EUGENIE & JACK’S CALIFORNIA DREAM!
Fed up with being sidelined by senior royals, Harry’s cousin is making a move Stateside
Hot on the heels of her cousin Harry’s media cash bonanza in the US, newly pregnant Princess Eugenie of York and her husband Jack Brooksbank are planning an almost identical exit to the US. Prince Andrew’s daughter has, say friends, become disenchanted with the coverage of her family over the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and feels sidelined by the ever-narrowing group of senior royals. Now, having seen how the Sussexes reinvented themselves Stateside, she wants a piece of the action. Woman’s Day can reveal Eugenie, 32, and Jack, 36, are working closely with the Sussexes’ business team in California to seek out a mix of business and charitable opportunities to make the most of their royal connections.
HOUSEHUNTING
In addition, friends say Harry has been sending them details of houses in California, though they have apparently been a little put off by the eyewatering price tags on properties near where the Sussexes live in Montecito. Now they’re looking towards Bel Air, where their celebrity neighbours would include Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Aniston. “Eugenie and Jack don’t feel they have any support left in the royal family in the UK since the Queen’s passing. Eugenie always used to be a favourite of the Queen’s – as such she had a direct link right to the top. But that elevated status she once enjoyed no longer exists.
“Charles and William have made no secret of their desire to slim down the monarchy, meaning the Yorks will be sidelined more and more. “It isn’t helping that Eugenie and Jack have been so publicly Team Harry recently. The senior royals seem to find this a little alarming.”
‘If they want to make big bucks, they have to sell dirt on the royals’
The friend continues, “So Eugenie, who all her life has had rather expensive tastes and has become accustomed to a glittering lifestyle, is looking at Sussexmania in the US and realising that isn’t going to last forever. There’s a sense for Eugenie that she must strike while the iron is hot.
“She and Harry believe there’s a hunger for more royal in the US and there’s more than enough money swilling around in LA to furnish a British royal princess with
a very healthy lifestyle. That’s instant A-list status right there.”
FAMILY UPSET
But Eugenie’s move is not likely to be popular with the senior royals, who fear that she could use her titles to benefit herself and not the royal family. “Eugenie is actively looking for opportunities to cash in on their royal status without bringing embarrassment on the family. She doesn’t want to do a sit-down with Oprah, but she’s looking for big bucks to turn up to things, to be the face of things, to cosy up to brands and do TV appearances. There will be concerns over conflicts of interests, of course. After all, they do have HRH titles.
“The problem is that they will at some point be faced with the same dilemma Harry and Meghan faced – if they want to make big bucks, they have to sell the dirt on the royals. Will they be able to resist where Harry and Meghan couldn’t? That remains to be seen.”