Scandal surrounding Prince Andrew: His daughters skipped the event

On Saturday evening the British Museum was transformed into a glittering stage. Naomi Campbell floated across the red carpet, Janet Jackson celebrated, Lady Kitty Spencer attracted admiring glances. The venerable institution’s first Pink Ball was intended to make a statement: London has found its own answer to the Met Gala. But amid all the glamour, there were two faces missing that the organizers had definitely expected.

Princess Beatrice and her younger sister Princess Eugenie were apparently on the official guest list, the British magazine has learned. But when the guests arrived, Prince Andrew’s daughters’ seats remained empty. There is no official reason for her absence.

The timing is explosive. Just a day earlier, Prince Andrew had announced a momentous decision in the wake of the allegations in the Epstein scandal: he was resigning his title of duke. The only remaining title he currently holds is that of prince – which cannot be taken away from him as the son of a queen. Whether his daughters’ absence from the Pink Ball is related to family developments remains speculation.

For Beatrice and Eugenie, their father’s decision has no direct consequences. The princesses are allowed to keep their titles – a privilege that comes to them through birth. The situation is different for her mother: Sarah Ferguson loses the title of Duchess of York, which she has held since her wedding in 1986, due to Andrew’s withdrawal.

At all future official events she will now simply have to appear as Sarah Ferguson. The duke title was the only remnant of her royal past that she was able to keep after her divorce in 1996.