Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie's telling remark about Sarah Ferguson

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie have always shared a close bond with their mum Sarah, Duchess of York, and have publicly praised her many times. While they typically keep most of their lives private, especially as non-working royals, their appreciation for their mum is something they have always been open about, with the latest example being just months ago.

When they appeared on the Lessons From Our Mothers podcast, hosted by Prince Harry's ex, Cressida Bonas, and her half-sister Isabella Branson, Beatrice and Eugenie spoke about how Sarah, 65, has helped shape them, especially when it comes to their charity work. Talking on the podcast, the royal siblings said the Duchess had kept them "grounded" and taught them the importance of giving back.

Eugenie, 35, also made a telling remark on how important charity work is to Sarah, calling it an "integral" part of her.

Princess Eugenie said: "'When you feel bad about yourself and the world, you give back to others.

"And Beatrice and I, from little, have always gone with mum on all her charity work, and that is so integral to her as a human."

Talking about charity work, Eugenie then said: "That was something she's instilled in us from a very early age, to give back."

This comment came just months before Sarah was dropped as patron from a number of her charities last week following revelations she had emailed the late convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein in 2011 after he was released from prison for child sex offences.

The email, which saw Sarah call Epstein her "supreme" friend, was an apology from the duchess to Epstein for disowning him in a previous media interview.

A spokesperson for the Duchess said she sent the email out of fear he would sue her for defamation.

It is believed the duchess is now "devastated" that the scandal has seen her lose the role of patron for a number of charities, especially as they are so important to her - as previously expressed by her daughters in the podcast.

Speaking on The Jeremy Vine show, Sarah's friend Lizzie Cundy said: "Sarah is absolutely devastated about losing the charities. Especially the cancer one, herself had a cancer diagnosis recently, she's absolutely devastated. She's a human being, a mother, she's going through hell."