10 August 2023 , 20:00
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Prince Harry remains "best of friends" with his cousins Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, it has been claimed.
The Duke of Sussex's relationship with much of the rest of the Royal Family - particularly brother Prince William and dad King Charles - is thought to be on the rocks. However, the 38-year-old is said to have always shared a close bond with the two York sisters - daughters of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson.
In contrast, Harry - who lives in California with wife Meghan Markle and their two children Archie and Lilibet - is understood to have had sparing communication with the Prince and Princess of Wales in the last 12 months. It comes after the Sussexes made a number of allegations against members of the Firm in their Netflix documentary, the Duke's tell-all memoir Spare and their bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey.
Harry and Meghan stepped down as working royals in March 2020. They have since gone on to sign multi-million-pound deals with the streaming giant, as well as Spotify.
Referring to Harry's relationship with Beatrice and Eugenie, an insider told People: "They're still the best of friends and talk constantly." They added that tensions between the Sussexes and the Firm has been "really stressful" for the two sisters, and they find it "hard to watch" because they "see both sides".
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Harry and Eugenie have always understood to be very close, playing together as children and forming a close bond. They are both younger siblings, while their mums were always close.
Nigel Crawthorne, author of Prince Andrew, previously told Femail: "From an early age, Eugenie had to deal with the embarrassing headlines of both her father and mother. Harry had to deal with his share of headlines, too, and this bond between them was a great consolation for them."
Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand wrote in the Sussex biography Finding Freedom: "Out of all the Queen's grandchildren, Harry and Eugenie have one of the most natural connections."
The book also describes them as the "closest of friends". It adds: "Like Harry, Eugenie is loyal, honest and great fun. The two had many nights out together in London, sneaking into back entrances of clubs, such as Mahiki, where Jack [Eugenie's now husband] once was manager, or Tonteria, where in one of the VIP cave areas they downed shots from Mexican skull shaped glasses and a giant frozen margarita (with multiple straws)."
In the tell-all Oprah interview, Eugenie was the only royal singled out for praise. Meghan said: "Eugenie and I had known each other before I had known Harry, so that was comfortable [...] We're friends with them as a couple."
Eugenie and her husband Jack Brooksbank, along with son August, even moved into Harry and Meghan's Frogmore Cottage home on the grounds of Windsor Castle after they moved to the US.
Harry stayed with his cousin and her family at the property when he returned to the UK without Meghan for Prince Philip's funeral and the unveiling of Princess Diana's statue.