What Prince Andrew's Removal of Titles Signifies for Fergie, Beatrice and Princess Eugenie
Prince Andrew's removal from the last vestiges of royal life has not only reshaped his future - it's creating waves through his immediate relatives too.
Sarah Ferguson's Title Change
The former spouse has now lost her duchess title and will simply be known as Sarah Ferguson.
For Sarah, 66, the transition will be the most apparent.
Throughout this period, she has kept the courtesy royal divorcee title Sarah, Duchess of York. Now, she returns to her maiden name of Ferguson.
"She has lost a certain prestige over this," noted one monarchy expert. "She certainly 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 dealing with independently about her own connections to Jeffrey Epstein.
Last month, several charities removed her as ambassador after correspondence from over a decade ago showed that she referred to Epstein her "greatest ally" and seemed to apologise for her negative comments of him.
Business Ventures and Charity Work
Separate from her charitable activities, Ferguson also has various business ventures.
And these, too, are more likely to be impacted by the Epstein scandal than any alteration in status, notes one monarchy analyst.
But Ferguson has been a great survivor in monarchical networks. She has continued recovering strongly.
"She's the ultimate survivor and expert at transforming," said one royal author.
The Princesses
For Andrew and Sarah's two daughters, Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, thirty-five, there's no official alteration.
They continue to be known as royal princesses, which they have been entitled to since birth.
Additionally there is no modification to the royal succession order.
Andrew remains eighth position to the throne, succeeded by his children Beatrice and Eugenie, in ninth and twelfth position respectively.
But in reality their positions are "distant" and will probably become much further down as years pass.
Coming Opportunities
Beatrice and Eugenie are also presently non-official royals, and while they do sometimes take on roles – Princess Eugenie was recently named as a advisor for the monarch's charity program – commentators also say they "don't envision a world" in which they would step up into royal duties.
"Regarding Beatrice and Eugenie are concerned, I think there's an understanding of the fact that this controversy doesn't involve them, and it's not fair for it to affect them personally in the independent lives they are carving out for themselves," explains one royal commentator.
"Their daughters are most unfortunate affected parties, they've had to suffer in silence and have been dignified in their silence," adds another monarchy writer.
Final Impact
In the end, there seems to be minimal uncertainty that the person who will be most affected by all of this will be Prince Andrew himself.
For a man who always liked the royal privileges, the ceremony and the pageantry, the loss of his titles is deeply humiliating.
So to not have these, on a personal level, will significantly count.