Kate Middleton and the York Sisters: Why They’ve Never Been Close
The gulf between Kate Middleton and the York sisters is growing amid the fallout from the former Prince Andrew’s arrest.
The future queen of England has never been particularly close to the Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, insiders told The Daily Mail. Now, the latest round of revelations about their disgraced father’s involvement with financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have strained things even further.
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie didn’t welcome Kate Middleton into the royal family
The awkwardness between Kate Middleton and the daughters of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson dates back to Kate’s earliest association with the royal family. When Kate and Prince William got engaged, the sisters were skeptical of his choice, according to reports.
“They were convinced by their father that William was marrying below his status and that his relationship with Kate would fizzle out,” an insider told The Daily Mail.
Body language experts have also pointed to apparent tension between the women at public events over the years.
Why the Princess of Wales has ‘kept a distance’ from the York family
Kate may never have been close to her husband’s cousins. But the bad blood worsened as the disturbing allegations against the former Duke of York piled up.
“Once it became clear that Andrew’s dealings with Epstein were far murkier than a solitary accusation made by Virginia Giuffre, Kate has kept a distance from the entire York family,” a royal expert explained to The Daily Mail.
Now, Kate and William are giving the York sisters the cold shoulder. While the pair did attend the royal family Christmas gathering last year, they weren’t welcomed with open arms.
“Notably, there were no presents under the Sandringham tree [this year] for Beatrice and Eugenie from William and Kate – something everyone pretended not to notice,” an insider revealed.
While the younger royals did meet at a couple of Christmas lunches in 2025, they weren’t exactly joyous occasions.
“William and Kate were apparently polite but stand-offish,” a source said.
Beatrice and Eugenie banned from Royal Ascot
More recently, it was announced that Beatrice and Eugenie would not attend the Royal Ascot this summer. Once regulars at the annual event, this year they’ll be excluded from sitting in the Royal Box or taking part in the traditional carriage procession. The exclusion is symbolically significant, as it signals the pair’s separation from the core group of working royals. (While both York sisters are princesses, they are not working royals and maintain private careers.)
The sidelining of Beatrice and Eugenie comes as King Charles embraces a slimmed-down and modernized monarchy – a change that his son and heir reportedly supports as well.
“Speaking to people very, very close to William and Kate [Middleton], they have a totally different vision for the monarchy. It needs to be accountable, it needs to speak to the younger generation, not only at home, but abroad,” royal author Russel Myers told Us Weekly. “It also needs to create a system that works for the people and certainly what they have tried to do is get their family home life right and then work on the public profile and that’s very, very different to how the Monarchy has been structured in generations beforehand.”
These days, Kate appears to be following her husband’s lead in keeping Beatrice and Eugenie at arm’s length.
“Kate has been a central member of the royal family for 15 years now and knows them all well, but like William, she is very aware of public opinion and the risk that this scandal poses to the monarchy’s reputation,” Hello’s Royal Editor Emily Nash said. “They will understandably want to distance themselves as much as possible from it.”
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