The pictures of Princess Beatrice regally holding court at an exclusive tea party for filthy rich Saudi investors at the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton last month are proof to me that both she and her sister Eugenie should now be stripped of their royal titles by King Charles and his heir, William.
I say this not just because it is crucial for the very survival of the monarchy, which is only just starting to recover from those humiliating revelations about their parents Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and Fergie’s relationship with the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. But also because removing the Princesses’ royal titles would be the kindest thing to do for them – since, as Beatrice’s Saudi jaunt proves, their HRH status will only end in scrutiny, tears and then most likely abject humiliation.
It may sound cruel, but let me explain. The photographs of Beatrice that emerged this week – taken just days before it was announced her father would be stripped of his royal titles and honours and ordered to leave his longtime residence, Royal Lodge – prove that, in a modern Britain, it is no longer possible to pursue both royal duty and lucrative business interests – especially where foreign autocracies are involved.
The mother-of-two, who is involved in software companies, was shown wearing a long black dress with matching pumps and a black bow in her hair, leading the event for ‘women business leaders’.
The invitation cards announced: ‘We cordially invite you to Afternoon Tea hosted by Princess Beatrice of York,’ along with Canadian wellness entrepreneur Ruma Bose, and a US-based organisation called the ‘Lioness Collective’.
How she arrived in Saudi Arabia – by scheduled airline or private jet – is not known, nor what fee, if any, she was paid for the gig. Still, she was certainly treated as a VIP by the assembled royals, energy bosses and high-powered bankers, with podcaster Sunil Sharma posing for a selfie with her in the hotel.

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Princess Beatrice hosted an exclusive tea party for Saudi investors at the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton last month

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‘As Beatrice should know from the fate of her parents, you can’t immerse yourself in the world of high finance one day and then represent the Royal Family the next,’ says Amanda Platell. Pictured: Beatrice and Eugenie with their parents at the 102 Dalmatians premiere in 2000

As Beatrice should know from the fate of her parents, you can’t immerse yourself in the world of high finance one day and then represent the Royal Family the next, especially at a time of existential crisis for the monarchy.
I fear she may have inherited her parents’ pig-headed obliviousness to public mood, unaware that such ill-conceived events only expose the royals to scandal, as the ludicrous tea party with a princess last month certainly did. The optics were terrible: Princess Beatrice fawning over some of the state’s most wealthy citizens at the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton, the hotel notorious for being central to the Arab state’s violent purge of hundreds of its most powerful royals, tycoons and ministers in 2017. From this very hotel emerged some of the most disturbing scenes of Saudi’s old guard being beaten and tortured. So what was Beatrice thinking?
Her presence was only made more unpalatable by the memories of her father’s frequent visits to the country as ‘UK trade envoy’.
Andrew was often accused of using the role not to boost Britain’s trade relationships, but to feather his own nest – with critics pointing out that many of his official trips coincided with the weekends of F1 Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi or Bahrain. I’d hate for Beatrice to be accused of following in her disgraced dad’s footsteps.
After Andrew and Fergie gave up their royal titles last month, I wrote that the King should also strip his nieces, Beatrice and Eugenie of their HRHs in order to complete the cleansing process and that they should ‘completely disappear from royal life’.
My opinion was not popular. Online readers replied arguing the young women should not be punished for the sins of their parents.
That may be true. But, as the late Queen so firmly insisted back when Meghan and Harry wanted a ‘half-in-half-out’ royal role, there is and never will be such an arrangement. You’re either in the Firm as a full-time working role or you’re out of it.

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The afternoon tea invitations billed the event as offering the chance to share ‘insights and bold ideas for investing in women, wellness, and the next generation of leaders’

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‘If Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie want to continue courting interests in the Middle East, they should not use their royal titles,’ writes Amanda Platell

If Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie – who have also made several visits to the region – want to continue courting interests in the Middle East, they should not use their royal titles.
Why can’t they take a leaf out of Zara Tindall’s book? Her mother, Princess Anne wisely chose for her children not to receive HRHs and to make their own way in the world.
And look where they are now: Olympic equestrian Zara and her ex-England rugby playing husband Mike Tindall have carved a fine and lucrative life for themselves and their three young children.
The royal expert Ingrid Seward suspects both Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice are ‘waiting in the wings’ to further ingratiate themselves and take on more royal duties as their cousin Prince William prepares for his future as King.
But however fond William is of his cousins and however painful it may be, it is for their sake and his future as King that Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie become respectively Mrs Mapelli Mozzi and Mrs Brooksbank, just as their father is now plain Andrew Mountbatten Windsor.
If they have any common sense, they would give up their HRH status willingly. The world would think a great deal more of them – and, without the pressure and scrutiny that being an HRH brings, they might even be happier.
Although, as Yorks, daughters of the most capricious, disgraced, money-grabbing royals in recent history, I am not holding my breath.