Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are facing renewed scrutiny, with calls mounting for them to be questioned about their father's business activities as fresh allegations surface concerning his conduct and their proximity to it. The demand comes from one of the royal family's most persistent biographical critics, and it has turned the spotlight toward a generation of the family that has so far kept its distance from the scandal.
The Author's Explosive Claim
Royal author Andrew Lownie has argued publicly that the princesses should be questioned regarding their alleged involvement in Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's business affairs. Speaking on Sky News Australia's The Bolt Report, Lownie claimed the sisters "accompanied him on many of these trips" and may have benefited from connections formed during their father's tenure as UK Trade Envoy between 2001 and 2011.
Andrew, 66, was arrested by British officials last week on suspicion of misconduct in public office. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing, and no charges have been filed. Lownie, who wrote the 2025 biography Entitled: The Rise and Fall of the House of York, suggested the arrest may only be the beginning of a much wider accounting.
"The police are looking into misconduct in public office. There clearly is a lot of evidence, particularly now from the dump of Epstein material, which backs up what I've done in my research," Lownie said. He added: "I don't think this precludes an investigation into the sex trafficking, and I think we're also getting a new area to look into, and that's national security."
The National Security Allegation
The biographer's most striking allegation concerns state secrets. Lownie claimed that Andrew may have compromised sensitive information during and after his official roles.
"One of the problems was that Andrew was also leaking defence and military secrets - that's now been hinted at by officials in Whitehall," he claimed. He further asserted that he had gained access to various American intelligence reports, and that they showed Andrew had, in his words, been compromised by Russian intelligence.
These claims should be treated with significant caution. Lownie is a researcher with a book to promote and a long record of adversarial coverage of the Yorks, and none of his allegations has been corroborated by authorities, nor has any official body confirmed them. UK security officials do not comment on such matters, and the princesses themselves have made no public statement. But the claims are now in wide circulation, and they illustrate how quickly speculation expands once an institution loses control of the narrative.
Why the Daughters Are Being Drawn In
The focus on Beatrice and Eugenie reflects a simple reality: they are the only members of the York household with remaining public standing. Both princesses hold professional roles, charitable affiliations, and business connections of their own, and both have appeared alongside their father at public and private functions over the years. Critics argue that if investigators are reconstructing Andrew's financial and diplomatic dealings, the people closest to him during those years are logical sources of information.
Supporters of the sisters push back hard. Neither woman has been accused of any offense, both have built independent careers, and guilt by association is not evidence. Royal commentators note that the sisters have reportedly been advised to maintain a low profile while the investigation proceeds, a familiar playbook for anyone adjacent to a scandal of this magnitude.
Both sisters have recently scaled back their public calendars, postponing appearances and charity engagements that might attract questions about their father. Colleagues describe them as rattled but composed, determined to protect their children and their professional reputations from fallout that began long before either was born. Whether the institutions they work with maintain that patience is the quieter story developing behind the headlines.
A Scandal With No Ceiling
What makes the current moment different from previous Andrew crises is the sheer range of inquiries now in motion. Police are pursuing a misconduct investigation. Parliamentary pressure over his succession status continues. Journalists, biographers, and campaigners are mining newly released material connected to Jeffrey Epstein for every name and date it contains. Each new document feeds the next round of headlines, and each headline invites a new allegation from someone with knowledge or a theory to sell.
For the monarchy, the calculation is grim but straightforward. King Charles has already severed his brother from the institution, stripping titles and residence. What cannot be severed as easily is blood, and with it the drip-feed of revelations tied to the family's name. Beatrice and Eugenie now find out what every royal relative of a scandal has learned before them: proximity is a kind of exposure, and in the modern media environment, being questioned in public can feel very much like being questioned in private, whether or not anyone ever actually calls you in.
