What Prince Andrew's Removal of Titles Signifies for Sarah Ferguson, Beatrice and Princess Eugenie

Prince Andrew's removal from the last vestiges of monarchical duties has not only altered his path - it's creating waves through his immediate relatives too.

Sarah Ferguson's New Status

The former spouse has now surrendered her ducal status and will now be referred to as Sarah Ferguson.

For Ferguson, sixty-six, the change will be the most visible.

For all these years, she has maintained the honorary royal divorcee title Sarah, Duchess of York. Now, she reverts to her maiden name of Ferguson.

"She has lost a certain prestige over this," noted one royal commentator. "She definitely utilizes the title – including her Twitter bio is @SarahTheDuchess."

But the loss of her title may affect her much less than the scandal she's dealing with independently about her own connections to Jeffrey Epstein.

Recently, several charities dropped her as patron after an email from over a decade ago showed that she referred to Epstein her "greatest ally" and seemed to apologise for her public criticism of him.

Business Ventures and Philanthropy

Away from her philanthropy, Ferguson also has multiple commercial enterprises.

And these, too, are more likely to be affected by the Epstein controversy than any change in title, notes one monarchy analyst.

But Ferguson has been a great survivor in monarchical networks. She has continued recovering strongly.

"She's the supreme perseverer and expert at transforming," commented one monarchy writer.

The Princesses

For Andrew and Sarah's two daughters, Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, there's no formal change.

They will still be known as royal princesses, which they have been entitled to since their birth.

There is also no change to the line of succession.

The prince stays eighth in line to the crown, followed by his children Beatrice and Eugenie, in ninth and twelfth place in that order.

But in practice their standing are "distant" and will probably become much further down as years pass.

Coming Opportunities

The princesses are also currently non-working royals, and while they do sometimes take on roles – Princess Eugenie was recently named as a mentor for the monarch's charity network – experts also say they "can't see a scenario" in which they would advance into official responsibilities.

"As far as Beatrice and Eugenie are concerned, I think there's an understanding of the reality that this scandal doesn't involve them, and it's not fair for it to affect them directly in the separate paths they are carving out for themselves," says one monarchy analyst.

"Their daughters are most unfortunate affected parties, they've had to suffer in silence and have been composed in their reserve," states another monarchy writer.

Ultimate Consequences

Ultimately, there seems to be little doubt that the person who will be most impacted by all of this will be Prince Andrew himself.

For a man who consistently enjoyed the royal privileges, the pomp and the ceremony, the loss of his titles is profoundly embarrassing.

Therefore lacking those, on a individual basis, will significantly count.