Catherine, Princess of Wales, is stepping into a bigger role at Buckingham Palace. She’s now helping decide which royals will remain part of the working inner circle as King Charles III reshapes the monarchy to be smaller and more focused.
The big question is what happens to Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, two fully titled princesses who aren’t currently part of the daily royal operation but still show up at major events. Their future inside the Palace is uncertain, and Kate’s voice will matter more than it ever has before.
Two Princesses In Limbo
Beatrice and Eugenie hold the title “Her Royal Highness” and the rank of princess because of a 1917 law created by King George V. Unlike Prince William or his children, though, they aren’t part of the small group of royals who work full-time for the Crown. They have their own jobs and support charities, but nobody knows if they’ll ever become official working royals.
As the monarchy gets leaner, their place inside the institution is less clear than ever. The Palace has kept them close enough to help when needed, but far enough away that decisions about their future seem temporary.
The Plan To Shrink The Monarchy
For more than 10 years, King Charles has wanted a smaller, tighter royal team. After Prince Harry and Meghan stepped back and Prince Andrew lost his public roles, the working core now has fewer than 10 senior royals. This is one of the thinnest groups in modern royal history and a major shift from how things used to work.
The Palace is saying that having fewer royals means each one can focus harder on their job and deliver real results. Less payroll, more impact, that’s the theory. But for Beatrice and Eugenie, it means they’re watching from the outside, waiting to see if they fit into this slimmer picture or get left behind altogether.
Money And Accountability
Taxpayers and the media are asking harder questions about royal spending and why each royal matters. The Palace is under more pressure now to justify why certain royals have staff, security, and a slice of public funding. This scrutiny hits extended family members hardest, people like Beatrice and Eugenie whose daily roles aren’t always obvious.
When Prince Harry and Meghan left and Prince Andrew stepped away, it became easier to question why anyone else needs the same support. The spotlight is turning to the cousins who don’t regularly do official royal duties. Can they prove they’re worth the investment, or should the Palace move the money elsewhere?
Kate’s Growing Power
Recent reports describe Catherine as stepping up and taking on a more forceful role in Palace decisions. Sources say her thinking is savvy and firm, and she’s now helping decide the future of royals including Beatrice and Eugenie. According to reports, Kate and William see streamlining the Crown as non-negotiable.
She’s expected to help pick whose roles, perks, and public visibility get protected or cut. This is a significant shift, Kate has moved from being a supporting player to someone whose voice shapes the institution’s future. Her influence reflects the reality that William and Catherine are the next generation steering the monarchy, and their priorities are starting to replace Charles’s.
Life On The Sidelines
Beatrice and Eugenie represent a new, awkward category inside the royal family: they’re fully titled princesses but not working royals. Both have full-time careers, Beatrice works in business, Eugenie in the art world, and they support some charities and attend family events. But analysts say they’re being kept “on ice.”
They’re visible when the Palace needs them, but there’s no clear promise they’ll ever move into the core working team. It’s an uncertain position that leaves them with the title but not always the role. They have royal status without being fully integrated into the institution, caught in a middle ground that’s increasingly uncomfortable as modernization demands clearer choices.
The Andrew Factor
Beatrice and Eugenie’s future is complicated by their father, Prince Andrew. In 2022, Buckingham Palace announced that Andrew would step away from public duties and lose his military titles and charities. The scandal around him didn’t technically strip Beatrice and Eugenie of their “Princess” titles, but it cost them something just as important, a powerful sponsor inside the family who could advocate for expanding their roles.
With Andrew sidelined, the sisters lost a key voice arguing for their place in the modern monarchy. The Palace was careful to say his downfall didn’t affect his daughters legally, but in reality, losing their father’s influence made it harder for them to push for bigger public roles. It’s a painful reminder that royal status depends on more than paperwork.
Titles Are Protected
Here’s what the Palace has made clear: Beatrice and Eugenie will keep their “Princess” titles and their “Her Royal Highness” status. A 1917 law created by King George V guarantees this. The UK Parliament Library and Palace officials have confirmed that moves against Andrew don’t touch his daughters’ legal standing. So losing titles is off the table.
But that doesn’t mean their situation is secure. The Palace is now separating legal titles from practical working roles. You can be a princess on paper and still lose the perks that come with being a working royal, like staff support or access to royal residences. The law protects their name; it doesn’t guarantee their place in the modern monarchy. That’s the distinction the Palace is quietly establishing.
King Charles Feels The Pressure
Royal commentators say King Charles cares about Beatrice and Eugenie after they went through a “terrible time” because of their father’s scandals. He’s tried to be kind by drawing them into projects like The King’s Foundation and giving them new charities to support. But even his goodwill has limits. Their invitations to the biggest royal moments, like standing on the Trooping the Colour balcony, have been scaled back.
Charles is trying to balance supporting his nieces with pushing his agenda to slim down the monarchy. It’s a delicate act, he wants to help them but not at the cost of his broader modernization plan. That tension between compassion and strategy is playing out in real time, with Beatrice and Eugenie somewhere in the middle.
The Cost Of Downsizing
While their titles appear safe, other benefits are on the chopping block. Reports suggest the Waleses’ streamlining plan could trim staff support, access to grace-and-favour homes (royal residences given free to family members), and taxpayer-funded security. One insider quoted in reports said the plan involves “letting people go and cutting certain expenses and benefits that different family members receive.”
These changes won’t happen overnight or all at once. The Palace will manage them carefully to avoid big family fights. But for Beatrice and Eugenie, every policy change could mean fewer staff members, less accommodation support, or tighter security budgets. Titles may stay, but the perks that make being a royal comfortable are increasingly uncertain. It’s a slow squeeze disguised as modernization.
Hidden Family Tensions
Over the last few years, tabloids and royal-watchers have reported tension between Prince William and his York cousins. Some stories claim Beatrice and Eugenie were involved in conversations that pressured their father or that they’ve gossiped about William. While these accounts rely on anonymous sources and can’t be proven, they shape how people think about the family’s relationships.
If William believes his cousins caused him problems or disrespected him, that could influence whether he welcomes them into his future team. Personal dynamics matter enormously in families, and the Palace is a family business. Resentment that builds in private conversations can quietly affect public decisions about who gets opportunities and who gets pushed to the sidelines. Nobody admits it openly, but everyone knows it happens.
Kate As Peacemaker And Strategist
Profiles and anonymous Palace sources paint Catherine as both a peacemaker and a tough strategic thinker. She’s described as having a gentle, peaceful public image” but one 2025 report quotes an insider saying she understands that leadership sometimes requires a certain ruthlessness. That source added that Kate sees it as her duty to stay strong for the monarchy, suggesting she’s capable of making hard choices about people even if it seems kind on the surface.
Catherine isn’t going to be the one sitting down with Beatrice and Eugenie to tell them their role is shrinking. She’ll likely work behind closed doors, shaping decisions while appearing supportive in public. It’s a balancing act, being the compassionate leader while quietly driving change that benefits her own agenda.
Using Family Connections
Some royal commentators argue that Prince Andrew now relies on Beatrice and Eugenie as his “only passport” back into royal circles. When the sisters appear publicly with King Charles or at major Palace events, their father isn’t far behind in thought. Sources suggest Andrew has pressed his daughters to attend certain events so he can learn what’s happening inside the Palace and stay connected to the family business.
Royal expert Ingrid Seward told UK media that Andrew wanted to know “what’s going on” inside the institution. This puts Beatrice and Eugenie in an uncomfortable position: they’re dealing with pressure from their father while also trying to secure their own futures. Their visibility at royal events isn’t just about their own roles, it’s being used by Andrew to maintain relevance after his public fall from grace.
Building Their Own Paths
Even without official working-royal status, both sisters have created meaningful public roles. Beatrice serves as deputy patron of Outward Bound and supports charities focused on dyslexia and youth programs. Eugenie co-founded The Anti-Slavery Collective and mentors young people through The King’s Foundation. Analysts see these roles as a trial model: they’re real work that makes a difference without formally expanding the royal payroll.
The sisters are proving they can contribute to the Crown’s mission in focused, issue-based ways. This approach might be their path forward, staying royal, staying useful, but staying outside the core payroll and daily operations. It’s not the full working-royal status they might have wanted, but it keeps them relevant and purposeful. For a monarchy that’s remaking itself, it’s a flexible solution.
The Future Remains Unwritten
Beatrice and Eugenie will almost certainly keep their princess titles. But whether they become indispensable to the monarchy under William and Catherine, or remain outside the core circle, is still an open question.
With King Charles’s radical slimming-down in progress and Kate’s influence growing every day, the next chapter of the royal family’s story will be written by decisions that aren’t being made in public. The York sisters are watching, waiting, and quietly working to prove they deserve a place at the table when the new reign begins.
Sources:
BBC News, “What kind of king will Charles be?”, 8 September 2022
Cosmopolitan UK, “Kate Middleton’s ‘savvy and firm’ decision-making to play major role in Eugenie and Beatrice’s future”, 16 December 2025
Cosmopolitan UK, “Kate Middleton reportedly just put Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie in a very awkward position”, 25 November 2025
UK Parliament Library, “The Royal Family and the Monarchy”, 2013
Buckingham Palace, “Statement on The Duke of York”, 13 January 2022
Marie Claire, “Inside King Charles’ ‘slimmed-down’ monarchy and what it means for Beatrice and Eugenie”, 2024