Amid the ex-prince Andrew scandal, scrutiny falls on daughters Beatrice and Eugenie

As scandal has swirled around former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, questions and curiosity have also focused on his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, and their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.

They have all been keeping low profiles lately in the continued fallout from his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with Ferguson's whereabouts unknown and the subject of much speculation.

For Beatrice and Eugenie, however, there has been a growing media focus on their titles, accommodations in royal residences and places within the line of succession.

"It's very difficult with both their parents in different ways implicated with this terrible scandal," Chandrika Kaul, a professor of modern history at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, said in an interview.

"It's difficult for them because at a personal level ... they must feel in some way part of the problem, but at another level, they probably want to distance themselves."

Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, are ninth and 12th in the line of succession. They have established their own careers and have never been working members of the Royal Family.

Married with two children each (Beatrice also has a stepson), they have family homes outside the royal sphere — Beatrice northwest of London and Eugenie in Portugal. They also have accommodations in royal properties.

Over the years, they have focused some of their time on philanthropy, although Eugenie recently stepped down as patron of the charity Anti-Slavery International. 

Amid the scandal, which saw their father arrested and subsequently released under investigation last month, there appears to be some public sympathy.

"People are not associating them with the actions of their parents," Justin Vovk, a royal historian and member of the advisory board of the Institute for the Study of the Crown in Canada, said in an interview. 

That there would be sympathy, Vovk suggested, comes down to the difference between knowledge and proximity.

"Obviously, there's no doubt about the fact that Beatrice and Eugenie had proximity to Epstein. We know about Sarah taking them on that very ill-advised lunch meeting in Miami after Epstein was released from prison," he said.

"But I think what is preserving them in the public eye for the time being is the fact that ... there's no indication of them being involved in anything that their parents were involved with."

Still, they have been the focus of much recent media curiosity and speculation.