Prince Andrew\u2019s daughters are to be stripped of their 24-hour police protection after a growing row over the ?500,000 annual cost. \nPrincess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are the biggest losers of a Scotland Yard review of security for the Royal Family.
\nThe princesses, fifth and sixth in line to the throne, will be given protection only when they attend official events on behalf of the Royal Family.
\nPrince Andrew had fought ferociously for the protection officers to stay. He argued his daughters should be treated differently from other minor royals because they enjoy HRH status.
\nBut his argument failed because their cousin Zara Phillips, the daughter of Princess Anne, has no protection \u2013 even though she has a higher public profile.
\nAndrew\u2019s wish that his daughters follow him into public life has also been thwarted.
\nThe Queen has made it clear that she expects the princesses to pursue their own careers after university, rather than go on the Civil List as working members of the Royal Family.
\nThe decision will please Prince Charles who has been exasperated by the embarrassment caused by his younger brother\u2019s controversial activities as UK trade ambassador.
\nCharles has long believed that the Royal Family has to be leaner and more cost effective \u2013 even though his own spending (?16million last year) is lavish by comparison to the famously thrifty Queen.
\nThe controversy over the protection officers for Andrew\u2019s daughters has been rumbling for years.
\nThe princesses have not helped their cause by being photographed falling out of expensive London nightclubs in the early hours, often the worse for wear, with protection officers in tow.
\nThe cost of guarding Eugenie, 21, in her first year at Newcastle University has been estimated at ?250,000 a year. It includes salaries, accommodation and living and travel expenses of two full-time bodyguards.
\nBeatrice, 22, studying at the University of London, enjoys the same level of protection.
\nPrince Andrew insisted his daughters have full-time protection despite private police assessments that they were low-risk targets.
\nBut, with his authority weakened by the scandal over his friendship with the convicted American paedophile Jeff Epstein and his links with dodgy foreign business tycoons, he has been forced to admit defeat.
\nThe Home Office is determined to prune the estimated ?50million security bill for the Royal Family.
\nOther minor royals such as the Duchess of Gloucester who, unlike princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, performs official engagements, will also have their protection withdrawn when not on official duty.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"