Should King William's 'court' include the York sisters?
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have found the spotlight on them following their father Andrew's offences
Hi Royal Clubbers,
It’s Ainhoa here. A few weeks ago the Prince formerly known as Prince Andrew – now Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (with a hyphen) – dominated the news cycle, whether you wanted to keep up with the British royal family or not. After the ex-Duke was stripped of his titles, style and honours and forced to move out of his home, attention has turned to his two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. Would – or should – they lose their titles as a result of their father’s offences? Should they be allowed to take part in royal events?
Royal author Phil Dampier believes the Princesses are “blameless” in all of this, as he told us in a previous post you can read here. They shouldn’t be punished for the sins of their parents, and I wholeheartedly agree. I can’t see King Charles stripping his nieces of their birth right, nor can I see Prince William taking action against his first cousins, who he gets on well with. But it has made me think, what will William’s reign look like?
We know that Charles has always championed a slimmed-down monarchy. You only have to take one look at the Buckingham Palace balcony at events like Trooping the Colour to see his vision, and version, of the monarchy. But can we expect the same from William, or will he need to call on family members like Beatrice and Eugenie to support the Crown? The current cohort of working royals is, in reality, senior in age. And William has depended on his cousins for support at past events like garden parties.
But Beatrice and Eugenie have never been working royals. They’ve always had private and personal lives, day jobs alongside their charity work, not to mention raising young families. They’ve enjoyed the HRH status without having to work for The Firm full time. So would that necessarily change when William takes the throne? Only time will tell…
I’d love to hear your thoughts on how you think William will reign. Vote in the poll below and leave a comment.
Further reading
Inside William and Catherine’s royal revolution
The Princesses would be fantastic working royals. They appear very genuine and empathic. Hopefully they will be called upon to serve if they so wish