Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have had what Hello! Magazine called "a difficult year" in 2026, as their public favourability ratings have dropped and both have stepped away from long-held charitable positions.

A YouGov poll cited by Hello! on 30 July 2026 places the sisters near the bottom of the UK's royal favourability rankings. Thirty per cent of respondents hold a favourable opinion of Princess Beatrice, and 29 per cent of Princess Eugenie. On the negative side, 34 per cent of people view each of them unfavourably. In the overall rankings, the two princesses sit only above their father, Prince Andrew, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex. Hello! Magazine

The poll numbers arrive alongside a pair of departures from charitable boards. Princess Beatrice stepped down as a trustee of the Outward Bound Trust after six years on the board, having joined in 2019. Princess Eugenie left her role as patron of Anti-Slavery International in March 2026 after seven years. Beatrice's departure came roughly five months before Eugenie's.

Hello! Magazine described the combination of falling poll numbers and charity departures as an "under-the-radar blow" and part of broader "family turmoil."

Much of that turmoil centres on their father. Prince Andrew was arrested on 19 February 2026, as reported by InStyle, which also reported that Beatrice and Eugenie were "heartbroken" following the arrest. GB News and Sky News Australia carried reports that the sisters were "horrified" by the public scandal surrounding their father. Andrew has retreated from royal life amid renewed scrutiny over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. InStyle

The Independent published a sympathetic opinion piece about the sisters in April 2026, framing them as caught in circumstances not of their making. Town & Country Magazine reported in late June that Beatrice and Eugenie want to "hold on to their royal status" following their father's arrest.

Their public appearances this year have been selective. They attended the wedding of Peter Phillips and Harriet in June 2026, and were present at King Charles's pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace and the annual Christmas celebrations at Sandringham. They were not at Trooping the Colour 2026, however. People magazine reported that the sisters attended a friend's wedding in Austria on the same day instead. People

Beatrice joined the Outward Bound Trust board in 2019, shortly after Prince Andrew's BBC Newsnight interview about his association with Jeffrey Epstein. Her departure from the trust and Eugenie's from Anti-Slavery International close chapters of public service that had each lasted six and seven years respectively.

Neither princess is a working royal. Unlike the King, the Prince and Princess of Wales, and other family members who carry out official duties on behalf of the monarch, Beatrice and Eugenie do not receive public funding through the Sovereign Grant — the annual payment funded from a set percentage of Crown Estate profits — and pursue their own careers. Their royal status nonetheless keeps them in the public eye, and in the YouGov rankings.

What stands out in the polling is how narrowly the sisters sit above the two family members most associated with controversy. Andrew and Meghan occupy the bottom two spots. Beatrice and Eugenie are the next two up, but only by single-figure margins in some cases, and their negative ratings match each other at 34 per cent.