THE PRINCESSES NEXT DOOR Inside Eugenie and Beatrice’s close bond
Inside the close bond between Eugenie and Beatrice
Strolling down the street in the chic Notting Hill district of London on May 31, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie – along with their partners, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi and Jack Brooksbank – looked like many young couples enjoying a double date on the town: giggling, holding hands, taking in the early summer’s night.
The next morning, the sisters slipped into their extraordinary royal roles, joining their dad, Prince Andrew, and mum, Sarah, Duchess of York, for the Colonel’s Review in advance of Trooping the Colour. “Today, the Yorks were really proud of Papa as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards,” Eugenie captioned a post on her Instagram account – a millennial glimpse into her family’s rarefied world.
“Yes, their grandmother is Queen, and they ride in carriages and live in this bubble,”
a friend says of the princesses. “But they’re human beings who want to fall in love, have a good time, make a difference and just live.”
Now, after decades of confidently moving between the real world and the royal one, Beatrice, 30, and Eugenie, 29, are showcasing their independence – even as they quietly became the first royal highnesses to enter the public workforce. (Eugenie is an art gallery director in London; Beatrice is vice president of a data and software firm in New York.)
“Being role models has always been a hard one for them to deal with, and being criticised for their weight, fashion and work lives has always been hard for them to swallow,” says an insider. “But in the last couple of years both girls have come around to the fact they’re women now, and they can do a lot of good with their status.”
Along with their new-found confidence has come love: in October Eugenie married her longtime boyfriend Brooksbank, 33, an ambassador for George Clooney’s tequila company, Casamigos, while Beatrice has been dating property developer Mozzi, 35, since November. “I love how Jack [takes the subway] and nobody blinks an eyelid,” says the insider. Mozzi, a longtime family friend, is the father of a 2-year-old son – something that would have been a stumbling block just a decade ago, but fits with the modern royal family vibe established in part by Prince Andrew and Sarah ‘Fergie’ Ferguson, both 59, who are now friendly exes after the tabloid storm of their scandalous 1996 divorce.
“They are all a close unit,” says Ingrid Seward, the author of a 1991 biography written with Fergie’s cooperation. “The girls love that their parents get on so well.”
Like their first cousins Prince William and Prince Harry, the princesses experienced the childhood upheaval of their parents’ divorce. But the York family healed, and the girls grew even closer as a result. “Beatrice and Eugenie have had a stability that William and Harry have found painfully lacking in their lives,” says Seward. “Although their early childhood was not good, those girls have had a very secure upbringing.” Yes, they are sometimes frustrated with “being on
the sidelines compared to the princes,” the insider says, but “from an early age, they were brought up to know how privileged they are and to give back and never take anything for granted,” says the family friend.
Eugenie, who chose a wedding dress to showcase her dramatic back-surgery scar, has raised awareness for scoliosis after her own struggle with the condition, while Beatrice has shared her battle with dyslexia. “Beatrice is very sensitive, very bighearted and diligent,” the family friend adds. After a 2016 split from her boyfriend of nearly 10 years, Dave Clark, that left her “devastated”, says the family friend, she has bounced back with the gregarious Mozzi. The outgoing Eugenie, meanwhile, “is very passionate about the artists she represents,” adds a pal. “I think she is in a very happy place.”
Close with their 93-year-old grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II, both princesses “want to do their bit,” as the family pal puts it. “If there is anything their mother did right, it’s raising those girls,” says the friend. “She gives them this sense of being, of accomplishment, a sense of ‘I can do anything’.”
Next up? A likely engagement for Beatrice and Mozzi – “She’s completely head over heels,” says the insider – and Eugenie and Jack plan to start a family “as soon as they can,” says Seward. Meanwhile they will juggle their full-time jobs and charity work. Adds the family friend: “They are independent, working women but are also aware of their position and where they can help.”
And their mum couldn’t be prouder. “Their actions show their commitment and dedication to their grandmother and this country,” Fergie has told WHO. “It’s so great to see them shining.”