Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have not cut ties with their father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, despite the family being dragged into the Jeffrey Epstein scandal, sources have told HELLO! magazine. The sisters, aged 37 and 35, are said to be 'overwhelmed and aghast' by the revelations, but a family friend denies reports that Eugenie has severed contact with her father.
The scandal deepened last week when further emails from the 'Epstein files' emerged, revealing that the late convicted paedophile paid for Sarah, Duchess of York, and her daughters to fly to the US for lunch at his Palm Beach mansion in 2009, shortly after his release from prison. In other messages, Sarah made crude comments about Eugenie's love life and called Epstein 'the brother I have always wished for'.
Royal author Robert Jobson, who knows the family, expressed disbelief: 'What was she thinking? Taking her daughters – the late Queen's granddaughters – to meet this vile convicted criminal? It really beggars belief.' Sarah, 66, is reportedly lying low at an overseas spa, feeling guilty and worried about her mental health.
Despite the strain, Beatrice was recently seen riding with her father and her four-year-old daughter Sienna at Windsor. Andrew, 65, who was stripped of his titles by the King in October, has moved from Royal Lodge to a modest cottage on the Sandringham estate. The sisters' decision to spend Christmas with the King, rather than their parents, is seen as a sign of the family's fractured dynamic.
