Princess Beatrice and Eugenie Seen Together for First Time Since Andrew Scandal

Sisters Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have been close their entire lives, and their bond was on full display as they presented a united front amid fallout over their parents’ association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

One week after King Charles announced that he was stripping his younger brother, formerly known as Prince Andrew, of all his royal titles and privileges on October 30—leading him to henceforth be known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor—Beatrice and Eugenie shared an emotional hug in their first joint outing on November 6.

The sisters were photographed together in Mayfair in West London in photographs obtained by The Daily Mail. The photos show Beatrice and Eugenie engaged in an intense conversation, and “at one point in their conversation, they appeared to be consoling one another,” Hello! reported. Both women wore winter coats, with Eugenie wearing jeans, boots, and a gray sweater, while Beatrice wore loafers and a deep green frilled dress.

“We’re each other’s rocks,” Eugenie previously told British Vogue. “We’re the only other person in each other’s lives who can know exactly what the other one is going through.” The two—who are the daughters of Andrew and ex-wife Sarah Ferguson—are the “best of friends,” Eugenie previously told Kate Thornton on her podcast “White Wine Question Time.”

Of their outing on Thursday, “Beatrice looked particularly solemn as she walked away,” The Daily Mail reported. Even amid the scandal surrounding Andrew, Beatrice and Eugenie have retained their princess titles and Her Royal Highness stylings, as the King is said to be keen that his nieces should not be affected by the “sins of their father,” according to The Daily Mail.

Both Beatrice and Eugenie have remained low key since the scandal further erupted within the last month. Eugenie was spotted in public in the U.K. for the first time earlier this week, laughing with her husband, Jack Brooksbank, in Notting Hill. “Eugenie and Jack are clearly keen to continue life as normal,” The Daily Mail reported.

In addition to losing his royal titles and privileges—including not just his princely title but also the Duke of York title he had held for 39 years—Andrew has also lost his 30-room mansion, Royal Lodge, where he has lived since 2003. Ferguson, though divorced from Andrew since 1996, had cohabitated with him there since 2008. 

“All along, the King and other members of the family have been concerned that the sins of the family do not befall them,” royal biographer Robert Hardman said on The Daily Mail’s “Palace Confidential” show of Beatrice and Eugenie. “They are blameless. They have led a pretty upright life and are level-headed and very nice young women.”

Longtime royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams told The Telegraph, “Given the circumstances—it’s just week by week now [that more damaging revelations emerge]—what they’ve got to try to do is create a public image that differentiates them from their parents. [But] how they do it is far from clear.”

“It’s a difficult time for them,” Fitzwilliams added of the sisters. “It’s deeply distressing, and they must feel it desperately.”