Camilla’s stance was clear after her name was notably absent from Buckingham Palace’s announcement of Princess Eugenie’s third pregnancy. The Palace said that the King was “delighted” with the news and there was no mention of his wife.
The Mail on Sunday claimed that the Queen has been “instrumental” in pushing the monarch to act to punish his disgraced brother, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, amid the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
A source told the outlet: “She[the Queen] took a back seat on the scandal for quite a while out of deference to the King’s familial loyalties and to his health. But as the King’s health has improved, she was instrumental in pushing him to act.”
The report also claimed that Camilla is of the opinion that Beatrice and Eugenie should stop using their titles voluntarily and that the whole York family should be removed from the line of succession.
Closely following Camilla is the Prince of Wales, who is said to be concerned about his cousins’ links to Epstein.
A source said: “William was keen to keep the girls close and not let them be tainted by the sins of their father and the stupidity of both parents, but the Epstein revelations mean he has abandoned that plan. The way he and [Catherine] have pointedly not publicly welcomed the baby news is a sign of how things have changed.”
But, another source added that despite Camilla and William’s efforts for “clearer action to distance the institution from the entire York branch of the family,” the King is still “very fond” of his nieces.
They said: “William isn’t as close to Beatrice and Eugenie as Harry is, but in the past few years, he has invited Beatrice and Eugenie as well as other cousins to help him and Catherine host one of the Buckingham Palace garden parties.
“They weren’t there at this year’s one on Friday.”