Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice tell all
Queen Elizabeth’s granddaughters, Beatrice and Eugenie tell all in a rare interview providing a glimpse into their ‘real’ lives
It is hard to be a working princess — especially in the age of Instagram. That is the message from Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, in a rare interview providing a glimpse into their “real” lives.
The Queen’s granddaughters said the time felt right to “share our world” in a candid chat about life as young royals.
They spoke to Vogue magazine and posed for an accompanying fashion shoot at the Royal Lodge in Windsor, residence of their father, the Duke of York.
“It’s hard to navigate situations like these because there is no precedent,
there is no protocol,” said Princess Beatrice.
“We are the first: we are young women trying to build careers and have personal lives, and we’re also princesses, and doing all of this in the public eye.
“We want to show people who we are as working, young, royal women, but also not be afraid of putting ourselves out there,” said Princess Eugenie. “Nowadays it’s so easy to recoil when you see a perfect image on Instagram — but it’s important that it’s real. We’re real.”
The sisters have been ribbed for their fashion sense, not least the extravagant hats they wore to the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011, and Princess Beatrice has been criticised over the number of holidays she takes.
They told the magazine that there was “no point being angry with anyone for beating us up — we just need to shine light and love in the world”. But they admitted that the mockery had reduced them to tears.
Princess Eugenie recalled one occasion, on the day of a garden party at Buckingham Palace, when the criticism was simply too much.
“There was a horrible article that had been written about Beatrice and she got really upset. We were just about to step out and she had a bit of a wobble and cried. I was looking after her. And then about an hour later, I had a wobble and started crying and Bea was there for me,” she said. The pair described themselves as “each other’s rocks”.
In their first joint interview, the sisters spoke about their jobs — Princess Beatrice, 29, is vice-president of partnerships and strategy for Afiniti, a US-based technology company; while Princess Eugenie, 28, is an associate director at Hauser & Wirth, a contemporary art gallery.
Princess Eugenie also disclosed that she is planning to ban plastic from her wedding to Jack Brooksbank in October. The decision was inspired by her work with Project Zero, an environmental charity dedicated to protecting marine life.
“My whole house is anti-plastic now — and Jack and I want our wedding to be like that as well,” she said.
The pair confirmed that Princess Beatrice would be maid-of-honour. “Euge is amazing. She’s a very modern bride,” Princess Beatrice said, while Princess Eugenie insisted that she had not turned into a “bridezilla”.
“I’m not stressed at all. It’s nerveracking because you want it to be perfect, but then you realise that you’re going to be with the person you love forever and nothing else really matters.”
They also confided that one of the biggest fights they had ever had was a dispute over a pair of Converse trainers.
“We have the same size feet and both of us had identical pairs. One pair got trashed and the other sister may have swapped them.”