While Buckingham Palace has been wildly briefing against Prince Andrew for the past two years, King Charles has mostly left his York nieces alone. Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice keep to themselves and seemingly enjoy a “half-in/half-out” arrangement. They both have high-paying jobs, they both travel for work, and they both seem to live the lives of part-time royals. But I’m starting to wonder if Charles is trying to hit Andrew through his daughters. The Times ran this story about how Beatrice and Eugenie have been spending a suspicious amount of time in the Middle East, and something something maybe that’s where Andrew got the money to stay at Royal Lodge. That’s the implication. Meanwhile, I really didn’t know Beatrice and Eugenie were traveling like this??
Prince Andrew’s daughters have made a number of visits to the Middle East, leading experts to suggest they are becoming unofficial “cultural ambassadors” in the region. Princess Beatrice, 36, has appeared at two conferences in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi in the past month, while Princess Eugenie, 34, has attended events in Qatar.
The visits came as their father, the Duke of York, came under pressure to reveal the source of the windfall that has allowed him to remain in Royal Lodge. Last week The Times revealed he had convinced Buckingham Palace authorities that he had sufficient means, likely to be millions of pounds, to pay for his own upkeep at the 30-bedroom mansion.
Beatrice told the Adipec energy conference in Abu Dhabi that the UK’s contribution to the artificial intelligence revolution was “great talent, great individuals”. The princess, who founded BY-EQ in 2022, spoke about AI, calling it “literally my favourite subject”. She said: “I’m probably making it my whole life’s mission to think about how hope and technology can kind of work in a collaboration mindset.” The conference was organised by the Abu Dhabi national oil company and the UAE energy ministry under the patronage of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, the president of the UAE.
It followed her trip to Saudi Arabia for the Future Investment Initiative, in the last week of October. Yasir al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Arabian wealth fund, is one of the trustees. It was the second time she had been to Saudi Arabia this year, after joining the special meeting of the world economic forum at the end of April in the capital, Riyadh.
The region has also attracted Princess Eugenie, whose is as an art director at the Mayfair gallery, Hauser and Wirth. The mother-of-two was pictured in Doha, Qatar, at the M7 art centre, and at the Chaumet and Nature exhibition. This followed her attendance at a dinner last year hosted by Sheikha al-Mayassa, the sister of the country’s emir, in London, to celebrate the winners of a Fashion Trust Arabia prize.
Jennifer Gnana, the Gulf correspondent for Al-Monitor, saw Beatrice networking at the events. She said: “Along with her sister Eugenie, Beatrice is now a regular at Saudi economic and investment conferences. She’s become a culture ambassador of sorts for the UK in the Middle East. She seems a popular, more accessible figure in the Middle East, particularly as we’re seeing fewer senior royals such as the King, Prince William and Kate making visits here. I suppose Princess Beatrice represents a more modern and accessible face of the British monarchy that works for engagement in the Middle East. They seem easygoing and engage freely with people. You don’t really see royal protocol with them.”
Their reception has been compared to that of Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner. “Those with business backgrounds and associated with a world leader or a royal family tend to do particularly well here,” Gnana said. In addition to her appearances in the Middle East, Beatrice also attended technology conferences in Orlando and Geneva, in March and June respectively.
The suggestion is that in between their international work commitments, Beatrice and Eugenie are acting as middlemen to funnel Middle Eastern money to their father?? While I have no doubt that Andrew has an abundance of shady connections, why would anyone give him money at this point? And why would they give him money through his daughters? And why would Beatrice and Eugenie ruin their own beneficial half-in arrangement by funneling money to their father? The real story here is that Middle Eastern countries – especially the Emirates and Saudi Arabia – are diversifying their business interests so they’re not just known as oil-rich cultural deserts. The Saudis especially have gone all-in on trying to establish themselves as a go-to destination for conferences, festivals, cultural events, sporting events. That’s why they invite British princesses to various events.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.