🔗 Share this article

Prince Andrew's exit from the last vestiges of royal life has not only reshaped his future - it's sending ripples through his family too.

Sarah Ferguson's New Status

His ex-wife 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, York Duchess. Currently, she returns to her birth name of Ferguson.

"She has lost a bit of cachet over this," said one royal commentator. "She certainly does use the title – even her Twitter bio is @SarahTheDuchess."

But the relinquishment of her status may affect her much less than the scandal she's facing separately about her own links with Jeffrey Epstein.

Recently, multiple organizations dropped her as ambassador after an email from over a decade ago revealed that she referred to Epstein her "supreme friend" and seemed to apologise for her public criticism of him.

Business Ventures and Philanthropy

Away from her charitable activities, Ferguson also has various business ventures.

And these ventures, are more likely to be impacted by the Epstein controversy than any change in title, says one royal commentator.

But Ferguson has been a remarkable endure in monarchical networks. She has continued recovering strongly.

"She is the ultimate survivor and expert at transforming," said one royal author.

The Daughters

For Andrew and Sarah's two daughters, Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, thirty-five, there's no official alteration.

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

There is also no modification to the line of succession.

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

But in reality their positions are "distant" and will likely become much further down as time goes on.

Coming Opportunities

Beatrice and Eugenie are also currently non-working royals, and while they do sometimes take on roles – The younger princess was recently announced as a mentor for the monarch's charity program – experts also say they "don't envision a world" in which they would step up into royal duties.

"Regarding Beatrice and Eugenie are concerned, I think there's an understanding of the fact that this controversy isn't about them, and it's not fair for it to affect them personally in the independent lives they are carving out for themselves," says one monarchy analyst.

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

Ultimate Consequences

Ultimately, there seems to be minimal uncertainty that the person who will be most affected by all of this will be the Duke himself.

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

Therefore lacking those, on a individual basis, will really matter.