Princess Beatrice dons floral dress to attend Wimbledon
Princess Beatrice celebrates her 34th birthday on Monday. The royal, who remains largely out of the spotlight, is likely to spend the occasion privately, likely in the company of her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, daughter Sienna and step-son Wolfie. Beatrice and Edoardo divide their time between St James’s Palace in Westminster and the Cotswolds.
Their London residence is just a two-mile walk from the current home of Kate, Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William, although it has been reported that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will soon be relocating to the Windsor estate.
The relationship between Beatrice and her sister Princess Eugenie and the Cambridges has been the subject of speculation in recent weeks.
Royal commentator Neil Sean claimed that the two princesses have been “struggling” with the Duke and Duchess after the removal of Prince Andrew from public life.
He told Express.co.uk: “There is a big story breaking in the Royal Family that has remained largely under the radar, and it’s to do with Prince William, the Duchess of Cambridge, and William’s father Prince Charles.
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Beatrice and Eugenie were reportedly ‘banished’ by Diana. (Image: Getty Images)
The York sisters are supposedly ‘struggling’ to remain cordial with William and Kate. (Image: Getty Images)
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“According to very good sources, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice are seemingly struggling to remain cordial with Prince William, Catherine and Charles.
“It stems from the deal organized by William, the Queen, and Prince Charles to remove their father Prince Andrew from royal duties following his disgrace in recent years.”
Beatrice and Eugenie are believed to have once been close with their cousin, with royal biographer Tina Brown describing the pair as the “favorite cousins” of the Duke and his brother Prince Harry.
However, in her 2022 book ‘The Palace Papers’, Ms Brown recounted an earlier obstacle in the royals’ relationship, claiming that the princes’ mother Diana, Princess of Wales “banished” the York sisters from seeing her boys.
Ms Brown noted how important Diana’s sons were to her, referring to the times the princess took the two boys “to theme parks, shooting ranges, films,” and mentioning Diana breaking royal protocol as she “kicked off her shoes and ran barefoot in the mothers’ race” at Harry’s nursery.
Diana wanted her children to have moments of normalcy. (Image: Getty Images)
But, the royal biographer also claimed that “there was a destructive side to Diana’s mothering,” adding that a “rampant insecurity” dictated that the Princess of Wales “always needed to be first in her boys’ hearts”.
Ms Brown described Diana’s “pattern of cutting out people” the two princes cared about, which “continued throughout their childhood”.
She claimed a falling out between Diana and Sarah Ferguson saw the princess “banish” the boys’ “favorite cousins” — Beatrice and Eugenie.
The late princess allegedly “fatwa’d her sister-in-law for revealing she had developed verrucae after borrowing Diana’s shoes.”
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Beatrice and Eugenie were William and Harry’s ‘favorite cousins’. (Image: Getty Images)
Diana and Sarah — affectionately nicknamed Fergie — had a complicated relationship, which over the years saw them as rivals, best friends and all that comes in between.
Long before the two women married into the Royal Family, the pair had a friendship, given that they were fourth cousins and their mothers went to school together.
However, they only became close in 1980 — when Diana was 19 and Fergie was 21.
Fergie was invited to the Royal Wedding of Diana and Prince Charles in 1981, and soon became a confidant for the new princess as she came to terms with all things royal.
Sarah later wrote in her 1996 autobiography: “She was two years younger than I, and I strove to support and protect her as I would a younger sister — as I still do today, as a best friend.”
It was Diana who introduced Sarah to Prince Andrew, and as her friend entered the royal fold, the Princess of Wales took on a protective and guiding role.
Sarah brought out the fun and cheeky side of Diana, which often got the royal sisters-in-law in trouble with the Firm and criticized by the press.
But as sisterly relationships often go, beneath the close bond was a certain amount of rivalry.
Fergie impressed the Queen Elizabeth II with her pilot’s license, won over Prince Philip by taking up open carriage driving, one of the Duke of Edinburgh’s favorite past-times, and excelled at the kind of sports that the royals love, but Diana wasn’t good at, including skiing and horseback riding.
The Princess of Wales revealed to her biographer Andrew Morton, that Fergie “wooed everybody in this family and did it so well. She left me looking like dirt,” adding that Prince Charles told her “I wish you would be like Fergie — all jolly.”
But when both of their relationships broke down, the two women leant on each other for support.
By 1992, when they both officially separated from their husbands, Diana and Fergie were closer than ever.
However, 1996 saw Diana stop speaking to Fergie altogether, allegedly because of the way her former sister-in-law wrote about her in her autobiography, which came out in the November of that year.
When Diana tragically died in August 1997, the pair had not reconciled.
Diana and Sarah soon became close confidants. (Image: Getty Images)
Sarah attended her old friend’s funeral and later told Harper’s Bazaar: “Because we were like siblings… we rowed. And the saddest thing, at the end, we hadn’t spoken for a year.”
She continued: “I tried, wrote letters, thinking whatever happened didn’t matter, let’s sort it out.
“And I knew she’d come back. In fact, the day before she died she rang a friend of mine and said: ‘Where’s that Red? I want to talk to her.'”
Some 25 years later, it is understood that Beatrice and Eugenie are particularly close with their cousin Harry and his wife Meghan Markle.
Eugenie is the only member of the Royal Family to visit the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in Montecito, California, and until recently resided in their former royal residence Frogmore Cottage.
‘The Palace Papers’ was written by Tina Brown and published by Century in 2022. You can find it here.