Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have 'both visited Sarah Ferguson at new rented home' but 'don't want to be seen with her in public', claims PHIL DAMPIER: 'The relationship isn't as close as it used to be'

Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have 'both visited' their mother Sarah Ferguson at her £10,000-a-month Home Counties rental but 'don't want to be seen with her in public', it has been claimed.

The King's nieces 'don't want to be tainted by scandal' after the former Duchess of York, 67, moved back to Britain after crisscrossing Europe in an attempt to outrun the fallout from the Epstein Files.

She is believed to be renting a £10,000-a-month, six-bed house in a gated community in the Home Counties after she was evicted from Royal Lodge alongside her ex-husband, disgraced Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Their daughters Beatrice, 38, and Eugenie, 36, 'have both been to see her at her new house in the past couple of weeks', according to royal commentator Phil Dampier.

Speaking to Hello! magazine, he said: 'I don't think they want to be seen with her in public at the moment, and she probably realises it's not a good idea either, but behind the scenes they are talking and trying to be supportive.'

Mr Dampier told the publication both Beatrice and Eugenie - who recently gave birth to daughter Adelaide - will be 'reevaluating...the things they get involved with'.

He wondered if their days of 'being the tripod' have passed, suggesting Fergie's relationship with her daughters is not what it used to be.

It comes amid speculation that Fergie has been dropped by yet another charity after a plaque commemorating her association with Great Ormond Street Hospital mysteriously vanished.

For decades, a grey slate plaque with gold lettering was fixed to the wall of a special hostel for the parents of sick children at Great Ormond Street, marking the fact that Ferguson, as Duchess of York, had opened the 'Home from Home' in 1990.

Yet today there is no sign of the plaque, only a tell-tale outline on the Georgian brickwork and two holes in the wall where it was displayed until recently. 

Neither the former duchess nor the charity behind the hostel responded to the Daily Mail's request for comment at the time.  

The former Duchess had a spectacular fall from grace last year when The Mail on Sunday published emails revealing the true depth of her relationship with the late US financier and paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Although she publicly disowned Mr Epstein when he was jailed for abusing a teenage girl in 2008, in private she had called the financier a 'supreme friend' and made a grovelling apology for criticising him.

In response to this and other shocking emails uncovered by the MoS, the King stripped Ferguson and former husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor of their titles and ejected them from Royal Lodge, the grace-and-favour mansion in Windsor Great Park that they shared.

Soon afterwards, Sarah was dropped as a patron by charities including Julia's House, a children's hospice, Prevent Breast Cancer, The British Heart Foundation, The Teenage Cancer Trust and the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals.

Last month, a spokesperson for Sarah denied claims that she is close to agreeing a multimillion-pound deal for a tell-all book about the Royal Family.

While Fergie is believed to be 'on a mission' to restore her tattered reputation and hopes she will be 'welcomed back' by the public, she has 'no plans to write any tell-all memoir', they said. 

The clarification came after The Sun claimed that a chapter-by-chapter plan for the book had already been completed, based on detailed notes covering several 'key' royal figures and subjects, including her ex-husband as well as King Charles, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Jeffrey Epstein.

But Sarah denied the report in a rare statement.  

Fergie has spent seven months living abroad and has been spotted across Europe, including in Switzerland and Austria, as she kept a low profile over the Epstein controversy.

During this time, she was spotted at a £2,000-a-night spa in Austria and at a Swiss Alpine chalet in Verbier owned by her late former lover Paddy McNally. 

Fergie's return to British soil comes hot on the heels of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, who moved back to the UK with their young family after six years in California. 

Earlier this week, Eugenie shared an adorable video of her husband Jack Brooksbank cradling their newborn daughter as she celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary.

She gave royal fans a rare glimpse into family life as she paid a touching tribute to her husband of eight years, describing him as the 'best Dada' to their three children.

In the heartwarming clip posted to Instagram, Jack, 40, can be seen gently holding and rocking baby Adelaide, who was born in Portugal in August.

The proud father appears to be soothing his daughter by massaging her head, with Eugenie revealing the sweet conversation taking place between the pair.

She captioned the post: 'Happy 8 years married my love.

'What you can't hear in this video is Jack asking our daughter if she likes her head being massaged that way... so thoughtful, caring, and best Dada there is to our 3. Couldn't have wished for a better partner.'

Meanwhile, Beatrice and her husband Edo Mapelli Mozzi made a rare public outing last month, when they joined Zara Tindall and the Duchess of Edinburgh for the Cornbury House Horse Trials.

Beatrice – who has kept a relatively low profile amid the ongoing fallout over Andrew and Sarah's controversial ties to the late paedophile financier Epstein – put on an affectionate display with her husband. 

The event marked the first time Beatrice has been seen publicly since she attended the funeral of her mother's ex-boyfriend Paddy McNally last month. 

The late Formula One advertising mogul reportedly left Sarah Ferguson ‘an allowance’ following his death at the age of 88 in July.

Mr McNally was buried at St James’ Church in Sevenhampton, Wiltshire, on August 14, but it is not known whether the former duchess of York was in attendance alongside her 38-year-old daughter.

He leaves behind an estimated £600million fortune, built on the sale of his hospitality business Allsport Management for £262million in 2006.

Mr McNally and Ms Ferguson had a three-year affair that ended in 1985 but the tycoon supported the former duchess – who was 22 years his junior – for years.

While it is not known how close Princess Beatrice would have been with McNally, she and her sister Eugenie enjoyed many family holidays at his properties in their childhood.