Prince Andrew was left stumped after the Queen was forced to “refuse” a request regarding his daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie. The royal sisters stirred up fury among the British public after Eugenie went globe-trotting on an expensive gap year to mark the end of her A-levels in 2009. Royal commentators discussed the fallout of the scandal on Channel 5’s new documentary: ‘Beatrice and Eugenie: Pampered Princesses?’
Daily Mail Editor-at-Large, Richard Kay, detailed how Eugenie went to South Africa and onto the Far East.
He said: “She was sort of flitting from country to country as most middle class young people do who take gap years.
“But, of course, she was accompanied by police bodyguards.
“That meant that we the taxpayers were paying for policemen to accompany her to the fleshpots of the world.”
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The taxpayers’ share of the bill added to the reported £500,000 already spent on the princess’ protection each year
Royal biographer, Angela Levin, told Channel 5: “Prince Charles decided that as they were not likely to be very senior royals, that this was too much for the public to pay, so he stopped that.
“Prince Andrew was so angry that he wrote a note to the Queen.
“He said he wanted them to be considered as proper royals.”
Ms Levin added: “But this time, she refused.”
One Daily Mail headline in April 2009 read: “Just why are we paying Princess Eugenie’s £100,000 gap-year security bill?”
Vanity Fair Royal Editor, Katie Nicholl, gave insight: “The suggestion really was that here was a couple who were living beyond their means and cashing in on their royal connections.
“People thought Beatrice and Eugenie were going to be just the same.
“It was almost as if they were tarred with their parents’ brush from the outset.”
