Princess Eugenie has stepped into a new role with a British-based charity amid her mother’s leaked Jeffrey Epstein email scandal.

The daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, 35, has become a patron for Arts Work, an organisation that aims to give young people living in the UK access into the creative sector by offering work placement and training. 

The charity announced the news on Friday, posting a series of images of the royal at an event, greeting members and discussing strategy. 

Eugenie, who is not a working royal, was dressed in a casual sleeveless denim dress, which she paired with a khaki bomber jacket. 

She wore her hair up in a chic messy bun and natural makeup for the occasion. 

Arts Work captioned the snaps: ‘We are thrilled to announce that Her Royal Highness Princess Eugenie has become our new patron. Her support marks a significant moment in our mission to champion creativity and amplify the voices of children and young people.’

The organisation added that they were ‘so pleased’ to have Eugenie ‘join us in advocating for inclusive, creative opportunities that enable young people to make change happen’.

Fans congratulated Eugenie on her new role, with one describing her as a ‘wonderful, down-to-earth royal.’

The daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, 35, has become patron for Arts Work

Another penned: ‘I love seeing Eugenie use her position to help others. Way to go, Princess!’ 

A third said: ‘Congratulations, the Princess will be amazing! What a blessing for you.’

Princess Eugenie currently works full-time as a director at art gallery Hauser & Wirth in London, but has royal patronages outside of her job.

She co-founded The Anti-Slavery Collective in 2017 with her sister, Princess Beatrice, and also has patronages with the National Orthopaedic Hospital and Horatio’s Garden. 

Last month, she also flew to New York City to join  co-founders of The Anti-Slavery Collective as they launched a campaign to help raise awareness of the human cost behind counterfeit garments. 

The new patronage comes as a royal author claimed that Beatrice and Eugenie have been left in a ‘very difficult’ position over their upcoming Christmas plans.

Journalist Phil Dampier told The Daily Mail that the sisters ‘may feel it would be unfair’ of them to join the King and Queen and other royals at Sandringham, if their parents, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, aren’t invited.

It comes after sources claimed the Duke and Duchess of York, both 65, have been told they are not welcome at the Royal Family‘s Christmas celebrations amid a fresh scandal involving Jeffrey Epstein.

The charity announced the news on Friday, posting a series of images of the royal at an event, greeting members and discussing strategy

Eugenie, who is not a working royal, was dressed in a casual sleeveless denim dress, which she paired with a khaki bomber jacket

Fans congratulated Eugenie on her new role, with one describing her as a ‘wonderful down-to-earth royal’

It’s understood King Charles, 76, wants to keep Andrew and his ex-wife at arm’s length after the Mail on Sunday exposed how Fergie wrote to Epstein to apologise for publicly disowning the paedophile financier.

The Yorks, who live together at Royal Lodge in Windsor despite divorcing in 1996, have also been told to make themselves ‘invisible’ at future royal gatherings, insiders claim.

Mr Dampier said: ‘If it turns out they are not invited, or decide themselves not to go, then it makes it very difficult for Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

‘They may feel it would be unfair of them to go when their parents aren’t there and it simply rubs salt in their wounds.

‘The King has a soft spot for both Beatrice and Eugenie and feels sorry for the situation they are in. So it’s a real dilemma for him and one he could do without.’

The royal author suggested that the Prince of Wales would also not want the sisters to be left out because of their parents, adding: ‘He does have a good relationship with his cousins.’

Last year, Eugenie spent Christmas with her in-laws, Jack Brooksbank’s family, while Beatrice joined other royals at Sandringham. The only other time either of the sisters has missed the Royal Family’s festive gathering is in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic.

Meanwhile, Charles asked the Duchess of York to help convince Andrew to ‘do the decent thing’ and avoid the Christmas celebrations at the Norfolk estate last year after it emerged the Duke had become close with alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.

Pictured L-R: Princess Beatrice, Sarah Ferguson and Princess Eugenie are pictured during a visit to the Teenage Cancer Trust unit at University College Hospital in April

The Yorks spent last Christmas together at Royal Lodge instead, but they were not joined by their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie. 

A source close to the King told The Sunday Times: ‘You can’t sack someone from being your brother. 

‘But this year, if the duke and duchess were both to be as honourable [as last year], it would be very much for the best and the family would not be disappointed, not least to avoid the King having to make any more difficult decisions.’

It follows several charities dropping the Duchess in the wake of the Mail’s exposé last week, which laid bare how she cynically lied when she pledged to cut ties with Epstein.

Just weeks after publicly disowning him, she then wrote him a gushing private message calling him a ‘steadfast, generous and supreme friend’ – and admitting she only distanced herself from him to save her own reputation.    

The Duchess ‘humbly apologised’ to the convicted sex offender for letting him down, and said she had been told to speak out if she wanted to save her career as a children’s author.

She sent the grovelling message ‘from the truth of my heart’, less than two months after telling journalists: ‘I will never have anything to do with [Epstein] again.’

The Duchess’s friends say she was ‘devastated for any embarrassment’ caused by the latest scandal and ‘will explain herself to the wider Royal Family in due course’.

It was claimed Sarah sent the apology email to Epstein, in which she described him as a ‘supreme friend’, after he threatened to ‘destroy’ her family in a ‘chilling call’.

James Henderson, the Duchess’s spokesperson at the time, said the email was sent after a ‘really menacing and nasty’ phone call from the sex offender who had a ‘Hannibal Lecter-type voice’, the Telegraph reported.