🔗 Share this article How the Duke's Removal of Titles Signifies for Sarah Ferguson, Beatrice and Princess Eugenie The Duke's exit from the last vestiges of monarchical duties has not only altered his path - it's sending ripples through his immediate relatives too. Fergie's Title Change The former spouse has now lost her duchess title and will now be referred to as Sarah Ferguson. For Ferguson, 66, the transition will be the most visible. For all these years, she has kept the courtesy royal post-marital designation Sarah, Duchess of York. Now, she reverts to her birth name of Ferguson. "She will have lost a bit of cachet over this," noted one royal commentator. "She definitely utilizes the title – even her Twitter bio is @SarahTheDuchess." But the relinquishment of her status may affect her much less than the scandal she's dealing with independently about her own links with the convicted financier. Recently, several charities dropped her as ambassador after correspondence from over a decade ago showed that she referred to Epstein her "supreme friend" and appeared to express regret for her public criticism of him. Business Ventures and Charity Work Away from her charitable activities, Ferguson also has various business ventures. And these ventures, are more likely to be impacted by the Epstein scandal than any alteration in status, says one royal commentator. But Ferguson has been a great survivor in royal circles. She has continued bouncing back. "She is the supreme perseverer and master of reinvention," commented one royal author. The Princesses Princess Beatrice and Princess Beatrice seen at a Coronation Big Lunch in 2023 For Andrew and Sarah's offspring, Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, thirty-five, there's no formal change. They will still be known as royal princesses, which they have been entitled to since their birth. There is also no change to the line of succession. The prince stays eighth in line to the throne, succeeded by his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie, in ninth and twelfth position in that order. But in practice their standing are "low down" and will likely become even more remote as time goes on. Coming Opportunities Beatrice and Eugenie are also currently non-official royals, and while they occasionally accept positions – Princess Eugenie was recently named as a mentor for the King's Foundation network – commentators also say they "don't envision a world" in which they would advance into royal duties. "As far as Beatrice and Eugenie go, I think there's an appreciation of the fact that this controversy doesn't involve them, and it's not fair for it to impact them directly in the separate paths they are carving out for themselves," says one royal commentator. "The princesses are particularly unlucky affected parties, they've had to suffer in silence and have been composed in their reserve," states another royal author. 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 royal privileges, the ceremony and the pageantry, the loss of his titles is profoundly embarrassing. Therefore lacking those, on a personal level, will really matter.