Royal siblings fight—this we know. But it’s pretty rare that we gain any first-person details about it, which is exactly what happened when Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie both dropped by Cressida Bonas and Isabella Branson’s podcast, Lessons From Our Mothers, this past week. (For reference, Bonas once dated Prince Harry from 2012 to 2014.)
The York sisters joined to talk about everything from balancing work and motherhood to maternal wisdom gained being raised by their own mum, Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York. That’s when the subject of one of their biggest arguments ever came up—and the six-word tactic Fergie employed to nip it in the bud.
The argument was, rather humorously, over a pair of pink Converse. As Beatrice describes it, Fergie instilled in her and Eugenie this sense that they always had each other and needed to prioritize that. This meant that, when fights arose, she pushed her daughters to be really open—“everything was on the table,” even when it came to silly childhood fights “like whose Converse trainers were the right size,” Beatrice shares.
“I remember that fight,” Eugenie responds in the episode. “It was a big one,” Beatrice goes on. “And mum just jumped into that fight. [It was] probably [like] watching a boxing match or something.” (Earlier in the chat, Beatrice explains that, together as sisters, they are both pretty fiery.)

Aaron Chown/Getty Images
That’s when, mid-argument, Fergie applied her six-word tactic: Come on, you can do it, she yelled to her daughters, according to Beatrice. “The forced collaboration—[because] you’re slightly annoyed because she’s kind of pushing on a bit of a nerve…and that joy…of making up at the end was a big part of what she instilled in us as well. This sense that it’s OK to feel, it’s OK to push on that—those emotions—but you have to figure out what the resolution looks like as well.”
Can we take a moment to applaud Fergie here? This six-word phrase is not only genius, it feels like Dr. Becky-level support. After all, the emotions are very real; how you work through them is what counts. We love the visual of the Duchess of York almost cheering her children on as they slog their way through a low-stakes battle. TBH, it’s a parenting move I may just borrow. It’s also totally charming.
When it comes to Fergie, we’d expect nothing less.
Sarah Ferguson Shares Rare Childhood Pic for Eugenie’s Birthday—And Reveals Her Hilarious Nickname