How Prince William & Kate Middleton Gave Princess Beatrice a ‘Subtle’ Royal Family Promotion

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The royal family‘s annual Christmas walk at Sandringham often offers clues about what is happening behind palace walls. It’s been an eventful yet difficult year for King Charles III and Kate Middleton, but there’s one family member who might be seeing a higher profile in the coming year: Princess Beatrice.

With Prince Andrew’s seemingly endless stream of scandals have ousted him from public life, his eldest daughter may have found herself moving up the ranks. On Christmas Day, Beatrice, her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and her stepson Christopher “Wolfie” Woolf, 8, walked just behind Prince William and Kate and their three children.

It’s important to note that the royal family procession order isn’t random, so Beatrice’s placement behind the Prince and Princess of Wales was significant. “She and her husband were next in line to the Waleses on the way out of the church, a subtle reminder that she remains in the top ten in the royal line of succession,” wrote Robert Hardman, author of Charles III: The Making of a King, in the Daily Mail. The decision likely “delighted” the Duke of York despite his exiled status.

Beatrice’s attendance the royal family’s celebration at Sandringham was a last-minute decision after her doctor advised her not to travel with her second baby on the way — she and her husband also share daughter Sienna, 3. She and Edoardo were expected to spend the holidays in Italy with his family, but those plans changed. Princess Eugenie stuck with her plans to visit her in-laws this Christmas and Prince Andrew was encouraged by Sarah Ferguson to stay away from King Charles this holiday season. His spy scandal has the monarch “at the end of his rope” and ready to evict him for good this time.

“The drama and embarrassment with Andrew just never seem to end,” a source explained to InTouch Weekly. “He’s an absolute disaster, but no one can very well contain him. He seems to have a knack for humiliating himself and the royals in the process.”

Andrew’s days at Royal Lodge might really be numbered in 2025 after his latest controversy, but Beatrice is proving to be a shining star in the royal family.

Before you go, click here to see all of our favorite photos of Princess Diana.