What Prince Andrew's Removal of Titles Means for Fergie, Beatrice and Eugenie
The Duke's removal from the final remnants of royal life has not only altered his path - it's sending ripples through his family too.
Fergie's Title Change
His ex-wife has now lost her duchess title and will now be referred to as Sarah Ferguson.
For Sarah, 66, the transition will be the most apparent.
For all these years, she has maintained the honorary royal post-marital designation Sarah, York Duchess. Now, she returns to her birth name of Ferguson.
"She will have lost a certain prestige over this," noted one monarchy expert. "She definitely does use the title – even her Twitter bio is @SarahTheDuchess."
But the relinquishment of her status may affect her much less than the controversy she's dealing with independently about her own links with Jeffrey Epstein.
Recently, multiple organizations dropped her as patron after correspondence from 2011 showed that she referred to Epstein her "greatest ally" and seemed to apologise for her public criticism of him.
Professional Endeavors and Philanthropy
Away from her charitable activities, Ferguson also has multiple commercial enterprises.
And these, too, are more probable to be affected by the Epstein controversy than any alteration in status, notes one royal commentator.
But Ferguson has been a great survivor in monarchical networks. She has continued bouncing back.
"She is the supreme perseverer and expert at transforming," commented one monarchy writer.
The Daughters
For the couple's offspring, Beatrice, thirty-seven, and Eugenie, 35, there's no official alteration.
They continue to be referred to as princesses, which they have been granted since their birth.
There is also no change to the line of succession.
Andrew remains eighth in line to the crown, succeeded by his children Beatrice and Eugenie, in ninth and twelfth position respectively.
But in practice their standing are "distant" and will probably become even more remote as time goes on.
Future Prospects
Beatrice and Eugenie are also presently non-official royals, and while they do sometimes take on roles – The younger princess was recently announced as a advisor for the monarch's charity program – experts also suggest they "don't envision a world" in which they would step up into royal duties.
"As far as Beatrice and Eugenie go, I think there's an understanding of the fact that this controversy isn't about them, and it's unjust for it to impact them personally in the separate paths they are building for themselves," says one royal commentator.
"Their daughters are most unfortunate victims, they've had to suffer in silence and have been composed in their reserve," adds another royal author.
Final Impact
In the end, there seems to be minimal uncertainty that the person who will be most impacted by these developments will be the Duke himself.
For a man who consistently enjoyed the royal privileges, the ceremony and the ceremony, the relinquishment of his honors is profoundly embarrassing.
Therefore lacking these, on a personal level, will really matter.