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    1. Celebrity
    2. Royals

    Princess Eugenie Celebrates 36th Birthday Amid "Utter Personal Crisis"

    "I doubt whether this birthday will be one she will particularly feel like celebrating in a big way," said royal expert Jennie Bond.

    Kristin Contino's avatar
    By Kristin Contino
    Published 23 March 2026 In News

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    Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice walking to church on Christmas
    (Image credit: Getty Images)
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    Princess Eugenie is marking her 36th birthday on Monday, March 23, but with the multiple scandals involving her parents Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, royal sources note the celebrations will likely be rather quiet. After Eugenie's father was arrested in February and both the princess and her sister, Princess Beatrice, were mentioned in multiple emails in the Epstein files, one royal expert said Eugenie is facing a “personal crisis.”

    It’s unknown whether Princess Eugenie and her family are spending her birthday in the U.K. or in Portugal, where they live part of the year. Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond told the Mirror that no matter where Eugenie is, she’ll likely keep a “low profile.”

    "Both Eugenie and Beatrice must be feeling the heat of the headlines that are now turning on them. And so I doubt whether this birthday will be one she will particularly feel like celebrating in a big way,” Bond said.

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    Princess Eugenie wearing a white dress

    Princess Eugenie poses at a Tate Modern event in June 2025.

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    Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank at Royal Ascot

    Princess Eugenie and her husband, Jack Brooksbank, are pictured at Royal Ascot in 2025.

    (Image credit: Getty Images)

    Princess Beatrice was photographed leaving a Notting Hill bar with husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi over the weekend, but Bond said that it would be surprising if Princess Eugenie celebrated her birthday in any public way.

    “Both princesses seem to have decided that keeping a low profile for now is the best course of action, and I suspect that is how Eugenie will spend her birthday: out of public view and certainly not openly with either of her parents,” she said.

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    The sisters have not spoken about their father’s association with Jeffrey Epstein or Andrew's arrest, but the Sun’s royal editor, Matt Wilkinson, said Beatrice and Eugenie are “probably going through a complete and utter personal crisis.”

    In an episode of Hello! magazine’s “A Right Royal Podcast,” Wilkinson said, “I've got sympathy for both Beatrice and Eugenie, and I'd like to see them somehow rehabilitated and used properly in the Royal Family. I think The King wants her, wants them both, to not pay for the sins of their parents, but I'm not sure there is mass public sympathy for them at the moment.”

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    The ultimate daily digest for women of power, purpose, and style.

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    Explore More
    Princess Eugenie Prince Andrew sarah ferguson Princess Beatrice
    Kristin Contino
    Kristin Contino
    Senior Royal and Celebrity Editor

    Kristin Contino is Marie Claire's Senior Royal and Celebrity editor. She's been covering royalty since 2018—including major moments such as the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II’s death and King Charles III's coronation—and places a particular focus on the British Royal Family's style and what it means.

    Prior to working at Marie Claire, she wrote about celebrity and royal fashion at Page Six Style and covered royalty from around the world as chief reporter at Royal Central. Kristin has provided expert commentary for outlets including the BBC, Sky News, US Weekly, the Today Show and many others.

    Kristin is also the published author of two novels, “The Legacy of Us” and “A House Full of Windsor.” She's passionate about travel, history, horses, and learning everything she can about her favorite city in the world, London.

    Read more
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