Queen wants Bea and Eugenie to fill hole left by Harry
WITH Prince Harry and Meghan busy making their fortune in America, and Prince Andrew withdrawn indefinitely from royal duties, there is a gaping hole in ‘The Firm’.
And now the Queen has come up with what she hopes could be a solution. She is understood to want Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie to carry out public engagements for the Royal Family.
‘Her Majesty thinks that her granddaughters should attend more royal events and carry out more duties,’ a courtier tells me.
Prince Charles was previously thought to be opposed to Beatrice and Eugenie taking on official roles because this would conflict with his vision of a ‘slimmed-down’ monarchy when he becomes king.
However, I can reveal that the Prince of Wales would now be content for them to step up.
‘ The Royal Family has already become slimmed down with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex giving up public duties,’ a close friend of Charles tells me. ‘As the older members of the family retire, it will become slimmer still, so there are spaces to be filled.
‘His Royal Highness is very fond of his nieces and would not stand in the way if they did want to carry out more duties.’
Newcastle graduate Eugenie, 29, has a full-time job as a director the Mayfair art gallery Hauser & Wirth. Beatrice, 31, who has a degree from Goldsmiths, University of London, works in finance and consulting.
Up until now, they have attended occasional royal events, sometimes with their parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah, Duchess of York.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman declined to comment on whether Beatrice and Eugenie want to take on more royal duties.