What was it that persuaded Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, as he is now known, to move out of Royal Lodge, his 30-room ‘palace’ at Windsor and accept the loss of his titles and honours, too?
Andrew had a ‘cast-iron’ legal right to remain at Royal Lodge until 2078 and had resisted months of relentless pressure from elder brother King Charles. Until last month, that is, when he finally caved in.
True, the King had agreed to find a new home for Andrew on the private royal estates and provide him with financial compensation.
Yet there was more to it than that. For I can reveal that it was made clear to Andrew that, while his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson would also lose her title, there would be no action taken against their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie.
Both would retain the title of princess, even though their father can no longer style himself prince.
Andrew was told that both women would also retain their places in the line of succession to the throne – ninth in Beatrice’s case and 12th in Eugenie’s.
Andrew and King Charles at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral in September
Beatrice, 37, would also remain one of seven Counsellors of State legally entitled to stand in for the King if he cannot undertake his official duties due to temporary illness or absence abroad.
There is, however, another aspect of this ‘secret deal’ between the King and his brother Andrew that I can now disclose.
It was agreed that not only would there be no action taken by the King against Beatrice and Eugenie, 35, but they would be allowed to accept new official royal roles.
The first evidence of the deal was provided last Friday, barely a week after the King announced that he was stripping Andrew of his titles and honours.
Outward Bound, one of the charities most closely associated with the Royal Family, announced that Beatrice had been appointed as its new Deputy Patron.
The new Royal Patron was her uncle Prince Edward. Both appointments were approved by the King and, in Bea’s case, it was hugely significant.
Outward Bound’s figurehead for 65 years had been Prince Philip, until his second son, Prince Andrew, took over as patron of the group, which uses ‘wild adventure to help young people realise their potential through learning, challenge and discovery in the outdoors’.
Eugenie and Beatrice in central London, in their first public appearance together since Andrew was stripped of all his royal titles
Emphasising the King’s approval of the appointments, their announcement coincided with an Outward Bound supporters’ event at St James’s Palace, hosted by Edward, who succeeded his father as Duke of Edinburgh, and attended by Beatrice.
‘With the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Beatrice working alongside us, we’re embarking on a new chapter,’ said Martin Davidson, Outward Bound’s chief executive.
‘One where every young person has the chance to test their limits, build confidence and discover that anything is possible. Their support reflects a shared belief that adventure changes lives.’
Outward Bound is not the only good cause with which Beatrice is involved. On Monday, she visited Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to see the charity Borne’s research laboratories and learn more about the organisation’s work to prevent premature birth.
Beatrice’s own daughter, Athena, was born prematurely at the hospital in west London and the princess is a patron of Borne.
With the King’s approval, we can expect more of such public engagements by Beatrice and Eugenie, to the surprise of their critics, who worry that they are tainted by the controversies surrounding their parents.
The princesses have travelled the world with Andrew and Fergie, and have also been drawn into some of their scrapes over the years.
In 2006, for example, Andrew invited his friend, the late millionaire sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein, to Beatrice’s 18th birthday party.
Two years later, the American financier was convicted by a Florida state court of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute.
Andrew remained friends with Epstein after he was released from prison and lied about their relationship in his interview with the BBC’s Newsnight at Buckingham Palace.
Questions remain, meanwhile, about a mysterious £750,000 gift from a Turkish millionairess, which Andrew insisted was for his elder daughter’s wedding.
A High Court case in 2022 heard how Eugenie received £25,000 from the same benefactor, including a £15,000 ‘birthday gift’ sent almost six months in advance.
The King is, however, a fair and magnanimous man who does not believe that his nieces should suffer because of their parents’ behaviour.
‘It is, perhaps, one of the few things that His Majesty and Andrew agree on,’ a royal source told me.
‘They both love Beatrice and Eugenie and want the best for them. They also agree that the princesses can play an important, helpful role in public life.’
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