By Molly Claire Goddard
1:20pm PST, Feb 18, 2026
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According to royal author
Robert Jobson, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor likely didn't tell Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie the truth about how close he was to Jeffrey Epstein. "They are pretty torn because they believed [their father]," he told
People. "Just like the late
Queen [Elizabeth II] and
[King] Charles III, Andrew told them all the same story — that he had done nothing wrong. My understanding is they feel pretty duped by the whole thing."
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As more evidence about the bond Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson had with Jeffrey Epstein is revealed, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are trying to come to terms with the situation. "I do think they believed their father and now it has all backfired," Robert Jobson said. "I know that Eugenie, especially, has found it very difficult."
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Sarah Ferguson's email correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein raised eyebrows, especially one message that claimed she brought Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie to meet with the criminal after he was released from prison in 2009. "I'm shocked by what's come out," Robert Jobson said. "They were only 19 or 20-year-olds at the time. If, at that age, your parents say we are going to see someone who's a friend of theirs, you don't think much about it beyond that."
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While both Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor are facing the consequences for their involvement with Jeffrey Epstein, Robert Jobson believes Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are likely to forgive the former Duchess of York before their father. "They are older and mothers themselves now and will be thinking this is appalling," he said. "They have always been very defensive of their mother. There's a sense that they would put an arm around their mom, but dad will be left to get on with it. I have sympathy for them. It's not their fault who their parents were associated with."
