Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie could face yet more public fallout as they continue to reel from the scandal surrounding their parents, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson. The princesses have kept a low profile since news broke of Andrew’s arrest late last month, following the release of humiliating correspondence between both their parents and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein by the US Department of Justice. Beatrice and Eugenie are “very highly strung and emotional, like their mother”, an insider has told the Daily Mail, and things could still “get a lot worse” for the sisters, including being ostracised by their royal relatives.

While Andrew has denied any wrongdoing in his relationship with Epstein, and it was previously understood that Beatrice and Eugenie’s royal standing would not be impacted by their parents’ controversies, the princesses appear to be retreating from public life, whether on their own terms or someone else’s. Eugenie stepped down from her seven-year role as patron of the Anti-Slavery International charity this month, and both she and Beatrice were notably absent from Cheltenham Festival this week, amid reports they are also not planning to attend the Chelsea Flower Show, Wimbledon Championships or Royal Ascot.