CRISIS TAKES ITS TOLL ON YOUNG ROYALS

Princesses have not been seen in public with their mother for many weeks

- TRACY SCHAVERIEN

They were once the closest of families, with Sarah Ferguson comparing their tight bond to a table.

"A table goes best with four legs," the former duchess told HELLO! in 2017. "A table can't stand on three legs, so you have the duke and I, and the two girls. We're a family unit and we lead by example.

We support each other emotionally and health-wise.

At least every two weeks we sit down together and communicate, the four of us."

Today, that once-sturdy relationship is looking decidedly wobbly, after Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie found themselves dragged into the scandal surrounding their parents' friendship with Jeffrey Epstein.

Last week, further emails emerged from the so-called "Epstein files", revealing that the late convicted paedophile paid for Sarah and her daughters to fly to the US to have lunch with him at his mansion in Palm Beach, days after he was released from prison in 2009.