It’s no wonder, then, that Eugenie has been invited to take part in My National Gallery, which will feature interviews with various celebrities, including Claudia Winkleman, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and Jacqueline Wilson. Each will discuss their favourite paintings, and why they mean so much to them, alongside other guests such as staff members and world-class art experts. ‘We are delighted to have such a great film about the National Gallery on its 200th birthday. [It is] a real Christmas treat,’ said controller of factual at ITV, Jo Clinton-Davis, before comparing the show to last year’s widely praised film, Vermeer – the Greatest Exhibition.
The news comes towards the end of a significant year for the York sisters, in which they have taken on more visible roles within the royal family. While Beatrice and Eugenie are relatively senior members of the royal family with their own patronages and public engagements to fulfil, neither are considered full-time, working royals. However, they are – according to their mother, Sarah Ferguson – passionately driven by the causes they hold dear. ‘Beatrice and Eugenie are out there doing the work,’ she said in September. ‘Eugenie does a lot with The Anti-Slavery Collective, Beatrice does an enormous amount in technology and with dyslexia and really believes in humanity in the workplace, with compassion.’