EXCLUSIVE: Why Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Missed Key Queen Elizabeth Tribute
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie missed a key Queen Elizabeth tribute.
Sept. 19 2026, Published 12:00 p.m. ET
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie stayed away from the royal family's major tribute to Queen Elizabeth II because they did not want controversy surrounding their parents to overshadow their beloved grandmother's centenary, sources have exclusively told RadarOnline.com.
Beatrice, 38, and Eugenie, 36, were conspicuous absences as King Charles, 77, Queen Camilla, 79, Prince William, 44, and Catherine, 44, recently led events marking what would have been Elizabeth's 100th birthday.
Princesses Beatrice And Eugenie Skip Centenary Events
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie avoided major Queen Elizabeth centenary tribute events.
The sisters have maintained relatively low profiles amid scrutiny surrounding their father Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, 66, and mother Sarah Ferguson, also 66, and had already made alternative plans around Easter.
A royal source told us: "Beatrice and Eugenie had an enormously close and loving relationship with their grandmother, and marking her 100th birthday was deeply important to both of them. Their decision not to attend shouldn't be seen as them distancing themselves from her memory or from the wider royal family. If anything, the thinking behind it was quite the opposite.
"They were very conscious that this was supposed to be a celebration of the late Queen's life, her extraordinary reign and everything she represented to the country. They didn't want their presence to risk shifting the focus away from that.
"Both sisters are also realistic about the level of scrutiny surrounding their family at present. They knew that if they appeared at one of the principal public events, there would inevitably be questions and headlines about Andrew and Sarah, regardless of what Beatrice and Eugenie themselves said or did.
"That would have put them in an incredibly difficult position. They could have turned up simply wanting to honor their grandmother and nevertheless found themselves becoming part of a completely different story about their parents. Neither sister wanted that controversy attached to such a significant anniversary.
Desire To Avoid Distractions And Scrutiny
King Charles and Queen Camilla led nationwide events commemorating the milestone.
"There was therefore a feeling that keeping a lower profile was the most appropriate thing to do on this particular occasion. It allowed the attention to remain where Beatrice and Eugenie believed it belonged – on their grandmother and the remarkable 70 years she spent on the throne.
"It doesn't mean they won't participate in royal occasions in the future, nor should anyone read it as evidence of some wider family rift. They remain the late Queen's granddaughters, they remain part of the family and their affection for her hasn't changed. This was simply a very sensitive moment when they felt staying away publicly was preferable to becoming an unintended distraction."
Charles and Camilla attended events at Buckingham Palace and the British Museum in April to commemorate Elizabeth's life and 70-year reign.
She died at Balmoral Castle in September 2022, aged 96.
William and Catherine returned from their Easter break for an afternoon Palace reception, while Princess Anne, 75, officially opened the Queen Elizabeth II Garden in Regent's Park in memory of her mother.
Prince Edward, 62, and Sophie, 61, also attended events at the British Museum, alongside Lady Sarah Chatto, 61, daughter of the late Princess Margaret.
Andrew, Elizabeth's second son, was absent after withdrawing from public life over his association with convicted predator Jeffrey Epstein.
Ferguson, who maintained a close relationship with Elizabeth and was entrusted with the monarch's corgis following her death, was also missing.
Supportive King And Judicious Family Timing
The siblings shared an exceptionally close and loving relationship with their grandmother.
Another source said: "There has been absolutely no suggestion that Beatrice or Eugenie are being pushed to the margins of the royal family because of everything that has happened around their parents. The King remains supportive of both of his nieces, and they continue to have their own relationships with him and other members of the family.
"They are also very conscious that they cannot control the circumstances surrounding Andrew and Sarah, but they can make decisions about how and when they themselves appear publicly. At the moment, that inevitably requires a degree of sensitivity because almost any high-profile appearance risks being viewed through the prism of what has happened with their parents.
"This particular occasion presented an obvious difficulty. Had Beatrice and Eugenie attended, there was every possibility that attention would immediately have turned to why Andrew and Sarah were absent, how the sisters were coping and what their position within the family might now be. None of those questions had anything to do with the purpose of the day.
"The Elizabeth centenary was intended to commemorate the Queen's life, her decades of public service and the enormous place she occupied within both the family and the country. Beatrice and Eugenie understood that very clearly and didn't want themselves, or the situation involving their parents, competing with that.
Commemorating The Late Queen In Private
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
Both women chose to remember their beloved matriarch privately in their own way.
"It was therefore much more a question of judgment and timing than exclusion. There will be other family gatherings and royal occasions where circumstances are different and where their attendance won't risk generating the same kind of distraction.
"Both sisters remain extremely proud of their grandmother and everything she achieved. They didn't need to be standing in front of the cameras at Buckingham Palace to demonstrate that. On this occasion, they believed the respectful thing was to allow the senior working members of the family to lead the public commemorations while they remembered their grandmother in their own way."
Charles used the centenary to pay an emotional tribute to his "dear Mama" and her achievements during her seven decades on the throne.
The King and Camilla joined Prime Minister Keir Starmer, 64, to view the final design for Elizabeth's national memorial before attending a reception.
