Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie won’t join the Royal
Family as it gathers in Windsor to mark Easter.
The princesses and their families have made alternative
arrangements and won’t been seen at St. George’s Chapel this Sunday
as the royals gather there.
King Charles and Queen Camilla will lead the Royal Family at the
Easter Sunday celebrations which will start with attendance at the
morning service at St. George’s Chapel.
It’s expected that the wider family will then spend time
together in Windsor Castle over the Bank Holiday weekend.
There had been speculation about whether Beatrice and Eugenie
would be seen at this first major gathering of the Royal Family
since the arrest of their father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
He was detained by officers under suspicion of misconduct in
public office and was released 11 hours later, without charge but
under investigation.
His new home on the Sandringham estate was searched at the same
time as was his former residence at Royal Lodge on the Windsor
estate.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was named numerous times in the
Epstein files, as was his former wife, Sarah Ferguson. Both have
faced scrutiny over their friendships with convicted sex offender,
Jeffrey Epstein.
Both princesses are also mentioned in the files which also
revealed that their mother took them to visit Epstein after his
release from prison for soliciting a minor for prostitution. Both
were adults at the time.
The King stripped his younger brother of his royal titles in the
autumn with Sarah Ferguson also losing her courtesy title.
Beatrice and Eugenie remain princesses and HRHs under the 1917
Letters Patent issued by King George V which states that all
grandchildren of a Monarch in the male line can hold those
titles.
In recent years, King Charles had invited former prince Andrew
and Sarah Ferguson to Easter celebrations at Windsor, along with
their daughters, but that is now at a close.
The alternative arrangements of Beatrice and Eugenie haven’t
been revealed. Princess Eugenie spends part of the year in Portugal
where her husband, Jack Brooksbank, has business interests.
Princess Beatrice’s husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, has been
seen frequently in the US in recent weeks, leading to some
speculation about the state of his marriage to the ninth in line to
the throne. The couple have since been seen enjoying dinner
together in London.
Buckingham Palace only said that The King and Queen would lead
the Royal Family at Windsor over Easter – it’s not clear whether
the Prince and Princess of Wales will be there along with their
children. Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10 and 7 year old
Prince Louis are currently school holidays. George will return for
one final term at his preparatory school at Lambrook after Easter
and then move on to secondary school in September.
Ahead of Easter Sunday, King Charles will carry out the annual
tradition of handing out Maundy Money this Thursday. Along with
Queen Camilla he will travel to the cathedral in St. Asaph where he
will present 77 men and 77 women with special purses of money. The
number of recipients always matches the Monarch’s age. The
tradition replaced the former practice of the king or queen washing
the feet of the poor on Maundy Thursday, just as Jesus had washed
the feet of his disciples.
