Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie ‘are placing items of the puzzle collectively’ over father Andrew’s behaviour as they concentrate on defending their younger youngsters from Epstein fall-out

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor’s daughters are said to be ‘putting the pieces of the puzzle together’ over his behaviour, as the fall-out from the Epstein files continues. 

Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie are reportedly focusing on protecting their own young children following their father’s arrest on Thursday on suspicion of misconduct in public office. 

The sisters are ‘trying to stay away from it’ and are ‘putting pieces of the puzzle together in real time and realising they may have been used’, a source told People. 

While Princess Eugenie was spotted on a family skiing holiday this week, Princess Beatrice‘s whereabouts are currently unknown, although her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi was seen recently in Palm Beach, Florida. 

The source also said: ‘They’re trying to stay away from it. They have young children, and this is their grandfather – their focus is on protecting their own children from this.’

‘That has to feel like a complete betrayal. They’re heartbroken – but a father is still your father, and a mother is still your mother,’ they added. 

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was arrested on Thursday, coincidentally his 66th birthday, on suspicion of misconduct in public office, as questions continue to emerge over his time as UK trade envoy and his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein. 

Since then, his daughters Princess Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, are said to be trying to navigate the aftermath of the continuing bombshell revelations that have emerged from the latest tranche of documents released in the Epstein files. 

Andrew’s youngest daughter, 35, is said to be ‘in a state’ after her father was held on suspicion of misconduct in public office following the Thursday raid on his new Sandringham home. 

Searches of his former Royal Lodge home are expected to last until Monday as Andrew remains under investigation following his release.  

Princess Eugenie had been holidaying in the exclusive Swiss ski resort of Gstaad with her family when Andrew was arrested, confirming that her father was about to spend his birthday alone without his daughters and ex-wife – with only his seven dogs for company. 

The Daily Mail also revealed Sarah Ferguson’s friends admit she is in a ‘bad way’ and fears that ‘everyone is out to get her’ following her ex-husband’s arrest. 

The Princesses’ parents feature heavily in the Epstein Files and Fergie’s emails to the convicted paedophile revealed she took Eugenie and Beatrice to visit him days after his release from prison for child prostitution offences. Fergie even spoke to Epstein about Eugenie’s sex life and boyfriends.

Eugenie was spotted in the Swiss Alps with her husband Jack Brooksbank, their sons August, 5, and Ernest, 2, and their nanny, perusing the menu at a restaurant famed for potato rosti, raclette, fondue and Viennese sausage on Wednesday. 

The Brooksbanks were with friends who had also joined them at the eaterie with a large terrace and breathtaking views of the Alps, although they opted to stay inside. 

But Andrew’s eldest daughter, Beatrice, who has three children aged nine, four and one years old with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, has not been seen publicly since Andrew’s arrest.  

Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, was recently spotted spending time in Palm Beach, Florida in a trip to the US visiting the same area where Ferguson and the princesses dined with disgraced paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein – just days after the end of his prison sentence for trafficking a minor for prostitution. 

Mapelli Mozzi shared pictures and videos to his Instagram account, along with his business Banda’s account, showing his recent trip on February 9. 

Sarah Ferguson, meanwhile, has not been seen publicly since September 25 last year, when she was photographed looking downcast leaving Royal Lodge, which she used to share with her ex-husband Andrew. 

Sources told the Daily Mail that Beatrice and Eugenie ‘are very distressed’. 

Royal commentator Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said they will be feeling ‘extremely upset’ by their father’s arrest.

‘I’m sure they weren’t expecting it,’ she said. ‘It’s really embarrassing and distressing for them both.’

A source close to the family says the sisters will be holding ‘crisis talks’ this weekend, not only with each other, but likely with their uncle, King Charles, who remains fiercely protective of them. 

‘All the doubts will have come crashing in – those holidays they had as children, the funds their father put in their bank account, all the lovely things they enjoyed,’ Seward said. 

‘Somewhere in their minds, they’ll be wondering where that money really came from.

‘Sadly, they’re going to start doubting everything their father ever told them.’

Another source close to the princesses insists they remain dutiful daughters in their interactions with both maligned parents, but the relationships are fraught. 

‘People are saying that they are not talking to them [their parents] but it is more complicated than that. This is your father, this is your mother, so there will never be a right and a wrong. 

‘But the girls feel that they can’t be seen with their parents because everyone is watching. It makes a really difficult situation even more difficult.’ 

Andrew has consistently denied the claims made by Virginia Giuffre, that she was forced to have sex with him after being trafficked by the late sex-offender Jeffrey Epstein and his then-girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, in 2001.