Princess Beatrice has made her first public appearance since she and her younger sister, Princess Eugenie, skipped Royal Ascot earlier this month. The princess was seen walking around the Mayfair neighbourhood in London on Thursday, June 25, amid a historic heatwave across England, where temperatures hit a high of 37.3°C.
Royal Ascot Absence
Royal Ascot – the highlight of the British summer social calendar and an event the sisters have regularly attended in the past – ran from June 16 to June 20, but Beatrice and Eugenie were nowhere to be seen in either the carriage procession or in the Royal Box to watch the horse races. The sisters have kept a low profile following the fallout of their parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, links to the Epstein scandal.
After attending Christmas with the Royal Family at Sandringham alongside their husbands, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank, Beatrice and Eugenie have been absent from most royal events in 2026. In April, the sisters skipped the traditional royal Easter church service at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, reportedly with the “agreement and understanding” of their uncle, King Charles.
First Royal Family Appearance in 2026
The wedding of their cousin Peter Phillips to Harriet Sperling on June 6 marked the first time the sisters were seen in public with other members of the Royal Family this year. Both Beatrice and Eugenie skipped Trooping the Colour on June 13, but it was later revealed that they and their husbands were in Austria for a wedding.
Public Scrutiny and Family Loyalty
A friend of the sisters told HELLO!: “They will get criticism whether they go or not - and not just that [Royal Ascot] event. They just can’t win. Bea has found the scrutiny very hard, especially the strain of the past few weeks. It has felt as though things have been in freefall, and she’s being hammered and bullied by commentators.”
A report from The Sun said that Beatrice and Eugenie would be allowed to attend future family events, and that “all the signs are they’re not being judged on the sins of the parents.” However, royal biographer Ingrid Seward told People: “They are tarnished by this. It has affected their lives a great deal.” Fellow royal biographer Andrew Lownie agreed, adding that Beatrice and Eugenie are "caught between a rock and a hard place over loyalty to their parents and their future".
Sisters' Bond
In a previous interview before their father’s shocking arrest in February, the sisters spoke about being royals yet having careers outside of the Firm. Eugenie said: "We’re each other’s rocks. We’re the only other person in each other’s lives who can know exactly what the other one is going through."
