Inside Why Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie Made Rare …

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie will miss the royal family’s traditional Christmas celebrations at Sandringham this year.

Reports emerged on Dec. 16 that Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Beatrice and Eugenie’s parents, will not be at the annual gathering hosted by King Charles. They will most likely spend Dec. 25 at their shared home, Royal Lodge, on the Windsor estate, where they cohabitate despite being divorced since 1996. News of the former couple’s absence at Sandringham — where they were in attendance last year, both even taking part in the annual Christmas walk to St. Mary Magdalene Church on the estate’s grounds — came amid reports of his alleged connections to a suspected Chinese spy, the latest scandal for the embattled Duke of York, 64. 

Andrew and Fergie, 65, were initially expected to stay at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate, as they did last year, but stepped back from attending amid the uproar. Ferguson’s attendance in 2023 marked her first time publicly seen at Sandringham in 30 years, since her separation from Prince Andrew in 1992, according to Tatler.

PEOPLE understands Beatrice and Eugenie each had invitations to spend Christmas with their respective in-laws, extended some time ago, and that both women decided to do so. Beatrice has been married to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi since 2020 and is currently pregnant with her second child with him, due in early 2025; they also share daughter Sienna Elizabeth, 3, and Christopher Woolf (known affectionately as Wolfie), 8, Edo’s son from a previous relationship. Eugenie married Jack Brooksbank in 2018 and they share sons August, 3, and Ernest, 1.

The York sisters have only missed one Christmas at the country estate in Norfolk in the past decade — 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Beatrice, 36, and Eugenie, 34, have spent the holiday there for the majority of Christmases throughout their lives, dating back to when they were young girls. This year will mark the first time Beatrice and Eugenie have spent the Christmas holiday with their respective in-laws since they each married.

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The Independent reported that it was Ferguson who encouraged Prince Andrew to bow out of Sandringham Christmas, sacrificing her own invitation in the process.

“The decision for the pair to stay put at the Royal Lodge is thought to have been made easier by Princes Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s plans to spend Christmas with their respective in-laws this year for the first time,” the outlet reported.

Ferguson recently spoke to The Sunday Times about Prince Andrew, telling the outlet that, when it comes to marrying the Duke of York, she “would do it all over again, 100 percent.”

The couple married on July 23, 1986 and divorced a decade later.

“He’s the best, a great man with a great heart, and kind,” Ferguson added, saying their wedding day “was the best day of my life.”

“But I gave up my anonymity that day,” she added. “I was able to because love conquers all. It’s still with us today.”