London, Mar 1 (.) Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie will reportedly not attend this year’s Royal Ascot, amid continuing fallout connected to their parents, Prince Andrew and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson’s past associations with convicted financier Jeffrey Epstein.
A source informed, “I’ve spoken to my friend who works at Ascot, and they said the girls have been told they can’t be there this year.” “Beatrice has taken it the hardest. She’s been completely blindsided by all of this,” the insider added.
Andrew stepped back from official royal duties in 2019 following intense criticism of a televised interview addressing his relationship with Epstein, who died in custody while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges, reports PEOPLE.
In January 2022, Queen Elizabeth II revoked Andrew’s military titles and royal patronages after a U.S. court permitted a civil lawsuit filed by Virginia Giuffre to proceed. Giuffre alleged she had been sexually abused by Andrew when she was a minor, claims he has repeatedly denied. Giuffre committed suicide at age 44 in 2025.
Queen Elizabeth stripped her son of his military titles and patronages in January 2022, after a judge rejected his attempt to have Giuffre’s sexual assault lawsuit against him dismissed. He eventually settled with Giuffre out of court for an undisclosed sum.
After Giuffre’s posthumous book, Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice, was released last year, scrutiny of Andrew intensified, and he gave up the use of his royal titles, as well as other titles and honours.
Andrew, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, was stripped of his royal titles by King Charles days later.
Ferguson, 66, for her part, appears numerous times in the trove of Epstein evidence that was released by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), including one email in which she asked to work as Epstein’s house assistant because she “desperately” needed money, and another where she asked about children’s charity advice while Epstein was in jail for solicitation of prostitution with a minor. . . .