own new poll has revealed.

Royal fans were asked in a poll conducted by the Daily Express if Beatrice and Eugenie should be removed from the line of succession.

Out of the 4,183 people who voted in total, an overwhelming 2,931 people said they should be removed, while 1,072 felt that they should remain.

An additional 180 people were undecided.
Peter Mandelson, Andrew and Fergie have all been excoriated by the Epstein Files (Image: Getty)

Taking to the comment section, one wrote: “If their father is removed from the line of succession then surely they, his offspring, cannot be in line.”

Another added simply: “Yes, they should be removed.” A third added: “Surely if [Andrew’s] out of the line, then they must also be!”

As well as their own positions, Beatrice and Eugenie’s children also appear in the line of succession.

Beatrice’s two daughters – four-year-old Sienna and one-year-old Athena – are 10th and 11th, whilst Eugenie’s two sons – five-year-old August and two-year-old Ernest – follow their mum at 13th and 14th.

If Eugenie and Beatrice are chopped, naturally you would expect their four children to be as well.

That means should the Commonwealth and Westminster all agree, we could see SEVEN royals drop out of the line of succession completely.

t would cause chaos, like a 1990s pop chart with Take That, Boyzone, Oasis, Blur and the Spice Girls all suddenly taken out.

Admittedly the British monarchy’s ‘Line of Succession’ does not enthral the nation like the music charts but for some royal obsessives the fall of the House of York is like a 21st Century War of the Roses.

If Andrew and Fergie had any notion of parental responsibility they would speak out to shield their daughters from the car crash of their own making, instead of letting them remain collateral damage.