This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/09/stop-bullying-our-family-duchess-of-york-urges-media
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Stop bullying our family, Duchess of York urges media | Stop bullying our family, Duchess of York urges media |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Prince Andrew has denied claims of a rift between him and his brother, Prince Charles, over his daughters’ roles in the royal family. | |
| In a rare public statement, he moved to end speculation that he wanted princesses Beatrice and Eugenie to become more central figures, and bear greater responsibilities at public engagements. He also insisted he has not asked that his daughters’ future husbands be given titles. | |
| “As a father, my wish for my daughters is for them is to be modern working young women, who happen to be members of the royal family, and I am delighted to see them building their careers,” Prince Andrew said, in a statement released on Friday. | |
| “When they do support the royal family in its work, this is very much appreciated by my family and, most importantly, by those organisations and to those for whom their participation makes such a difference to their lives.” | |
| The statement follows a series of newspaper articles suggesting he was at odds with other members of the royal family. He was reported to have wanted his daughters, who are seventh and eighth in line to the throne, to carry out royal duties on a par with their cousins William and Harry. His brother Charles, however, favoured a slimmed-down monarchy, centred on him, his children and grandchildren, it was claimed. | |
| In his letter, Prince Andrew wrote: “Over the past few weeks, a number of stories have been run in various newspapers that have no basis of fact and the most recent, relating to my daughters, requires correction to terminate further speculation and innuendo.” | |
| He added: “Whilst I appreciate, as granddaughters of the queen, there is considerable interest in my daughters, I cannot continue to stand by and have the media speculate on their futures based on my purported interventions, which are completely made up and an invention.” | |
| Earlier on Friday, Prince Andrew’s ex-wife Sarah Ferguson called on media outlets to “stop bullying the York family”, saying her two daughters are “extraordinary examples of | |
| She spoke as princesses Beatrice, 28, and Eugenie, 26, became patrons of the Teenage Cancer Trust, visiting a specialist teen cancer unit in London to meet young people with the disease. | |
| Praising their hard work, the Duchess of York said: “Both the duke and myself, we could not be more proud of this moment because these two girls that work so hard in their own careers have taken time off today to spread the word of teen cancer, which is so important, and then go back to work. | Praising their hard work, the Duchess of York said: “Both the duke and myself, we could not be more proud of this moment because these two girls that work so hard in their own careers have taken time off today to spread the word of teen cancer, which is so important, and then go back to work. |
| “It’s really an extraordinary example that, I think, good parenting and listening to your children and getting them to take responsibility for their own actions.” | “It’s really an extraordinary example that, I think, good parenting and listening to your children and getting them to take responsibility for their own actions.” |
| She said she was proud of her family’s charity work, adding: “Let’s focus more on this and less on tittle-tattle gossip. Stop bullying the York family, please.” | She said she was proud of her family’s charity work, adding: “Let’s focus more on this and less on tittle-tattle gossip. Stop bullying the York family, please.” |
| Beatrice, who is said to be focusing on her “entrepreneurial ambitions”, having had several jobs over the past five years, has been criticised in the media for the number of holidays she takes – 15 in 2015, according to one report. | Beatrice, who is said to be focusing on her “entrepreneurial ambitions”, having had several jobs over the past five years, has been criticised in the media for the number of holidays she takes – 15 in 2015, according to one report. |
| She recently made headlines when she cut singer Ed Sheeran’s face with a sword while pretending to “knight” James Blunt at a party at her father’s Royal Lodge residence near Windsor. | She recently made headlines when she cut singer Ed Sheeran’s face with a sword while pretending to “knight” James Blunt at a party at her father’s Royal Lodge residence near Windsor. |
| Eugenie works as an associate director at a modern art gallery. | Eugenie works as an associate director at a modern art gallery. |
| While statements from members of the royal family attacking the press are uncommon, it is not the first time the royal have felt the need to defend themselves and those near them in recent weeks. Last month, Prince Harry released a letter asking media outlets and their readers to respect the privacy of his partner Meghan Markle, who he said had been “subjected to a wave of abuse” that had taken on “racial undertones”. | |