Princess Eugenie shared a thoughtful message after she and her sister, Princess Beatrice, were absent from Kate Middleton’s “Together at Christmas” carol service at Westminster Abbey.
The Princess of Wales, 43, hosted her fifth annual Christmas concert at the London church on Dec. 5. While many members of the royal family joined the festive evening, cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were not among the guests this year, despite attending in the past.
It is understood that Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were invited to the Christmas service in early autumn but were unable to go because of prior commitments.
Following the event, Princess Eugenie, 35, addressed their absence with a message on her Instagram Stories, saying she wished she and her sister could have taken part in the family celebration.
“Wish Bea and I could have been celebrating tonight with our family,” Eugenie wrote, using her affectionate nickname for Princess Beatrice, 37.
“Wishing @princeandprincessofwales such a special evening at her incredible carol service,” she continued, tagging the joint Instagram account of Prince William and Princess Kate. “What an amazing message of love and hope.”
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(592x0:594x2):format(webp)/Princess-Eugenie-120525-55cb29b4cbd74318b435f2cfe75fabd2.jpg)
Eugenie shared the words over a photo of a program from the carol service resting on a Christmas tree branch, resharing an image originally posted by the Prince and Princess of Wales’ Instagram Stories.
Princess Kate’s “Together at Christmas” service drew a strong turnout from the royal family, including her husband Prince William; their three children, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7; as well as Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh; Zara Tindall; Mike Tindall and others.
Both Eugenie and Beatrice have been regular attendees at the event in previous years.
Princess Beatrice and her husband, Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, had attended the carol service every year since Princess Kate launched it in 2021. In 2023 and 2024, they turned it into a family outing by bringing Christopher Woolf, 9, Edoardo’s son from a previous relationship.
Princess Eugenie joined the carol service in 2021, 2022 and 2023, attending with her husband, Jack Brooksbank, three years ago.
The sisters’ father, the former Prince Andrew, made headlines in October when he announced that he would no longer use his princely title and honors. The move came amid renewed scrutiny of his ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein, a relationship that prompted Andrew to step back from royal duties in 2019.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(999x0:1001x2):format(webp)/prince-william-kate-middleton-120525-515984051c3844de952ad81b22c73f44.jpg)
On Oct. 30, King Charles announced that he had formally begun the process of removing Andrew’s royal style, titles and honors, a transition that was made official through a Letters Patent issued on Nov. 3.
As part of the changes, Andrew has been required to surrender his lease at Royal Lodge, his longtime home in Windsor, and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, will no longer use her Duchess of York title.
Despite the shift in their father’s status, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie’s own positions within the royal family remain unchanged. As daughters of a son of the late Queen Elizabeth, they retain their princess titles under King George V’s 1917 Letters Patent and continue to use the style Her Royal Highness.
