Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie 'will do what they can' to support Prince William

This speculation increased after the York Princesses stepped out to support the Prince of Wales alongside Peter Phillips and Zara Tindall at the Buckingham Palace garden party last week.

It is thought the younger royals were drafted in to help because of the "unique circumstances" Prince William is facing as his wife Princess Kate continues to focus on her recovery from cancer.

This was not the first time the royal cousins attended the event, as they have been regulars at garden parties over the years.

In addition, Beatrice and Eugenie occasionally accompanied Queen Elizabeth II to royal engagements such as the annual Maundy Service.

Prince Andrew's daughters have been a lot more prominent in the public eye over the past few weeks.

A royal insider told Hello!: "They are closer than lots of cousins might be – they have that unique shared experience and unusual life they all lead.

"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."

When Prince Harry, 39, and Meghan Markle, 42, announced in 2020 that they wanted to step back as senior royals, Queen Elizabeth II decided they could not be half-in, half-out working royals.

As a result, it is unlikely Beatrice and Eugenie could take on official duties without a review of that stance.

The sisters do not receive public funding for their activities or security, in line with other non-senior working royals.

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But the princesses appear to have been given the green light to make more public appearances this year, with Beatrice giving her first live TV interview on May 7.

She was interviewed from the top of the Empire State Building in New York to talk about the work of the charity Outward Bound, which her grandfather, Prince Philip, supported for more than six decades.

The interview, which likely required approval from Buckingham Palace, suggests the Royal Family are happy for the princesses to have a more prominent role in public life.

The source added: "They've always had a sense of service and duty, probably inherited from their grandmother. And they've shown that they can be trusted in the spotlight and I think that's appreciated.

"The Royal Family recognises that they're very charming, quite dutiful young women who are very at ease and good in situations where they're meeting the public and when they're doing their charity work. Whenever they've done that before, they haven't really put a foot wrong."