Times are tough for Prince Andrew.

By tough, I mean the Queen has forced him to ‘step down’ from public duties, so he loses his £249 000 annual income from the Sovereign Grant as a result.

Oh well, his income from the Queen’s private funds will just have to do, because he will always be financially taken care of by mommy dearest, no matter how many trainwreck interviews he does.

Whilst the majority of sympathy should be saved up for the victims of Jeffrey Epstein, and allegedly Prince Andrew, it’s worth checking in to see how the Duke of York’s daughters, Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, are handling all of this.

As per usual with anything royal-related, the Daily Mail is the starting point:

They were, however putting a brave face on it, and were spotted out and about in London this week, Beatrice at a private members’ club and Eugenie at a charity event…

A royal aide yesterday confirmed that Beatrice and Eugenie will continue with a limited number of royal duties as before.

‘The Princesses do undertake a small number of royal engagements each year, as and when asked, and that will continue,’ a Buckingham Palace spokesman said.

So we will see them on the Palace balcony after Trooping The Colour, at a couple of garden parties and the occasional evening reception. But that, it seems, will be it.

Oh, thank goodness. I was losing sleep over whether or not we would see two people waving from a balcony and dressing up for garden parties.

These qualify as royal duties, you see, although that gravy train could be coming to an end soon:

Now that he has been retired — be it temporarily or permanently — Andrew will not be able to promote his girls in quite the same way any more. ‘The promotion which Andrew had hoped for in terms of his daughters taking on more duties will now never happen,’ a royal source told the Mail yesterday. ‘They will have to focus on the day job.’

That may not be the most enticing prospect for either of them.

For the record, Eugenie, 29, has a role at the Hauser & Wirth Art Gallery in Mayfair. She starts at 9am and leaves at 5pm sharp.

According to a recruitment website, she can expect to be paid in the region of £32,000 to £34,000. Beatrice, 31, is vice-president of partnerships and strategy at Afiniti, an American software company where she focuses on ‘client development’. Her salary is unknown.

Certainly, these jobs are not enough to keep them in the manner to which they have become accustomed, and Andrew has long subsidised their lifestyles.

Well, fair play to them for having ‘day jobs’, I guess, although I’m fairly certain they’re allowed a great deal of flexi-time to squeeze in the waving, ribbon-cutting, and deciding which ridiculous hat to wear on their noggins each day.

As with most stories of this ilk, there is a ‘palace insider’ spilling secrets, talking about how the family is rallying around the girls, who must not be made to pay for their father’s sins.

In addition, Beatrice is getting married next year. Thanks to the scandal, she is going to struggle to convince British taxpayers that they should fork out around £2 million to sponsor the affair, as they did with Eugenie.

Really, I’ve had enough of all this – read the rest of the Daily Mail story here.

We skip along to The Daily Beast, though, with more from their own ‘inside source’:

A source told The Daily Beast that they are “deeply distressed” about the predicament their father finds himself in, but are standing by him and offering their support.

“Andrew was fighting not just for his survival but for all their survival,” the source, who has known the family and their circle for many years, told The Daily Beast. “Andrew and Sarah will obviously be worried about how his resignation impacts their children’s future.”

How very noble of him.

Just a thought – in 2001, when Andrew is accused of sleeping with then 17-year-old Virginia Roberts Giuffre, Beatrice would have been 13 and Eugenie 11.

To finish, here’s what Andrew’s ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York, had to say on Twitter. I guess she still knows who butters her bread:

[sources:dailymail&dailybeast]