‘Although Prince William still believes in a “slimmed-down monarchy”, he is increasingly aware of the hard work of his extended family,’ one courtier told MailOnline. The sisters do appear to be much valued by their cousin, who has now issued them both with invitations to garden parties at Buckingham Palace on consecutive years – with Princess Beatrice only missing the most recent event to attend the Matrix Awards in New York for women in communications.
Princess Beatrice has a strong charitable work ethic and was recently announced as the patron of Borne – a charity focused on premature birth research and support. The appointment is a particularly personal one for the Princess, whose second daughter, Athena, was born premature. In a moving essay for Vogue, Beatrice wrote that looking back over the months of ‘sheer worry’ she endured, she is now ‘filled with a sense of determination that more can be done to help others find answers to those questions around the complications that can lead to preterm birth – questions that defined my days (and nights) during pregnancy’.
According to one source, William is leaning more than ever on the York sisters, who have a deep understanding of his life and role. ‘They are closer than lots of cousins might be – they have that unique shared experience and unusual life they all lead,’ the royal insider previously told HELLO! magazine. ‘This is an institution that they all belong to, perhaps in slightly different ways in terms of how they serve it, but they all believe in it and its future and want to do what they can to support it.’