Princess Eugenie's friendship with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry puts her in the most tricky position in the royal family because of her many conflicting loyalties

When there’s a family falling out, there’s always at least one person caught in the middle and in the case of the royals, it seems to be Princess Eugenie who’s trapped between the warring factions of the Windsors.

Thanks to her diplomatic nature, the 34-year-old mother-of-two appears to be in the centre of a tricky web of loyalties.

This week Eugenie displayed her close bond with her cousin Prince William at Royal Ascot, sharing a sweet moment as he seemed to tease her. 

Her Ascot appearance has seemingly shown her united in arms with the Middletons, even exchanging a lengthy conversation with the Princess of Wales’s mother Carole.  

But Prince Andrew’s daughter is also known to be an ally of Prince Harry, appearing in his bombshell Netflix documentary at the end of 2022, which widened the rift between himself and the rest of the family. 

Her husband Jack Brooksbank even enjoys a ‘bromance’ with the Duke of Sussex, 39. 

However, that didn’t stop her dad Prince Andrew facing criticism in his nephew’s biography Spare, where Harry referenced his uncle’s fall from grace due to his friendship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein a ‘shameful’ episode. 

Moreover, Eugenie’s mother Sarah Ferguson has in the past made thinly-veiled barbs at Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, hinting they can’t ‘have it both ways’ when it comes to being a part of the royal circle.

Not only is Eugenie close to Harry but she also enjoys a friendship with his wife Meghan that pre-dates the Suits star meeting the royal. 

Then there’s the matter of Queen Camilla, and future Queen Kate, who Eugenie must show due deference to as senior royals. 

But Kate has famously fallen out with Eugenie’s close pal Meghan, and on top of all that – one of Eugenie’s colleagues at Hasuer & Wirth is the niece of Queen Camilla; who Harry compared to a ‘wicked step mother’ in Spare.

Here, FEMAIL takes a look at the tricky balancing act Eugenie has to play…

KEEPING UP WITH THE FUTURE KING AND QUEEN

Princess Eugenie doesn’t seem to be taking sides between the Sussex and Wales families, and has increasingly been showing her close bond with the Middletons. 

Meghan’s falling out with the Princess of Wales over Princess Charlotte’s bridesmaid dress in the run up to her wedding to Harry and comments over Kate’s ‘baby brain’ fuelled by ‘hormones’ have been well documented. 

But despite the rift, and being close with the Sussexes, Eugenie is refusing to let the rift get in the way of her natural friendships. 

This week, she has attended Royal Ascot with her sister Princess Beatrice, Zara Tindall and, tellingly, Prince William and the Middletons. 

Princess Eugenie was also seen deep in conversation with Carole Middleton before the races got underway.

The royal opted for a white knitted midi dress and pink fascinator for the occasion while mother-of-three Carole was elegant in a blue Self-Portrait gown.

Eugenie also shared a laugh with her cousin Prince William, showing her ability to get on equally well with both brothers. 

Kate herself, who has been receiving chemotherapy for an undisclosed form of cancer since February, was not present – however, she did attend a spectacular Trooping of the Colour ceremony over the weekend. 

Eugenie was even seen enjoying a chat with William’s wife Kate at the Coronation concert last May.

A @cambridgepower Twitter repost of an Instagram story by influencer Laura-Ann (@all.thats.pretty) zoomed in to show the pair in deep conversation as they got ready for the music.

‘Loads of messages about Eugenie and Catherine not interacting,’ the royal fan remarked. ‘Can report they definitely did!’

Eugenie and her sister also showed their support for Kate as they arrived for her Christmas carol service at Westminster Abbey while Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary was being released.

In a post about the event on her social media, Eugenie shared a number of photos of herself and her husband, as well as snaps of the Princess, writing: ‘It was an honour to celebrate HM’s life at the Princess of Wales’ carol concert, Together at Christmas.’ 

PRINCE HARRY VERSUS THE ROYALS

While Prince Harry has invited his fair share of criticism following ‘Megxit’ and the resulting rifts which followed – marked by explosive interviews and a tell-all memoir – Eugenie has been fiercely loyal to her cousin.

Despite being born five years apart, Harry and Eugenie often spent time together as children thanks to the friendship between their mothers Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson, who would pack up the children for joint family holidays. 

Eugenie was the only member of the Royal Family to feature in personal photos shared in Harry and Meghan’s Netflix documentary released last year in a testament to their closeness.

One sweet snap of Andrew’s daughter in the second episode shows the pair out for a bike ride along a palm tree-lined stretch of pavement in California. 

The programme also featured previously unseen photographs of the Duke and his wife partying with Eugenie and Jack on Halloween.

Eugenie was also the first member of the Royal Family to publicly visit Harry in California, two years after he quit senior duties. 

The Duchess of Sussex, 42, is also said to be close to Eugenie, having been introduced to her before she had even met her royal beau, through their mutual friend Misha Nonoo.

Meghan previously revealed how she and Harry hit the town incognito in Halloween costumes with his cousin and her partner for a final night out before their relationship was revealed on the Ellen DeGeneres show.

And in the first episode of the Harry & Meghan series on Netflix, the couple shared a number of photographs from the big night out. 

In one snap, Meghan and Harry can be seen crowding in for a photograph with Eugenie and Jack, as well as another friend, Markus Anderson who is the global membership director for Soho House. 

Eugenie and Harry were also spotted chatting up a storm at King Charles’s Coronation in May 2023 – an undeniably tense affair for the Duke of Sussex. 

Royal experts predicted that Prince Harry might have a lonely time at his father’s big day, with members of The Firm choosing not to speak with him.

However, as photos from the event show, Harry, who attended without his wife, had at least one good friend on hand.

Images from the proceedings showed Harry beaming, as he appeared to share a joke with Eugenie’s husband as they stood outside the Abbey.

Meanwhile, when inside, Harry was seated in the third row between Jack and Princess Alexandra, the cousin of the late Queen who has not worked as a royal for 10 years.

They were joined by Eugenie and her sister Beatrice as well as her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. 

A photo of Jack and Harry at their seats also seems to show them enjoying a conversation. 

And a lip reader claimed that Harry even moaned he was ‘fed up with the way they treat me’ as he chatted to Jack. 

It was not clear who was the target of his ‘fed up’ complaint, although there has been speculation he could have been speaking about the Royal Family, following ongoing tensions over his decision to quit as a working royal and publish a highly critical memoir. 

Speaking of his friendship with Jack in the aforementioned book, Harry said that he and Meghan were ‘deliriously happy’ when he and Eugenie got married – adding ‘and for ourselves, selfishly, since Jack was one of our favorite people’.

In addition, Eugenie and Jack have spent time living in the Sussexes’ Windsor home, Frogmore House, with son August, now three. 

The Duke has also confirmed that he and Meghan announced the Duchess’ first pregnancy at his cousin’s wedding.

STANDING BY HER FATHER

In his memoir Spare, Harry became the first royal to publicly criticise Prince Andrew – Eugenie’s father – labelling the Jeffrey Epstein affair ‘a shameful scandal’. 

No one in ‘The Firm’ had spoken out about allegations that the Duke of York twice sexually assaulted Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked by the late disgraced financier Epstein. 

Andrew settled her lawsuit in 2022, accepting no liability, and has always denied any wrongdoing. But Harry brings up the affair in his book. 

When Meghan asked if the Royal Family might cut their security after they quit Britain for North America, he said there was ‘no way’, considering his uncle still gets protection. 

Harry told her there was an ‘obligation’ and an ‘implicit promise’ to protect them. 

Pushed by Meghan if it would ever be removed, he said: ‘Never. Not in this climate of hate. And not after what happened to my mother.’ 

The Duke of Sussex added: ‘Also, not in the wake of my Uncle Andrew.

‘Despite being embroiled in a shameful scandal, accused of sexually assaulting a young girl, no one had even suggested removing his security. 

‘People have had plenty of reasons to complain about us, sex crimes weren’t one of them.’ 

It’s no surprise that the revelation may make the familial relationship a difficult one to navigate for Eugenie – with her mother having publicly declared her support for her ex-husband multiple times, and the two appearing closer than ever in recent months.

The Duchess said she will always stick by her ex-husband just as he has always supported her in a previous appearance on This Morning. 

She told then-presenters Holly Willoughby and Joel Dommett that the family ‘symbolises no judgment, kindness and moving forward’.

Fergie discussed the importance of ‘walking forward as a unit’ amid difficult times, and criticised the ‘sewer’ of social media for being unkind.

‘It’s Beatrice, Eugenie and I. We are a family unit,’ she said.

‘My girls stand for service, they stand for holding and maintaining very, very hard jobs and they’re mothers and they’re public figures and they do charity work. 

She continued: ‘They’re extraordinary examples of princesses out in service, which is what their grandmother taught them and what I taught them, with humility.

‘So I think the York family’s unit symbolises no judgment, kindness and moving forward – to make people sit up and go “stop”. 

‘Stop all this believing what you read… walk forward as a unit.’

Fergie added of Andrew: ‘Remember, I’ve been through difficult times and he’s always stood by me.’ 

FERGIE’S THINLY-VEILED CRITICISMS

As the Coronation geared up, Eugenie’s mother Fergie said Royal Family members ‘can’t have it both ways’ if they choose to leave The Firm. 

The Duchess of York spoke candidly in an interview amid speculation whether Harry and Meghan, who stepped down as senior members of the royal family, would attend the King’s coronation.  

Speaking to The Independent, she opened up about her own experience of divorcing Andrew. 

In the interview, in which she did not directly refer to Harry and Meghan, she said: ‘Well, you can’t have it both ways. You can’t sit on the fence and keep one foot in and one foot out. You’re either in or out.’

However, when asked directly about Prince Harry at the end of the interview with the Independent, she said she ‘doesn’t believe in judging anyone’ and asked for ‘a little more kindness.’ 

And later appearing on Loose Women, she repeated her comments – saying she didn’t expect an invite to the Coronation because ‘you can’t have it both ways’.

Speaking to the Loose Women panelists, she revealed that her plans for the coronation were to ‘watch it on the telly’, having not received an invite.

‘I always love to watch it on telly because you hear a lot on telly, the commentator’s always good and then all the family come back,’ she explained.

‘Because remember I am divorced from him so I don’t expect… you can’t have it both ways. You can’t be divorced and say, “I want this”.’

COLLEAGUES WITH CAMILLA’S NIECE 

Awkward family connections is one thing – but things get even more complicated when work is involved.

But Eugenie faces further complication because until recently she worked with Ayesha Shand – Queen Camilla’s niece – at the Hauser & Wirth art gallery in Mayfair.

Ayesha was Associate Director of special projects and Eugenie is a Director. In 2023 she moved to New York after five years at the gallery. 

It perhaps makes for awkward water-cooler chat when one considers that the Princess’s favourite cousin once compared Ayesha’s aunt to a ‘wicked step mother’ in his memoir.

In Spare, he wrote of Camilla: ‘I have complex feelings about gaining a step-parent who I thought had recently sacrificed me on her personal PR altar.’

Harry also said that he and William had ‘begged’ their father not to marry Camilla because they feared she would become their ‘wicked stepmother’.

In another blow, Harry described Camilla as ‘dangerous’ and a ‘villain’ who left ‘bodies in the street’ in her desire to change the public’s perception of her.

Ayesha attended the Coronation of her aunt and King Charles at Westminster Abbey, and was spotted on the live broadcast as she joked about her ‘five seconds of fame’.

She is the daughter of Camilla’s late brother Mark Shand, who passed away in 2014 aged 62. Mark was a noted conservationist and author, and left the legacy of his own charity, Elephant Family. 

Her mother is his ex-wife Clio Goldsmith, a French former model and actress who Mark married in 1990.

Ayesha was raised largely in Rome as an only child, with her father dashing back and forth between his travels. However, their family returned to London in 2008, with her parents divorcing in 2009, but remaining good friends.

She holds a master’s degree in the history of art from the University of Edinburgh.

AWKWARD EXES 

Ellie Goulding and Princess Eugenie are believed to have grown a close friendship after years of partying, basket ball games, and holidays together, having been introduced at Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding in 2011.

The pair have been snapped courtside at the New York Knicks, partying at London’s Chiltern Firehouse and on group trips abroad.

In 2019, they went on holiday to Jordan, where they were joined by model Karlie Kloss, Eugenie’s sister Princess Beatrice and designer Misha Nonoo, also a friend of Meghan Markle.

The friends were also closely involved with one another’s weddings, with Eugenie performing a reading for Caspar and Ellie, while the pop star sang at the royal’s wedding reception. 

Their friendship has since evolved after both became mothers. 

Pop sensation Ellie previously revealed how her royal friend helped her get ready for motherhood ahead of the birth of her son Arthur, explaining that she ‘gave her excellent advice like where to find the best pregnancy pillows to get a good night’s sleep.’ 

Speaking about Eugenie, the mother-to-be said: ‘She’s been a great friend throughout this. We’ve talked a lot about pregnancy and she’s been inspirational because she just takes everything in her stride.’

In 2023 Prince Andrew’s daughters were spotted on a star-studded day out in London as they took their children to Arthur’s second birthday at the Bluebird Cafe in Chelsea. 

In addition to her friendship with the York sisters, Ellie has also been linked to Prince Harry. 

In 2016, the then freshly single Duke had split with ex-girlfriend Cressida Bonas and was spotted getting very close to Ellie at the Audi Polo challenge in Coworth Park, Berkshire.

Onlookers said the pair were ‘all over each other’ and one even claimed they appeared to share a kiss under a blanket. 

The insider, who is close to Harry’s social circles, said that after the polo there was a late night party where picture-taking was banned to put the celebrities at ease.

‘Harry was really going for it after the polo – he was drinking and dancing,’ the source told The Sun.

‘They were part of a wider group including Tom Hardy but Harry and Ellie only had eyes for each other all night – they spent a lot of time sitting together under blankets.

‘They were seen having a kiss before Harry had to go because he was playing polo the next day. Ellie left about five minutes later.’

To make matters mor complicated, Ellie performed Your Song for the first dance at Prince William’s 2011 wedding to Kate 

A gushing Ellie was also seen enjoying a chat with the Prince and Princess of Wales at the 2022 Earthshot Prize in Boston, and has been seeing catching up with the future King at various charity events over the years.