Princesses Beatrice & Eugenie Are Proof the Royal Family Changed the 'Half-In, Half-Out' Rules — Just Not for Harry

Royal experts are weighing in on King Charles III’s treatment of Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie and how it vastly differs from his estranged son, Prince Harry.

Despite Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ongoing Jeffrey Epstein scandal, his daughters have been allowed to maintain a “half-in, half-out” position in the royal family. That particular request was made by Harry and Meghan Markle to Queen Elizabeth II in 2020, but it was denied. So, why does it appear that Beatrice and Eugenie are receiving special treatment?

Royal expert Simon Vigar explained the situation on the December 31 episode of The Sun‘s Royal Exclusive podcast. “They’re in an interesting position because they do public engagements, but they also have their private work and their private lives,” he said. “They’re sort of half-in, half-out, actually, the thing that Harry wanted. Beatrice and Eugenie aren’t full-time working royals, so they don’t quite have the public exposure that the others do.”

It’s the exposure that might have worried the palace since Harry and Meghan, despite all of the media criticism, remain popular among global royal fans. The Sussexes’ well-received Nigeria trip in May 2024 even forced one of their critics to praise them.

“After all of the trashing of Harry this week… trying to blame him [for the rift],” Royal author Tina Brown explained to the BBC. “When I saw him and Meghan in Nigeria, I had a nostalgia. I felt this is what it could have been. These two, who are enormously appealing to the public and who are very good at it, were out there in Nigeria, sort of looking really attractive and being appealing people.”

Brown described the “charisma vacancy” Harry and Meghan left in the royal family when they moved to California. “What a pity it is they’ve gone. There is that Harry-shaped hole in the monarchy at this time when they are at such beleaguered circumstances,” she added.

In the Netflix docuseries, Harry & Meghan, the couple shared what happened when they presented the “half-in, half-out” idea to Charles and Prince William as a way to “have our own jobs but also work in support of the Queen.”

“It became very clear very quickly that that goal was not up for discussion or debate,” Harry said in the series. “It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me, and my father say things that simply weren’t true, and my grandmother quietly sit there and sort of take it all in.”

Fast forward to 2026, where Eugenie and Beatrice are allowed to proceed with that coveted option while Harry and Meghan were denied. The palace rules don’t seem to make sense, but even the royal experts are pointing out King Charles and Prince William’s hypocrisy.

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