Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie joined the Windsors on their traditional walk to church at King Charles’s Sandringham estate on Christmas Day morning. The York sisters put on a show of unity with the Royal Family while their father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, reportedly spent Christmas Day with pals at Royal Lodge near Windsor Castle, which he will soon have to vacate.
Instead of celebrating Christmas with their father, the princesses opted to join the King. It comes as a scandal continues to swirl around Mr Mountbatten-Windsor and his friendship with the paedophile financier, Jeffrey Epstein. Beatrice and Eugenie’s appearance in Norfolk today (December 25) raises questions about what led to the decision and whether it was the right one.
The sisters have spent Christmas at Sandringham for many years as per royal tradition, but the apparent absence of their father and mother, Sarah Ferguson, may well have posed a dilemma for them.
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The York sisters’ Christmas at Sandringham came as Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, continued to face terrible headlines over his relationship with Epstein.
Newly surfaced emails, which emerged this week, included a message sent from Balmoral signed “A” asking disgraced British socialite and Epstein sex-trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell for “inappropriate friends”.
An email released as part of the Epstein files from the same individual, dated August 16, 2001, said they were at “Balmoral Summer Camp for the Royal Family” before asking Maxwell: “Have you found me some inappropriate friends?”
Further documents from the Epstein files, published by the US Department of Justice, include emails that show the Metropolitan Police contacted the FBI about Andrew last month.
In an email, dated November 10, a detective chief inspector from the Met said they were “reviewing” alleged efforts by Andrew to get information on Virginia Giuffre through his protection officers, human trafficking allegations and flight logs concerning Epstein’s trips to the UK.
Earlier this month, the force said it would not launch a criminal investigation into the claims the former duke asked his taxpayer-funded bodyguard to dig up dirt on Ms Giuffre, who accused him of sexual assault. Mr Mountbatten-Windsor repeatedly and strenuously denied the allegation.
