How Prince Andrew's Removal of Titles Means for Sarah Ferguson, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie
The Duke's exit from the final remnants of monarchical duties has not only reshaped his future - it's creating waves through his family too.
Fergie's Title Change
The former spouse has now surrendered her ducal status and will now be referred to as Sarah Ferguson.
For Sarah, 66, the change will be the most visible.
For all these years, she has maintained the honorary royal post-marital designation Sarah, York Duchess. Now, she reverts to her maiden name of Ferguson.
"She has lost a bit of cachet over this," noted one royal commentator. "She certainly does use the title – including her social media profile is @TheDuchessSarah."
But the relinquishment of her status may impact her much less than the scandal she's dealing with independently about her own links with Jeffrey Epstein.
Recently, multiple organizations removed her as patron after an email from 2011 showed that she called Epstein her "greatest ally" and appeared to express regret for her negative comments of him.
Business Ventures and Philanthropy
Away from her charitable activities, Ferguson also has multiple commercial enterprises.
And these ventures, are more likely to be impacted by the Epstein controversy than any change in title, notes one monarchy analyst.
But Ferguson has been a great survivor in royal circles. She's kept bouncing back.
"She's the ultimate survivor and expert at transforming," commented one royal author.
The Daughters
For Andrew and Sarah's two daughters, Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, there's no official alteration.
They will still be known as princesses, which they have been granted since their birth.
There is also no modification to the line of succession.
Andrew remains eighth in line to the crown, followed by his children Beatrice and Eugenie, in ninth and twelfth place in that order.
But in reality their standing are "distant" and will likely become much further down as time goes on.
Coming Opportunities
The princesses are also presently non-working royals, and while they do sometimes accept positions – Princess Eugenie was recently announced as a mentor for the King's Foundation program – commentators also suggest they "don't envision a scenario" in which they would step up into royal duties.
"As far as Beatrice and Eugenie go, I think there's an appreciation of the reality that this controversy doesn't involve them, and it's not fair for it to affect them personally in the independent lives they are building for themselves," says one monarchy analyst.
"Their daughters are most unfortunate victims, they've had to suffer in silence and have been composed in their silence," states another royal author.
Ultimate Consequences
Ultimately, there seems to be minimal uncertainty that the individual who will be most impacted by all of this will be the Duke himself.
For a man who consistently enjoyed the trappings of royalty, the pomp and the pageantry, the relinquishment of his honors is deeply humiliating.
So to not have those, on a personal level, will significantly count.