Prince Andrew has released a statement requesting that the media stop "speculation and innuendo" in regards to his two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Beatrice. He also spoke about reports that there was a rift between himself and his brother Prince Charles, calling the stories a "complete fabrication."
The full statement, which was posted on the Duke of York's official account, reads: "Over the past few weeks a number of stories have been run in various newspapers that have no basis of fact and the most recent, relating to my daughters, requires correction to terminate further speculation and innuendo. To clarify: It is a complete fabrication to suggest I have asked for any future husbands of the Princesses to have titles. There is no truth to the story that there could be a split between The Prince of Wales and I over my daughters' participation as Members of the Royal Family and any continued speculation is pointless."
Prince Andrew released a statement defending his daughters
The Prince continued to speak about his daughters' role as members of the royal family, and how their participation in official duties is "very much appreciated." He continued: "As a father, my wish for my daughters is for them to be modern, working, young women, who happen to be members of the Royal Family, and I am delighted to see them building their careers. When they do support the Royal Family in its work this is very much appreciated by my family and, most importantly, by those organisations and to those for whom their participation makes such a difference to their lives. Whilst I appreciate, as Granddaughters of The Queen, there is considerable interest in my daughters, I cannot continue to stand by and have the media speculate on their futures based on my purported interventions, which are completely made up and an invention."
The Duke denied a rift between himself and his brother, Prince Charles
Sarah Ferguson requested that the media "stop bullying the York family" shortly before Prince Andrew's statement while speaking about their work with the Teenage Cancer Trust. She said: "Both the duke and myself, we could not be more proud of this moment because these two girls that work so hard in their own careers have taken time off today to spread the word of teen cancer, which is so important, and then go back to work. "It's really an extraordinary example that, I think, good parenting and listening to your children and getting them to take responsibility for their own actions. Let’s focus more on this and less on tittle-tattle gossip. Stop bullying the York family, please."