Princess Beatrice is said to be slowly easing her way into the senior Royal roster for financial stability while her father, Prince Andrew, reportedly had to resort to scandalous means just to keep the Royal Lodge after several attempts by King Charles III to evict him.
The 36-year-old may have married rich with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi but this doesn’t mean she can only rely on his wealth. She also has to secure her future in the royal household even if it means turning her back on her very own father.
A source told Woman’s Day magazine that Beatrice had a “secret meeting” with Charles about her father’s relocation from his 30-room mansion to the smaller Frogmore Cottage, the former home of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. She reportedly sided with the King because as the insider explained, “Beatrice knows her future lies in the hands of her uncle, not her dad. Bea has another baby on the way so it’s all about the future and moving forward.”
The source added that Beatrice and her sister Princess Eugenie have seen their inheritance “take a big hit” after Andrew stepped down as a working royal and that “it’s mortifying to have Andrew decimate the family’s fortune and reputation.” The insider claimed that “she desperately wants to be formally put on the Royal roster and if that means distancing herself from her father, then so be it.”
These claims come after Andrew raised suspicions about how he acquired the sum to keep his $38 million estate after Charles cut off his $1.3 million allowance. It’s been reported that Sir Michael Stevens, the keeper of the privy purse, has approved the money “as coming from legitimate sources.” But Graham Smith, CEO of the anti-monarchy group Republic, doesn’t buy this. He wrote in his opinion piece for Metro UK:
“So it seems that Prince Andrew has found a sugar daddy, a benefactor willing to stump up millions of pounds to help him keep his publicly owned home, Royal Lodge, in the grounds of the Windsor Estate.”
Smith cited reports suspecting that Andrew’s benefactor could be someone he met during his time as a U.K. envoy (from which he befriended some rather questionable characters like Jeffrey Epstein). He also mentioned the royal’s past acquaintances including Saif Gaddafi, the son of ex-Libyan leader and gun smuggler Tarek Kaituni.
“It is these friends and acquaintances and Andrew’s direct access to the highest offices of state here in the UK, that make the question of who is bankrolling his lifestyle particularly urgent. Because generous donors to public figures are rarely doing so out of the goodness of their hearts,” he said.
We many never know who financed Andrew as the royals are bound by their secrecy and their motto of “Never complain, never explain.” Royal commentator Chris Ship noted that with Queen Elizabeth II gone, Charles wouldn’t be “as forgiving” as their mother and that Andrew knew “he was always going to have a difficult time when there was a change of reign.” He added that Charles probably thinks of his brother as “damaged goods” in terms of his reputation.
Meanwhile, royal “expert” Sarah Hewson believes that Andrew is holding on to the Royal Lodge for Beatrice or Eugenie to inherit it. She said the duke is “adamant he’s got a cast iron lease until 2078 which will be beyond his lifetime but he clearly wants to hand it to his daughters.”