Princess Beatrice has publicly shown her support for her disgraced father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, by joining him for a horse ride.
Andrew, 65, was spotted on horseback at Windsor Castle accompanied by Beatrice and her four-year-old daughter Sienna, with the trio seen in the Royal Mews before heading out into Home Park.
Photographs show a downcast-looking Andrew riding ahead, while Beatrice walked alongside Sienna and a groom.
They spent more than 45 minutes wandering the grounds, and it has been reported that Beatrice also visited her father at his soon-to-be former home, Royal Lodge.
Despite Beatrice maintaining a relationship with her father, the Daily Mail revealed last week that her sister Eugenie has severed ties completely.
A source told the Daily Mail the rift is total, saying: ‘There is no contact at all, nothing. It’s Brooklyn Beckham level – she has completely cut him off.’
By contrast, sources say Beatrice has taken what is described as a more nuanced approach – maintaining contact with her father while carefully protecting her reputation within the Royal Family.
Andrew, who was stripped of his royal titles in October over his links to the paedophile financier Jeffery Epstein, is said to be ‘devastated’ by the breakdown in his relationship with his younger daughter.
Following on from months of damaging revelations, Eugenie is refusing to speak to Andrew and did not visit him at Christmas.
The 35-year-old, who established The Anti-Slavery Collective to help counter sex trafficking, is said to be taking a dim view of her father’s refusal to apologise to Epstein’s victims.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (left), Princess Eugenie (centre) and Princess Beatrice (right) at St Paul’s Cathedral in London in June 2016
After Andrew and Sarah Ferguson were forced out of of Royal Lodge (pictured), Andrew is moving to Marsh Farm in Norfolk, on his brother Charles’s estate. However it is unclear where Sarah will be going
Beatrice invited Andrew to the christening of her 11-month-old daughter Athena in London last month, although he did not attend a party held afterwards in a local pub.
It is not clear whether Eugenie spoke to her father during the celebrations.
The breakdown in Andrew’s relationship with Eugenie comes at a particularly humiliating moment as he prepares to leave Royal Lodge, his Windsor home for more than 20 years.
A removals van was seen at the property last week as he began sorting through decades of belongings. Andrew is expected to move into a temporary property on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk in the coming weeks, ahead of renovations being completed on Marsh Farm, his new home, around Easter.
He was said to have been urged to remain in London over Christmas to avoid being close to senior royals while they spent the festive period at Sandringham.
Beatrice and Eugenie faced a difficult decision over where to spend Christmas, but ultimately attended the royals’ Christmas Day church service in Norfolk before joining the wider family at Sandringham. They were invited by King Charles, who is said to be keen to protect the princesses.
Now, the Daily Mail understands that the small number of people still close to Andrew and Sarah Ferguson have become increasingly concerned about them both.
Sources say Ferguson has been prone to bursting into tears on a daily basis, while Andrew’s shrinking social circle has left him demoralised ahead of a move that will see him increasingly isolated.
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor riding with a groom at Windsor Castle on January 26, 2026
Princess Beatrice poses for photograph with Andrew and Sarah Ferguson following her graduation ceremony at Goldsmiths College, in London, on September 9, 2011
A van arrives at Royal Lodge, on the Windsor estate, as Andrew prepares to move out
Amid heightened concerns about his mental health, police reportedly revoked Andrew’s firearms licence late last year and removed his gun collection for safekeeping at other royal properties.
As he prepares to relocate to Norfolk within the next fortnight, Marsh Farm is said to be far from ready, with builders still carrying out work.
‘He’ll probably have to live in Sandringham House until Marsh Farm is finished,’ a source said.
Meanwhile, the four or five staff employed at Royal Lodge, including a butler, chef, gardener and housekeepers, are being paid off.
‘They obviously don’t want to move to Norfolk, and as most of them are nearing retirement age, they’ve basically been made redundant on generous terms,’ the source said.
‘I suspect that Andrew will have more of a skeleton staff when he eventually moves into Marsh Farm, as it’s not realistic to employ so many people to look after one person on their own.’
Marsh Farm, as its name suggests, sits on a flood plain below sea level, with nearby residents advised to sign up for Environment Agency alerts in case flood defences fail against water from a nearby bog and the North Sea, just a mile away.
