Sarah Ferguson and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s strict ban for Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice

Although there are plenty of upsides to growing up in the royal family, there are also plenty of rules that one needs to follow that other children don’t have to worry about.

But there are also some rules that are more specific than others, and Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice certainly experienced this when growing up with Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and Sarah Ferguson as their parents.

In their youth, the royal ladies were banned from foods that might result in odorous breath, including the likes of onions and garlic. During an appearance on the Table Manners podcast, Eugenie revealed to hosts Jessie and Lennie Ware that her parents put a ban on the foods as they feared “the breath”.

However, now that Eugenie is an adult, she has no issues with the foods. Revealing what her usual food order consisted of, the royal shared: “Nothing interesting really. Chicken, sausages, always. Potatoes, onion, garlic.”

Growing up as royals

Back in 2018, Beatrice described her childhood as “regular” when she sat down with her sister for an interview with British Vogue. Eugenie added later: “We’ve had some serious grounding from our parents. They’ve had their fair share of terrible media interest, and it makes us stronger.”

It appears that the royal sisters had plenty of amenities when growing up, including a personalised swing set. In 2021, Sarah Ferguson shared a sweet photo of her daughters reading books while sitting on their swings, which carried their names. Although it’s unclear when the swing set would have been purchased, it’s likely it would have been present for their childhood.

The Princesses also had access to the late Queen’s custom-built playhouse that was gifted to her by the people of Wales in honour of her sixth birthday all the way back in 1932. 

Speaking on The Diamond Queen in 2012, which was produced to mark the late monarch’s Diamond Jubilee, Beatrice gave presenter Andrew Marr a small tour of the playhouse. She explained: “Granny and her sister played here growing up and they were lucky enough to play here, and cousins and second cousins. It was a big family treat.

“It’s the most glamorous wendy house ever and it’s really beautiful. And what you’re seeing now is it after a year’s renovation. It’s had a bit of a spruce up really.”

The house continued to be used by younger generations of the royal family whenever they visited Royal Lodge, with Beatrice adding: “I understand now she [Queen Elizabeth] likes to come back and visit and it’s wonderful that we can have, say Granny’s a great-grandmother now, so we can have Savannah [Phillips] come and play in here now as well, and her other great-grandchildren.”