Beatrice and Eugenie are being thrown into Andrew’s circus - William will be watching

The scandalous Epstein Files shone an unwelcome spotlight on Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, all thanks to their parents' close friendship with a convicted paedophile - now they could be humiliated again. Sisters Beatrice, 38, and Eugenie, 36, must have been horrified to discover - in the millions of documents made public by US officials in January and called the Epstein Files - their names appeared hundreds of times. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on their part, and their mother Sarah Ferguson and father Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor similarly deny any impropriety. But the sisters must have been squirming as they read how, in emails, Fergie told pervert Jeffrey Epstein that Eugenie was away on a "sh****** weekend" - or how Fergie asked for free flights for her and the girls to visit Epstein after he had completed his prison sentence for procuring a child for sex.

Next month on or around December 15, Andrew is set to appear as a witness in a fraud trial at the High Court after being served with a summons, and the sisters may end up squirming all over again. The witness summons will see him giving evidence and taking questions, in a case in which a wealthy woman alleges she was cheated by her former financial adviser.

Andrew, 66, is not accused of wrongdoing, but he could face difficult questions about his financial arrangements as it is said that he was in receipt of some of the disputed payments, including a transfer to him of £750,000, which was later returned. His court appearance will be the first public questioning Andrew has faced since his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview in November 2019; Andrew's the first royal since the 19th Century to be sent such a witness summons.

The case will hear allegations made by Nebahat Isbilen, an elderly Turkish woman, who says her former adviser Selman Turk misled her and used her wealth to his own advantage. Turk has strongly denied dishonesty, and Andrew has been asked to give evidence over disputed questions about Turk's handling of Isbilen's money. According to court documents, Isbilen claimed she was misled by Turk into paying £750,000 to Andrew, believing it was for help with a passport.

According to reports, Turk and Andrew's office subsequently informed Ms Isbilen's bankers that the money was a "wedding gift" for Princess Beatrice, who married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in July 2020. The payment was eventually returned anyway.

The transfer of money came the day after Mountbatten-Windsor recorded that Newsnight interview, which was then broadcast the following night, and was soon followed by the then Duke of York stepping down from royal duties.

Ms Isbilen claims she placed £67million in Mr Turk's care altogether. That total reportedly included payments of £225,000 to Fergie and £25,000 to her other daughter, Princess Eugenie.

Turk met Andrew in autumn 2019 through the Pitch@Palace project, a Dragon's Den-style pitching event run by the former duke. That had led to social gatherings, bringing together Turk and his family, Isbilen and the then Duke and Duchess of York.

Turk's representatives, Janes Solicitors, said he denies the claims of dishonesty and looks forward to being vindicated in court. In February, he was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office, an investigation which remains ongoing. However, a ruling last month determined that the search warrants authorising those raids were unlawful.

Separately, Police Scotland have confirmed they are conducting "active inquiries" following reports linking Andrew and Epstein to Balmoral Castle, the Royal Family's private estate in the Scottish Highlands. But seeing their father make history by standing in the witness box at the High Court will be yet another embarrassment heaped on mounds of humiliation for the princesses.

And if Beatrice and Eugenie find their names dragged into the High Court case unwittingly, it could be the last straw for their already splintered relationship with their blundering, bungling and troublesome father.

See more of the stories you love from Daily Express and find us easily in Google by making us a Preferred Source. Free and easy-to-do, just click here to activate or add us as Preferred Source in your Google search settings.