I’ve long been an enthusiastic supporter of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

With over two decades of experience as a social diarist, I’ve had the opportunity to meet them at various London events. Each encounter left a lasting impression; they’re both approachable yet professional, and far too savvy to provide me with any gossip-worthy anecdotes for my columns.

While their cousins, notably Princes William and Harry, were known for their youthful antics, Beatrice and Eugenie, affectionately called ‘Bea’ and ‘Eug’ by friends, always maintained a reputation for propriety.

The sisters displayed remarkable level-headedness and were never the subject of rumors involving public misbehavior or party mishaps. It was unsurprising when both eventually married quietly and lovingly—Eugenie to Jack Brooksbank and Beatrice to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi.

Just as Queen Elizabeth benefited from the support of her loyal cousins, like the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra, I envisioned Beatrice and Eugenie playing a similar supportive role for Prince William when he assumes the throne.

King Charles’s vision of a ‘slimmed-down’ monarchy originally included the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in pivotal roles. However, with Harry and Meghan stepping back from their royal duties, this streamlined vision now seems rather sparse.

Even though they both have full-time jobs, Beatrice and Eugenie already serve as patrons of a handful of good causes and have dutifully indicated that they would be happy to take on more if required.

Sadly, after the revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein files made public over the past week, I have come to the conclusion that my hopes for the princesses lie in tatters. Beatrice and Eugenie can never be part of ‘The Firm’ because of their lying, greedy, sex offender-loving parents.

After the revelations in the Jeffrey Epstein files, I have come to the conclusion that Beatrice, left, and Eugenie can never be part of ‘The Firm’, writes Richard Eden

Andrew and Fergie have left such a stain on the Monarchy that Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are also tainted

However unfair it might seem to make children suffer for the sins of their parents, the sisters have been so tainted by the former Duke and Duchess of York that they can no longer be considered for formal roles with the Royal Family.

They are tainted because their parents actively dragged them into the orbit of a sex offender.

In one exchange, the American asks Sarah to use the girls as tour guides at Buckingham Palace for one of his associates, whose name was redacted by the US authorities before the document’s release.

In a message sent to ‘Ferg’ in 2010, Epstein writes: ‘Thank you Sarah, could you are [sic] one of your daughters show [redacted name] buckingham thanks.’

Take a moment to consider that email: after a sex offender had been released from prison, having served a sentence for procuring a child for prostitution, he was confident enough in his relationship with Queen Elizabeth’s former daughter-in-law that he could ask her to send one of the monarch’s grandchildren to show his friend around the sovereign’s taxpayer-funded home.

The casual tone of the email suggests this was not a unique demand. Indeed, a message sent to him by the then duchess later that year apologised that the princesses could not serve as tour guides for a different pal of his. It’s not known if the friends were also sex offenders.

Not that it would necessarily have deterred Sarah from introducing her daughters to the friends in question. After all, she took them to stay at a New York apartment owned by Epstein just five days after his release from prison. Beatrice was 20 by that point and Eugenie was 19, so you might have hoped that they would have been old enough to question the wisdom of their parents’ friendships.

The princesses can go on to show by their actions that they have not taken after their parents, but, unfortunately, Andrew and Fergie have left such a stain on the Monarchy that they are tainted, too.

Prince William and Catherine know this, which is why Sarah was not invited to their wedding at Westminster Abbey in 2011. And why her daughters will have no royal roles when William is King.