The return of Princess Beatrice and Beatrice Eugenie to future royal gatherings is in doubt after the publication of fresh evidence of their unpopularity.
A new "royal favourability" poll by YouGov shows that the princesses have failed to bounce back from a dramatic drop in popularity in the summer, suggesting that they are suffering a long-term fall from favour.
The latest YouGov poll, conducted at the end of last week and published today, reports that Beatrice is liked by 29% of people but disliked by 31%, giving her a net score of -2. Her younger sister is liked by 28% and disliked by 31%, indicating that the joyful pictures of her family celebrating the naming of her newborn daughter Adelaide did nothing to improve her standing.
While this poll is a two-point improvement for both Beatrice, 38, and Eugenie, 36, since July, it is a weak recovery from their 17-point plunge in the summer. The women, who had previously been unaffected by the fate of their father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, were drawn into the scandal of his friendship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as they were named in documents released by the US authorities. The documents appeared to show them accompanying their mother, Sarah Ferguson, to dine with Epstein less than a week after his release from prison.
The princesses have been notably absent from royal gatherings this year that they have attended in previous years, including the Easter service at Windsor, Royal Ascot and the summer garden parties at Buckingham Palace.
The only royal occasion they have attended was the wedding of Peter Phillips to Harriet Sperling on June 6. It raises the question of whether they will be invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham this year, as they did last year, or will choose to celebrate elsewhere.
© Kirstin SinclairWhy has there been a fall in popularity?
Their fall in popularity was the sharpest of any member of the family since the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their withdrawal from royal duties, in what has been dubbed Megxit.
Prior to the July poll, the princesses had always had positive ratings, no lower than +12, since YouGov began including them in their surveys in May 2024. Over the same period, their father sank from -80 to -90.
© Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty ImagesThe appearance of their names hundreds of times in the Epstein files, followed by the arrest of Andrew on his 66th birthday in February, exhausted the public's patience.
Another factor may have been the National Audit Office report revealing that their London homes at St James's Palace and Kensington Palace were rented to them at below-market value and paid for from the King's private funds.
Surprising boost for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor
In the most recent poll, Andrew has experienced a rare revival in public opinion, rising from a net score of -90 in July, when 92% disliked him and 2% liked him, to a net score of -85.
© Samir Hussein/WireImageHe is still the least popular member of the royal family since records began, but the rise suggests that some people may think of him more favourably after the quashing of the warrants used to search his homes at the time of his arrest.
The police investigation continues and the High Court has yet to decide what should happen to the evidence seized from Andrew's homes. Andrew denies any wrongdoing.
