Princess Eugenie has been trying to play peacemaker between the Sussexes, Prince Harry and Meghan, and the Firm for some time yet without success – and it’s getting her down as she also fights the hopeless cause of bailing her father Prince Andrew out, too, a source exclusively tells In Touch.
“Eugenie is a kind and peaceful soul, she hates all this tension and goes out of her way to play up positives wherever possible,” the insider says. “That includes delicately reminding people at the top of the Firm how hard Harry and Meghan work for charity, bringing up anecdotes and photos from the good times pre-Megxit, and sticking up for her dad any chance she gets, too.”
It’s been over four years since Harry, 39, and Meghan, 43, told the world they intended to “carve out a progressive new role within this institution.”
A year later, in February 2021, Buckingham Palace announced that “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have confirmed to Her Majesty The Queen that they will not be returning as working members of The Royal Family.”
Since the royals ditched their duties in the U.K. and moved to Canada to do other things, like start a winery and star in Netflix documentaries, tensions have remained high with the royal family, especially after they bashed them in an interview with Oprah Winfrey.
While some ice has begun to thaw, particularly between Prince Harry and his father, King Charles, 75, with Harry attending the coronation in May 2023 sans wife Meghan, many royals maintain the feeling that the prince’s abandonment of his royal duties is unforgivable.
Not among them are William, 42, and Harry’s cousins, Princess Beatrice, 36, and Eugenie, 34.
“The likes of Kate, William and Camilla appreciate that [Eugenie] has a big heart and they’re by no means shooting her down or telling her to stop associating with the Sussexes if that’s what she wants to do.”
A palace insider also said that Prince Beatrice has “spoken to the two brothers to try to improve the situation,” as reported by the New York Post.
King Charles continues to soften his position toward his second son, with royal reporter Dan Wooten claiming that “the monarch, weakened as he continues to suffer from serious cancer, under pressure from Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby,” is now “more open to a ceasefire in order to live an easier life in his twilight years.”
However, the source speaking to In Touch insists William and Kate, the future king and queen, aren’t so open-armed when it comes to welcoming back the prodigal brother.
“But they’re not being swayed by Eugenie, Beatrice or anyone else when it comes to the Sussexes or Andrew,” the insider says.
Prince Andrew, 64, Beatrice and Eugenie’s father, has been completely iced out since he formally withdrew from public roles in May 2020 after revelations of his alleged relationship with notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein hit mainstream news and the shamed royal attempted to clear his name during a disastrous interview with the BBC in November 2019.
For most of the royals, “there’s just too much mud under the bridge.”
