Nov. 2, 2025

The Sisters Step Back: Beatrice and Eugenie Weigh Their Future after Andrew Fallout

The Sisters Step Back: Beatrice and Eugenie Weigh Their Future after Andrew Fallout

Princess Eugenie skipped a “highly fraught” Royal Lodge summit while Princess Beatrice left looking shaken, as the York sisters quietly reassess their roles amid their father’s crisis. Commentators say Christmas optics matter, but warn working-royal futures are doubtful; Jennie Bond asks whether the sisters now question “why both he and their mother continued an association with a convicted sex offender for so long,” and Ingrid Seward floats giving up titles to “make their own way.” Tessa Dunlop challenges royal wealth transparency as King Charles the Third moves to “clear this up… before William becomes King,” per Phil Dampier.

Plus: Brazil’s Earthshot catering row—local chef Saulo Jennings balks at a fish-free brief—sparks a wider debate over sustainability versus cultural tradition.

Check out "Palace Intrigue Presents: King WIlliam" here.

👑 Follow our hit series Crown and Controversy! Season 1 is fully available now for everyone. Season 2 has
new episodes every Sunday on the regular feed. GET THE FULL SEASON 2 BEFORE REGULAR LISTENERS as a subscriber! Hit that "UNINTERRUPTED LISTENING" Banner on the top of the Apple player. AND listen to Crown and Controversy "NORWAY'S ROYAL REBELS" here and get the full season as a premium subscriber now. 

PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS get all these shows plus Deep Crown COMMERCIAL FREE LISTENING!! NO ADS!!

👑 The Palace Intrigue Social Hub is Live! Join the conversation on Facebook and Instagram or click the links to start your royal journey!

Plus you unlock 25+ series from Caloroga Shark Media!se

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:11.720
Calorogus Shark Media. Hello and welcome to Pallace Intrigue. I'm

2
00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:15.320
your host, Mark Francis. Princess Eugenie was notably absent from

3
00:00:15.320 --> 00:00:18.399
a tense family summit held at Royal Lodge just days

4
00:00:18.440 --> 00:00:21.359
after Prince Andrew's shock announcement that he would relinquish his

5
00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:25.480
remaining royal titles and honors. The meeting was described by

6
00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:30.440
one insider as a highly fraught affair. While Princess Beatrice

7
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:33.560
was seen leaving the thirty room mansion appearing visibly strained,

8
00:00:33.960 --> 00:00:38.039
her sister Eugenie was nowhere in sight. A royal source

9
00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:41.560
explained to The Daily Mail the Royal Lodge summit wasn't

10
00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:44.039
a happier casion and the family wants a strong unit

11
00:00:44.399 --> 00:00:48.520
is fractured. Sources say Beatrice has been particularly affected by

12
00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:52.439
her father's ongoing scandals, reportedly telling friends she couldn't bring

13
00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:56.840
herself to look at the Sunday papers and appeared absolutely devastated.

14
00:00:58.119 --> 00:01:00.439
Beatrice and Eugenia said to be carefully considering how to

15
00:01:00.479 --> 00:01:03.960
remain visible within the royal family. Royal commentator Richard fitz

16
00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:06.439
Williams told gb News that while the sisters are keeping

17
00:01:06.439 --> 00:01:10.120
a low profile. This Christmas could present a key moment

18
00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:13.079
for them to show unity with the rest of the firm.

19
00:01:13.519 --> 00:01:17.000
He said, it's entirely significant from a public relations point

20
00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:19.439
of view. Of course, it's important to be seen with

21
00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:22.840
the royal family at Christmas. Fitz Williams added that the

22
00:01:22.959 --> 00:01:25.400
York sisters are happily married and have done a certain

23
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:28.560
amount of charitable work, but said it's unlikely they'll take

24
00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:31.760
on more royal duties in the near term. They've got

25
00:01:31.799 --> 00:01:35.200
to handle things, he explained, it's impossible for them, and

26
00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:38.239
one does sympathize, but we don't know what's coming out

27
00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:42.760
in all these files. Royal expert Jenny Bond tells The

28
00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:45.439
Mirror that Beatrice and Eugenie must be questioning why both

29
00:01:45.480 --> 00:01:48.959
he and their mother continued an association with a convicted

30
00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:52.280
sex offender for so long. Beatrice must look back and

31
00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:54.319
think how strange that they invited a man like that

32
00:01:54.359 --> 00:01:57.480
to her eighteenth birthday party, even though at that stage

33
00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:00.879
he had not actually been arrested. That happened eight days later.

34
00:02:01.799 --> 00:02:04.000
They must wonder why their mother purportedly took them to

35
00:02:04.040 --> 00:02:06.439
New York to meet Epstein when he came out of prison.

36
00:02:06.799 --> 00:02:09.360
Sarah says she can't remember the visit, but there is

37
00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:12.039
an email from Epstein which claims they came to celebrate

38
00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:16.199
his release. Beatrice and Eugenie must be so conflicted. The

39
00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:18.080
King has made it clear that they are still welcome

40
00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:21.199
at family events such as Christmas. Charles and William have

41
00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:22.960
always been fond of them and don't want to see

42
00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:26.080
them suffer. But the girls obviously love their parents, and

43
00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:28.199
it must be hard to witness the onslaught and public

44
00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:30.840
humiliation of both of them. If they've got any sense,

45
00:02:30.919 --> 00:02:32.960
they'll just get on with bringing up their young children

46
00:02:33.280 --> 00:02:35.680
and try not to be drawn into this huge public row.

47
00:02:36.639 --> 00:02:39.120
And it seems they are already trying to keep although profile.

48
00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:41.520
They were reportedly due at a big charity event last

49
00:02:41.520 --> 00:02:44.960
weekend but fail to show, and I don't blame them.

50
00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:46.400
I have never thought that they were going to be

51
00:02:46.400 --> 00:02:48.879
given official roles as working royals, but I think the

52
00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:52.280
slatest crisis has finally closed the door on that possibility.

53
00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:56.599
Royal commentator Ingrid Seward suggested that Beatrice and Eugenie might

54
00:02:56.599 --> 00:03:00.280
consider formally stepping away from their royal identities. Moving up

55
00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:03.080
their titles would give them freedom from their parents stop

56
00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:06.080
them being tired with the same brush and be a

57
00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:08.400
clear sign that they want to make their own way

58
00:03:08.520 --> 00:03:11.599
in the world. I think people would hugely respect them

59
00:03:11.639 --> 00:03:13.879
for it, and I think ultimately they would be happier.

60
00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:18.240
Our Royal insided Deep Crown adds if Beatrice and Eugenie

61
00:03:18.319 --> 00:03:20.840
truly abandoned ship, poor William will be left with a

62
00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:23.439
slim down monarchy, so sland that you could practically boast

63
00:03:23.479 --> 00:03:26.039
it through a letterbox. What we would witness would be

64
00:03:26.199 --> 00:03:28.840
less a royal institution, a more regional theater troupe with

65
00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:32.560
hereditary costumes, William and Catherine attempting to run a royal

66
00:03:32.599 --> 00:03:34.759
repertory company, and a cast that could barely fill a

67
00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:38.240
community center stage. Sophie and Edward bless them alike. The

68
00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:41.159
understudies have been quietly waiting in the wings, while Mike

69
00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:45.039
Tyndall provides the comic relief, occasionally stumbling through with rugby

70
00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:49.199
player charm where royal protocol might otherwise demand grace. It's

71
00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:52.719
a delicate chamber ensemble where each member is desperately trying

72
00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:55.439
to play their part without causing a scandal, though one

73
00:03:55.439 --> 00:04:01.479
suspects the sheet music as several pages conspicuously missing in

74
00:04:01.520 --> 00:04:03.960
the independent tests and dunlop rites. It is rumored and

75
00:04:04.199 --> 00:04:07.840
likely that Elizabeth I left Andrew very little. Why give

76
00:04:07.879 --> 00:04:09.479
it directly to the second son when it can be

77
00:04:09.680 --> 00:04:12.439
funneled tax free through the first. What you can be

78
00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:14.240
pretty sure of is that the late Queen will have

79
00:04:14.319 --> 00:04:18.319
future proofed Andrew's finances before she departed, But exactly how

80
00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:21.360
she did this as anyone's guess. An Act of Parliament

81
00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:24.120
prevents the publication of the monarch's will, not so for

82
00:04:24.199 --> 00:04:26.839
lesser royals, but despite the best efforts of some journalists,

83
00:04:27.240 --> 00:04:30.199
Prince Philip's will is under wraps for some ninety years.

84
00:04:30.879 --> 00:04:33.639
As for King Charles, my father, richest British sovereign in

85
00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:36.160
modern times, we were told he cut his brother off

86
00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:40.560
financially last year, beyond the gleeful headlines, whereas the actual proof,

87
00:04:40.639 --> 00:04:43.839
of course, one does not question the monarch. Convention dictates

88
00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:47.040
that MPs can't even raise queries about his Majesty or

89
00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:49.920
the royal family in Parliament. But there is a very

90
00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:52.240
serious point here about transparency when it comes to the

91
00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:55.600
royal family's wealth, private investments and other sources of income

92
00:04:55.680 --> 00:04:58.079
that are kept from the public. William appeared on a

93
00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:01.839
carefully curated Apple TV document recently to talk about change

94
00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:05.759
under his stewardship when the time comes. But exactly what

95
00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:08.959
sort of change do we really think he is going

96
00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.360
to usher? In? An error of transparency, hack away at

97
00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:14.800
the thickest of privilege and opacity that the Royals have

98
00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:17.600
for so long enjoyed. Of course he isn't. William is

99
00:05:17.639 --> 00:05:21.720
talking of superficial optics, the sort our press are obsessed with,

100
00:05:21.879 --> 00:05:25.639
for example, whether Andrew is allowed into Sandry Hand this Christmas,

101
00:05:25.720 --> 00:05:27.560
or if there will be twelve Royals not ten on

102
00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:32.600
the Buckingham Bellas balcony for trooping. Despite all the stories

103
00:05:32.600 --> 00:05:34.879
about how ruthless King William will be. Royal author Phil

104
00:05:34.920 --> 00:05:37.600
Dampia suggests why Charles has been active trying to clean

105
00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:40.759
up Andrew Gate recently. He explains, I think the main

106
00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:43.040
priority will have been to try and clear this up

107
00:05:43.079 --> 00:05:45.639
once and for all and draw a line under it

108
00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:48.360
before William becomes king, so that he doesn't have to

109
00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:52.319
deal with it. They don't like loose ends. That's an

110
00:05:52.319 --> 00:05:54.519
interesting comment in the shadow of rumors that Charles may

111
00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:58.120
be more sick than the firm. Let's on more powers

112
00:05:58.160 --> 00:06:04.879
in just a moment. When Brazilian chief Salo Jennings was

113
00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:07.240
told he'd be cooking for an heir to the British throne,

114
00:06:07.240 --> 00:06:11.279
he knew exactly what to serve. The Amazon's star ingredient,

115
00:06:11.560 --> 00:06:16.439
the mighty pieruku, a freshwater fish so prized it's often

116
00:06:16.439 --> 00:06:19.680
called the cod of the Rainforest. But there was one

117
00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:22.720
small problem. Prince William's Earthshot Prize event in Rio, where

118
00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:25.279
Jennings had been invited to cata for seven hundred guests,

119
00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:29.759
required a one hundred percent vegan menu. At first, Jennings

120
00:06:29.759 --> 00:06:32.279
thought he had misheard. It's like asking iron maiden to

121
00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:34.600
play jazz. He said, it was a lack of respect

122
00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:38.160
for local cuisine, for our culinary tradition. When he was

123
00:06:38.199 --> 00:06:40.439
told no fish in any kind could appear on the menu,

124
00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:45.160
Jennings bought. The Amazon's food identity, he argued, is tied

125
00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:48.480
to what the forest and rivers provide, and that includes fish.

126
00:06:48.959 --> 00:06:52.040
We eat whatever the forests give us, whatever the rivers

127
00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:54.720
give us, he said. Some days we eat fish, other

128
00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:58.959
days we eat nuts and a sci that's also sustainable.

129
00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:02.120
After much persuasion from the museum hosting the event, Jennings

130
00:07:02.120 --> 00:07:06.959
created a plant based menu inspired by cassava, jamboo leaves

131
00:07:06.959 --> 00:07:09.839
and brazil nuts, but by then talks had fallen the

132
00:07:09.879 --> 00:07:12.319
part he is no longer catering the November fifth event.

133
00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:15.319
I have nothing against vegans or British people, Jennings said,

134
00:07:15.319 --> 00:07:18.600
but I don't want to abandon my culinary mission. His

135
00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:22.240
stance has sparked debate across Brazil, where many see the

136
00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:25.560
earth Shots team's decision as a slight to the Amazon's

137
00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:29.879
culture and a misunderstanding of what sustainable really means. Jennings

138
00:07:29.920 --> 00:07:32.360
has previously cooked for the British Embassy, even serving fish

139
00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:37.160
and chips made with peruku during King Charles coronation celebrations

140
00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:40.120
without issue. A person close to the Earth Shot Prize

141
00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:42.319
said Prince William had no involvement in the menu, and

142
00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:46.040
clarified the event had asked for vegetarian not vegan food,

143
00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:49.720
a policy consistent with its environmental mission. They added that

144
00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:53.920
Jennings was ultimately not chosen due to budget concerns. Still,

145
00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:56.399
the dustup is exposed a broad attention in the global

146
00:07:56.399 --> 00:08:01.519
climate conversation how to balance sustainability with respect for local traditions.

147
00:08:01.720 --> 00:08:05.199
The Piruku, once near extinction, has become a symbol of

148
00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:11.279
successful conservation thanks to a regulated fishing and community led management. Jennings,

149
00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:14.759
who serves as a UN Gastronomy Ambassador, will soon cook

150
00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:18.160
for the Norwegian and Chinese delegations at the upcoming Climate Summit,

151
00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:22.519
and at President Louis Nasio Lola da Silva's request, he'll

152
00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:25.800
also cater a dinner for world leaders and yes, he

153
00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:28.240
confirmed with a smile, with all due respect, there will

154
00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:31.519
be fish and they have it. In fact. The email

155
00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:34.720
us addresses the Palace Intrigue at a gmail, a dot com.

156
00:08:34.720 --> 00:08:36.519
Please follow us on Spotify, Apple or the app of

157
00:08:36.559 --> 00:08:38.320
your choice and leave us a nice review. If you're

158
00:08:38.360 --> 00:08:41.919
enjoying the show, I'm Mike Francis my thanks to John

159
00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:45.080
McDermott's Palace Intrigue in Good Times