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There’s nothing like a post-wedding knees-up for bringing distant relations together – and yet when Princess Anne’s son Peter Phillips marries his NHS nurse bride Harriet Sperling on June 6 it seems there will be several notable royal relations not in attendance.
Not only is Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, believed to have been denied an invite to see the happy couple tie the knot, but it’s understood that Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice have done a U-turn – opting not to attend despite originally being told they could.
And this – one expert says – is just the latest in a series of moves that has left the beleaguered York sisters “dangling” half in and half out of the royal fold.
Royal expert Andrew Lownie – author of the number one bestseller Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York – tells Woman’s Day that senior royals “can’t make up their mind” about what to do with Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s daughters, and he declares, “that’s a problem”.
The author points to another recent headline-making decision involving Beatrice and Eugenie – the news that they had reportedly been told they couldn’t join the Royal Family at the Ascot races in June.
The event is traditionally a highlight in the calendar for extended members of the family, with Beatrice in particular said to have been “blindsided” by the change in approach.
But when your father is at the centre of one of the greatest crises to face the Royal Family in years, that’s what happens.
Lownie describes the post-Andrew-scandal situation as “just yo-yo the whole time” for Beatrice and Eugenie.
“One moment they’re going to things, and the next they’re cut out,” the expert tells Woman’s Day of the sisters, adding that he sees it as a “fight” between Prince William, Queen Camilla and Kate, the Princess of Wales on one side, and King Charles on the other.
“Charles is a bit weaker and thinks, ‘Oh well, that you know the girls can’t be blamed, they’re okay’,” Lownie explains.
The author went on to say that if Beatrice and Eugenie “were sensible” they would “just cut loose themselves”.
“They would say, ‘I’m giving up my title and just going to concentrate on my family and my career, but their career is all based on being a princess. It’s all client relations, it’s all about bringing in people that they meet through their royal connections.”
Lownie points to a similar situation that emerged with Fergie who was “cut loose” from the Royal Family for years after the breakdown of her marriage to Andrew.
“As soon as Philip’s dead, she’s going to Wimbledon and Ascot, and Charles is kissing her hand,” the expert explains. “And I think it drives William nuts, because, you know, it’s a very mixed message that’s going to be sent out.
“I don’t know if [Charles] feels some sort of sympathy, he feels maybe… ‘We need to keep these people inside the tent’,” the author mused.
“I don’t know, but it’s a cruel way to behave to them, and it sends out such mixed messages, and it makes him look weak.”
Andrew Lownie’s book, Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York has been updated with sensational new material and is available for purchase now.
