The Royal family has been plunged into renewed chaos following the emergence of further incriminating emails between Sarah Ferguson and Jeffrey Epstein.

This time her and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, became directly embroiled in the scandal after new documents revealed the pair were a topic of conversation between their mum and the late sex offender, and may even have visited him.

Prince Edward – Andrew and King Charles's younger brother – also broke the family's public silence afterwards and urged people to "remember the victims", putting the royals very much front and centre of the saga.

Now former Royal editor Duncan Larcombe has said the one person feeling especially sorry for Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35, will be their cousin Prince Harry.

"He'll be gutted for his cousins, there's no doubt about it," Duncan says. "Beatrice and Eugenie are two of the few members of the royal family that have actually kept ties with him and haven't blocked him out of their social circles, so he'll be really feeling their pain."

"I think he'll want to reach out to them because they were the ones that reached out to him when no one else in the family did, and you'd like to think Harry would repay that sentiment."

But as the shadow of Epstein's offences continues to loom large, it could potentially spark concerns about what additional harm it might inflict on the rest of the family's standing. This is particularly pertinent for the Duchess of Sussex, Duncan suggests, who finds herself at a pivotal juncture in her quest to establish a major commercial empire.

"There's no doubt the royal family are going through a crisis at the moment, one of the biggest crises they have had to face since the death of Princess Diana," he says. "Meghan will be aware of how upset Harry is by what's happened, and that it's a difficult time for the royal family.

"But in a way she'll probably be pleased that Harry has stayed out of it, she'll be wary of guilt by association. I'm sure she's telling him 'keep your head down, don't get involved, the royal family is in a crisis, don't drag us into this'."

Meghan's Netflix lifestyle programme, With Love, struggled to resonate with audiences in its second run, and the platform has apparently abandoned any intentions to commission further episodes.

Her commercial venture, As Ever, also faced examination in recent weeks following a technical error on its website that exposed information regarding unsold stock. The inventory figures – which showed approximately 200,000 jars of jam, 90,000 candles, and 80,000 tins of edible flower sprinkles – prompted speculation that her merchandise wasn't shifting.

However, America's People magazine dismissed the speculation and cited a "source with inside knowledge" of As Ever as saying the glitch "points to a business that isn't just successful – it's flying, literally off the shelf."

Regardless, the former Suits actress will be experiencing the pressure to maintain her brand's pristine reputation and distance it as far as possible from the Epstein controversy, Duncan suggests.

"There was a time when all Meghan needed to do was associate herself with the royal brand," he says, "but at the moment, particularly for her, perhaps now is not the time to be going on about what a close member of the royal family she was and still is."

The correspondence between the former Duchess of York and Epstein, who was discovered dead in his prison cell in 2019, emerged as part of the most recent tranche of the so-called Epstein files, and appearing in the documents does not suggest any misconduct.

Sarah characterised Epstein as "the brother I have always wished for" in one communication, and in another, referred to him as "my dear spectacular and special friend Jeffrey" and "a legend."

In a sequence of messages sent in July 2009 – merely days after Epstein was freed from custody following his sentence for soliciting sex from underage girls – Sarah seemed to arrange a lunch appointment for herself, Epstein, and her daughters.

In a subsequent email, Epstein enquired with Sarah whether there was "any chance of your daughters saying hello" to an unnamed individual when the person was in London during summer 2010.

In her response, the former Duchess said, "Beatrice is in London with her father. Eugie is away with a cool boyfriend."

Whilst Beatrice and Eugenie are entirely blameless and have "had to sit and watch their parents torn to pieces by their own behaviours", Duncan says, it will prove challenging for them to separate themselves from ongoing repercussions.

"Epstein's web spread wide and far, and for the two York sisters to be caught up in it is shocking and they will be absolutely mortified, I'm sure," he says.

"What they do now is a really difficult dilemma."