What the Duke's Titles Loss Means for Sarah Ferguson, Beatrice and Princess Eugenie

Royal Family Members

The Duke's removal from the last vestiges of royal life has not only reshaped his future - it's sending ripples through his immediate relatives too.

Fergie's New Status

The former spouse has now surrendered her ducal status and will now be referred to as Sarah Ferguson.

For Ferguson, 66, the change will be the most apparent.

For all these years, she has kept the courtesy royal post-marital designation Sarah, Duchess of York. Now, she returns to her birth name of Ferguson.

"She will have lost a bit of cachet over this," noted one royal commentator. "She definitely does use the title – even her Twitter bio is @SarahTheDuchess."

But the relinquishment of her status may impact her much less than the scandal she's facing separately about her own connections to Jeffrey Epstein.

Last month, several charities dropped her as patron after an email from 2011 showed that she called Epstein her "supreme friend" and seemed to apologise for her public criticism of him.

Professional Endeavors and Charity Work

Away from her charitable activities, Ferguson also has multiple commercial enterprises.

And these ventures, are more probable to be affected by the Epstein scandal than any change in title, notes one royal commentator.

But Ferguson has been a remarkable endure in royal circles. She has continued recovering strongly.

"She is the ultimate survivor and expert at transforming," commented one monarchy writer.

The Daughters

Princess Beatrice at event
Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie pictured at a royal celebration in 2023

For Andrew and Sarah's two daughters, Beatrice, thirty-seven, and Eugenie, thirty-five, there's no official alteration.

They continue to be referred to as princesses, which they have been entitled to since their birth.

There is also no modification to the line of succession.

The prince stays eighth in line to the throne, followed by his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, in ninth and twelfth position respectively.

But in reality their positions are "low down" and will likely become even more remote as time goes on.

Coming Opportunities

Beatrice and Eugenie are also currently non-working royals, and while they occasionally accept positions – The younger princess was recently announced as a mentor for the monarch's charity program – experts also say they "can't see a scenario" in which they would step up into official responsibilities.

"Regarding Beatrice and Eugenie are concerned, I think there's an appreciation of the reality that this scandal isn't about them, and it's not fair for it to affect them directly in the independent lives they are carving out for themselves," explains one royal commentator.

"Their daughters are particularly unlucky affected parties, they've had to suffer in silence and have been composed in their reserve," adds another monarchy writer.

Final Impact

In the end, there appears to be minimal uncertainty that the person who will be most affected by all of this will be Prince Andrew himself.

For someone who always liked the trappings of royalty, the ceremony and the ceremony, the loss of his titles is deeply humiliating.

So to not have those, on a personal level, will really matter.

Amy Vega
Amy Vega

Tech enthusiast and writer with a passion for exploring emerging technologies and their impact on society and business.