Over the weekend, there was a big royal story about Prince William “banning” his cousins, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, from Royal Ascot. Ascot is in June, and I’m shocked that William even tried to plan that far ahead, but it makes sense if you understand that this is such a ridiculously vapid story. The heir to the throne doesn’t want to be at the same fancy horse race with his cousins, scandal of the year! What’s even crazier is that this has become one of THE stories of the week, as royal reporters dutifully fret about What It All Means and “William’s consolidation of power when it comes to Ascot carriage procession invitations!” Well, as you can imagine, the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden was in a predictable tizzy about all of this. His sources are even issuing threats on behalf of Prince William and Kate. I’ll spare you the bulk of Eden’s histrionics, but here’s the main gist:
Sources told the newspaper that [Eugenie and Beatrice], whose names appear several times in the Epstein Files, would not take their seats in the Royal Box at one of the key events of the summer season, nor could they join senior members of the family for the Royal Procession.
The move was said to have ‘completely blindsided’ Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, who are already reeling from the arrest of their father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, last month on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Indeed, the princesses are regulars at Ascot, and they were welcomed to Sandringham at Christmas last year after Buckingham Palace officials had made clear that the King did not want to punish his nieces for the sins of their parents. But their new exile is said to be part of a wider decision to exclude the princesses from all public-facing events for the foreseeable future.
Now, I hear that the Prince and Princess of Wales will not attend Royal Ascot if there is any chance of their being photographed with any member of the York family who, of course, could still attend the races, just not as part of the royal contingent.
‘I can tell you that William and Catherine won’t go if any of the Yorks are there,’ claims one of their friends.
The couple have long been more wary of the Yorks than the King has. Sarah was, for example, conspicuous by her absence at their wedding in 2011. By contrast, she was invited to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding seven years later and also attended Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral and King Charles’s Coronation concert at Windsor Castle.
William and Catherine are also less enthusiastic about Royal Ascot than the King and Queen Camilla. Last year, William attended on just one day while his wife did not go at all. Despite still undergoing treatment for cancer, the King attended every day in soaring temperatures.
When Catherine and Beatrice rode in the same carriage during the Royal Procession at Ascot in 2023, the body language appeared to be tense. Catherine was joined by William and Bea by her husband, the property developer Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. There appeared to be no exchange of glances, and indeed the women seemed to ignore each other.
If William and Catherine’s friend is correct, this year will see the couple move even further away from the beleaguered sisters. A Kensington Palace spokesman declines to comment. A royal source insists: ‘Conversations around Ascot aren’t on our radar.’
Nothing like a threat with absolutely no teeth. If you don’t stay away, I’m not going to go to that thing I haven’t been to in years!! Princess Kate hasn’t been to Ascot since 2023, and even though she was scheduled to appear last year, she pulled out without explanation at the very last minute. As Eden says, William hates Ascot and it’s like pulling teeth to get him to attend for even one day. “William and Kate will refuse to go to Ascot if Beatrice and Eugenie are there!” Okay, well, William and Kate refuse to go to Ascot if there’s a stiff breeze or when they get distracted by a butterfly. They regularly pull out of events if they can’t take their taxpayer-funded helicopter. They constantly complain about their grueling one-day-of-work-a-week schedules. It’s not that I’m even advocating for Beatrice and Eugenie in any way, but they actually love going to Ascot and they regularly attend multiple days every year. Why not just… schedule B&E to attend Ascot on the days William and Kate aren’t there? That would be too simple, right?
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
