TLDR
Princess Kate and Princess Eugenie share Marlborough College, family ties, and Pippa Middleton, yet decades of scandal around the Yorks have kept the future Queen carefully distant.
Parallel Paths, Different Reputations
On paper, it should have been an easy friendship. The sporty girl from Berkshire who would become Princess of Wales, and the artistic York princess, two years behind her at Marlborough College, later joined by a shared confidante, Pippa Middleton. Instead, insiders describe a cool, carefully managed distance between Kate and her husband’s cousin, Princess Eugenie.
Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams has long noted the mismatch, telling reporters that the poised Princess of Wales does not have “that much in common” with Eugenie and her sister, Princess Beatrice. He added that “Eugenie, particularly, seems to be closer to Harry” than to Prince William, a dynamic that has only become more complicated in the wake of the Sussex exit.
Rewinding to Marlborough helps explain why. Former classmates recall Kate as the steady presence who excelled at hockey and quietly grew in confidence. Eugenie, by contrast, was thrust into headlines after being caught naked on school grounds following a night of drinking, an episode that reportedly mortified both the young royal and her family.
That was only the beginning of Eugenie’s party-girl reputation. Later nights out included a London strip club visit in which she was linked to talk of pole-dancing, and a social circle that featured some of the capital’s most notorious young men. One such chapter involved Otto Brockway, the polo-playing nephew of Richard Branson, whom she dated while studying at Newcastle University.
Even Eugenie’s time at university carried controversy. According to The Sunday Times, she initially failed to meet the grades required for her chosen course. A former senior lecturer, Dr Martin Farr, later claimed an application from a royal student was first rejected, then reconsidered when staff realized who she was.
That same social orbit has, in recent years, collided uncomfortably with the toxic legacy of Jeffrey Epstein. Branson’s name appeared in document releases related to the convicted sex offender, in which he was shown advising Epstein on public relations and writing an email inviting him to visit, adding a line about bringing his “harem.” Branson has strongly denied any wrongdoing, and a Virgin Group spokesman stressed that the term referred to adult staffers and that, after due diligence raised serious allegations, “Virgin Unite did not take the donation and Richard and Joan decided not to meet or speak with Epstein again.”
For the Yorks, the Epstein connection has been far closer to home. Prince Andrew’s association with Epstein detonated his public role, while Sarah Ferguson’s past financial dealings with him and blunt private emails, later made public, further eroded the family’s standing. Branson’s team has even had to deny rumors that Ferguson was quietly hiding on his Caribbean island, stating that “Sir Richard has had no contact with Sarah Ferguson” and that she was not on Necker Island.
Image, Risk, and Royal Strategy
Against this backdrop, Kate’s instinct for caution looks less like froideur and more like professional survival. As the monarchy fights to contain reputational damage around Andrew and the Epstein fallout, the Princess of Wales is curating a disciplined, family-focused image, while Eugenie and Beatrice keep a notably low profile.
Eugenie, now married to Jack Brooksbank and mother to two young sons, leads a calmer life than her tabloid-youth days. Yet the narrative lines are already written. One cousin is being positioned as the dependable future Queen. The other is still living down a past that never quite stays buried, even at royal family reunions.
Do you see Kate’s distance as icy, understandable, or something in between? Share where your sympathies lie when royal duty collides with family loyalty.
