Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie have reportedly visited their mother, Sarah Ferguson, at her £10,000-a-month rental in the Home Counties, but are said to be avoiding public appearances with her.

The King’s nieces are understood to be wary of being “tainted by scandal” after the former Duchess of York, 67, returned to Britain following a series of trips across Europe as she faced renewed scrutiny over the Epstein Files.

Ferguson is believed to be renting a six-bedroom property inside a gated Home Counties development for £10,000 a month. She moved there after being evicted from Royal Lodge alongside her former husband, disgraced ex-prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

Royal commentator Phil Dampier told Hello! magazine that Beatrice, 38, and Eugenie, 36, had both visited their mother at the new property within the past few weeks.

“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,” he said. “But behind the scenes they are talking and trying to be supportive.”

Dampier added that both sisters—including Eugenie, who recently welcomed a daughter, Adelaide—would be reassessing “the things they get involved with”.

He also questioned whether the family’s days of “being the tripod” were over, hinting that Ferguson’s relationship with her daughters may have changed amid the continuing controversy.

The claims come as speculation grows that Ferguson has lost the backing of another charity after a plaque marking her former association with Great Ormond Street Hospital was removed.

For decades, a grey slate plaque bearing gold lettering stood outside a special hostel for the parents of seriously ill children at Great Ormond Street. It commemorated the fact that Ferguson, then Duchess of York, opened the “Home from Home” facility in 1990.

The plaque has now disappeared. In its place are a clear outline on the Georgian brickwork and two holes showing where it had been attached until recently.

Neither the former duchess nor the charity responsible for the hostel responded to a Daily Mail request for comment at the time.

Ferguson’s public standing suffered a major blow last year after The Mail on Sunday published emails that appeared to show the extent of her relationship with the late US financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Ferguson had publicly cut ties with Epstein after his 2008 conviction for abusing a teenage girl. Privately, however, she described him as a “supreme friend” and issued a deeply apologetic message after criticising him.

Following the publication of those and other emails by the MoS, the King removed Ferguson and her former husband Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s titles and ordered them to leave Royal Lodge, the grace-and-favour residence in Windsor Great Park they had shared.

Ferguson was subsequently dropped as a patron by several charities, including Julia’s House children’s hospice, Prevent Breast Cancer, the British Heart Foundation, Teenage Cancer Trust and the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals.

Last month, a spokesperson for Ferguson rejected reports that she was close to securing a multimillion-pound deal for a tell-all book about the Royal Family.

Although Ferguson is reportedly determined to rebuild her damaged reputation and hopes to be “welcomed back” by the public, her representatives said she has no plans to publish a tell-all memoir.

The statement followed a report in The Sun claiming that a chapter-by-chapter outline for the proposed book had been completed. It was said to draw on detailed notes about several “key” royal figures and subjects, including Andrew, King Charles, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and Jeffrey Epstein.

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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.

LEXINGTON, SC — The judge presiding over Alex Murdaugh’s double-murder retrial sharply criticized both sides Friday over their escalating disputes about evidence, warning that she “will not allow these proceedings to become a circus.”

During a tense hearing, Judge Debra McCaslin granted the defense’s request for additional DNA testing but rejected its broader bid for ballistic evidence.

McCaslin also clarified the record regarding a polygraph test that Murdaugh attorney Dick Harpootlian said in August his client had passed “with flying colors.” The judge said Friday that Murdaugh actually failed the examination, which concerned his financial crimes rather than the killings.

Murdaugh was convicted in 2023 of killing his wife, Maggie, and their son, Paul, at the family’s Moselle property in Colleton County.

The South Carolina Supreme Court later overturned those convictions, ruling that former Colleton County Clerk of Court Becky Hill improperly influenced the jury.

His retrial is set to begin April 5, 2027. Murdaugh has continued to deny responsibility for the murders.

McCaslin sided with the defense, over prosecutors’ objections, in allowing DNA testing of swabs taken from Maggie Murdaugh’s phone. The analysis will likely use the last samples available for testing.

The judge cited Murdaugh’s due-process rights and his right to present a “full and complete defense.” Defense attorneys estimated that the testing will take about 90 days.

McCaslin ruled that the defense will not have to disclose the DNA results to prosecutors unless attorneys intend to use them at trial.

The judge denied Murdaugh’s request for a list of every crime in the 2nd and 14th judicial circuits since 2021 involving .300 Blackout ammunition. The defense also sought records of every firearm recovered in those cases and shell casings from other shootings.

McCaslin said the defense theory that the alleged murder weapon may be connected to an unsolved crime was speculative and relied only on news reports. She added that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division does not maintain such a list and that conducting a manual search would be unduly burdensome and could interfere with active investigations.

Although McCaslin denied Harpootlian’s request to have a defense expert physically examine the crime-scene shell casings, she ordered the state to provide the defense with all raw data related to them.

She also ordered prosecutors to turn over 3D crime-scene scan data by Monday. At the same time, McCaslin said she would not require the state to produce the same material repeatedly and directed the defense to have staff members sign for discovery materials.

McCaslin issued a similar warning after the state agreed to provide cellphone extraction data from Maggie and Paul’s phones, emphasizing that it would be the final time prosecutors would be required to turn over that material.

At the close of the hearing, McCaslin granted a state motion to correct the record concerning Harpootlian’s statement at an Aug. 14 hearing that Murdaugh had passed a polygraph “with flying colors.”

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The judge said the polygraph examined whether Murdaugh had concealed other assets and that he failed it. She added that Murdaugh has never taken a polygraph concerning the killings of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh.

McCaslin acknowledged that Harpootlian had submitted a letter apologizing for any confusion. She then warned both sides that “candor with the court is not optional.”

McCaslin also ruled in favor of prosecutors on a defense request for evidence involving the disposal of the murder weapons, which have never been found.

The judge said the state is required to provide that material only if it demonstrates that the information could benefit Murdaugh’s defense.

Murdaugh’s attorneys initially asked McCaslin to compel prosecutors to disclose information they possessed “concerning the handling, transport, concealment, or disposal of the alleged weapons used to kill Maggie Murdaugh and Paul Murdaugh, including the statement a witness gave to agents of the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division in 2023 that a Lowcountry police chief spoke of arriving early at the scene and of providing Defendant Murdaugh a change of clothes, the reports of every interview conducted on that subject, and the testimony and exhibits presented to the State Grand Jury concerning it.”

According to the motion, filed in late September by Murdaugh’s attorneys, press reports indicate that a state grand jury received testimony alleging Yemassee Police Chief Greg Alexander was observed in possession of the murder weapons shortly after the June 7, 2021, killings.

“According to those reports, witnesses have testified that the Chief of Police of the Town of Yemassee, Greg Alexander, was seen with the murder weapons in the immediate aftermath of the June 7, 2021, killings, and that second Yemassee officer is under investigation for transporting and concealing weapons and clothing,” the filing states.

It cites a story from The Post and Courier, which reported that “a Lowcountry official told SLED agents that Chief Alexander ‘spoke of arriving early to the murder scene and talked about providing a change of clothes to Murdaugh,’ and that the official believed the guns and clothing were brought into the police station and stored there.”

Notably, the allegations couldn’t be corroborated by The Post and Courier.

Alexander, through his attorney, Joe McCulloch, denied accusations made in the media reports.

“The same explanation has been provided to SLED,” McCulloch told Fox News Digital. “That truth will outlive any ridiculous rumors and gossip.”

Former prosecutor Joshua Ritter told Fox News Digital he considers the allegation against Alexander a “wild goose chase.”

“This is one of those cases that, you know, a lot of reporting was done early on, a lot of conspiracy theories swirling around this case,” Ritter said.

“I don’t see any reason for the judge to allow for this essentially wild goose chase in regards to an uncorroborated report about law enforcement perhaps being in possession of the murder weapon.”

“Obviously, the defense would love to pursue this to its absolute limit because they think that there’s a snowball’s chance that it might yield something, but I think that the judge is probably going to give very little leeway on something like this,” he added.

Brides who had imagined saying “I do” beneath the glittering chandeliers of New York’s iconic Plaza Hotel have been left heartbroken after the luxury landmark announced it would close for at least four years.

Couples who spent months organizing their dream weddings are now scrambling to find new venues. Some say they learned their celebrations had been canceled through social media instead of receiving direct notice from the hotel.

Photographers, florists, bands and rental companies had already been booked, while thousands of dollars in deposits were on the line. The sudden closure has created a major logistical crisis for couples and their wedding planners.

The famed Fifth Avenue hotel, long associated with old-money elegance and Hollywood romance, said it would shut in January for extensive restoration work on its historic exterior.

For Christine Carney, a 38-year-old bride from Chicago, the announcement was especially devastating.

Carney had dreamed of getting married at the Plaza since childhood. She booked the venue nearly a year ahead for her May 1 wedding, which was expected to draw 200 guests.

Rather than receiving a call from the hotel, she learned about the closure after a friend sent her a text message.

Carney told the New York Post that she spent seven agonizing minutes on hold before a concierge confirmed the Plaza would no longer be available for her wedding.

The lack of clear information about her deposit added to Carney’s frustration.

“We haven’t yet had anyone from The Plaza reach out to tell us what next steps are and what happens with our money,” she said.

Carney has already hired her photographer and wedding band, ordered flowers and secured rentals. Plans for the rehearsal dinner and welcome party, however, remain uncertain.

Because spring wedding dates are notoriously hard to find—and invitations are already being prepared—securing a replacement venue large enough for 200 guests may be a serious challenge.

“Everything for spring books up so quickly we would have to hope they’re willing to refund us so we can find a replacement, or we’d have to eat the deposit and find a replacement anyway,” Carney said.

“I’m definitely frustrated and disappointed that this happened, and I’m anxious to figure out what the next steps will be.”

The fallout is affecting far more than the couples who had booked the Plaza.

Alyssa Pettinato, owner of Alinato Events and the planner overseeing Carney’s wedding, may now have to reorganize the entire celebration without receiving additional payment for the extra work.

‘Technically, we are getting penalized as planners,’ she told the Post. ‘Am I allowed to ask them for payment for this?’

The wedding band has already proved difficult about potentially changing dates, adding another headache to an increasingly expensive predicament.

Pettinato said she was still discussing room reservations with Plaza employees when the closure became public, leaving her convinced that even longtime members of staff had been caught off guard.

‘People who have been working there for decades are blindsided,’ she said. ‘It feels like it was a leak because they seem extremely ill-prepared.’

For another bride, the bombshell arrived at a particularly unfortunate moment.

Hannah Livingstone, 30, from Scotland, had splashed out approximately $9,000 on an eight-night stay in a Plaza suite for her intimate February wedding to James McPherson.

The couple had also booked first-class flights to New York, with Livingstone hoping to recreate the kind of romantic Manhattan experience she had admired in American movies and Sex and the City.

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Her plans included a romantic first look in the hotel’s bar, wedding photographs against its opulent backdrop and even professional dress-steaming services.

But the bride’s carefully choreographed celebration began unraveling when she stumbled across news of the closure on TikTok.

‘I thought, no, that surely can’t be right,’ she told the Post.

Just weeks earlier, Livingstone had been corresponding with hotel staff about her arrangements, with no apparent suggestion that anything was amiss.

‘It’s a bit mad to me that they’ve still been taking bookings and still being in contact like things are as normal,’ she said. ‘I’m quite stressed out obviously.’

Although the couple still intends to marry in New York on the same date, finding another hotel with the same atmosphere and prestige is proving difficult.

The Plaza has attributed its extraordinary four-year shutdown to the complexity of restoring its landmark-protected façade, citing safety considerations surrounding the enormous project.

Some experienced wedding planners believe the hotel’s famously gilded interiors could actually benefit from a substantial makeover.

Casey Kaufman, founder of Imagine Party and Events, has organized numerous extravagant celebrations at the landmark and estimates that weddings can cost more than $1,200 per guest.

For particularly lavish affairs, the final bill can easily exceed an eye-watering $500,000.

Despite those astronomical prices, Kaufman said some clients have found the hotel’s interiors surprisingly dated.

At one wedding, her team effectively constructed an entirely new room inside an existing event space, installing temporary walls to conceal the original surroundings.

Another celebration required replacement window treatments to disguise architectural features.

‘I’ve taken people to the Plaza recently, and they’re just like, it’s dated,’ she said.

With the newly renovated Waldorf Astoria once again welcoming wealthy guests, Kaufman suggested the Plaza might use its extended closure to modernize its own ballrooms.

Nevertheless, she acknowledged that the hotel’s reputation is virtually impossible to duplicate.

‘I’ve had clients who came to me before they got engaged and said, “I know I’m getting married at the Plaza,”‘ she recalled.

The closure will also disrupt some of New York’s most established social traditions.

The Russian Children’s Welfare Society has announced that its annual Petroushka Ball, a fixture of the city’s charity calendar, will no longer be able to be held at the hotel next February.

Other signature experiences, including extravagant celebrations in the Eloise Suite and the hotel’s Home Alone 2-inspired offerings, will also be suspended.

For brides left scrambling, however, the most urgent question is what happens to their deposits.

Pettinato believes the hotel should refund affected couples without a fight, regardless of what individual contracts might technically permit.

‘Your contract could say whatever you wanted to say, but are you going to blow up your reputation by fighting something that’s technically immoral,’ she said.

‘Something of the caliber of The Plaza, like I would expect them to give everyone a refund and not even fight that.’

The Plaza has released a statement but not gone into any detail about canceled celebrations or refunds.

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Sahra Noor, the older sister of embattled Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., canceled a scheduled stop on her memoir tour because of a “family emergency” as scrutiny intensified following a raid on the congresswoman’s home.

Omar is facing a federal investigation into possible immigration fraud, along with a separate inquiry involving her financial disclosures. Noor had been scheduled to appear Thursday evening at the University of Minnesota Rochester.

Noor arrived in the United States as a refugee with Omar and other relatives during the 1990s. She was reportedly subpoenaed as part of the immigration investigation involving her sister.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Noor now lives in Nairobi, Kenya. She is traveling internationally to promote her newly released memoir, “Salt in the Snow: A Somali Immigrant Story.”

Fox News Digital contacted Noor for comment but had not received a response by the time of publication.

A flyer shared on Facebook by Rochester bookstore Garden Party Books listed the event for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Intercultural Student Center on the University of Minnesota Rochester campus.

When Fox News Digital arrived, the venue was empty. The outlet had RSVP’d through a QR code included on the flyer and said it received no notice that the appearance had been canceled, postponed or moved to another location.

Garden Party Books told Fox News Digital that the appearance was called off because of a “family emergency” involving Noor.

The canceled appearance came as rumors circulated that Omar had left the United States after the raid earlier in the week.

Omar has not appeared publicly since Monday’s search. On Wednesday, her husband reacted sharply when asked outside the residence whether he would respond to claims that the congresswoman had fled the country.

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The event flyer identified Garden Party Books, the University of Minnesota Bookstores and the Rochester Public Library as “proud supporters” of the program.

It promoted Noor as a “poet, storyteller and health system leader” and characterized her memoir as an account of “migration, motherhood, grief and family.”

Noor’s website says the memoir officially debuted at a Nairobi bookstore event on Aug. 13, 2026. She also appeared at a literary festival in Cape Town, South Africa, in early September.

She is now continuing the tour across the United States.

Noor appeared in Minneapolis on Oct. 1, followed by an event at the University of Minnesota five days later. She held another gathering in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Oct. 7.

Her next listed appearance is scheduled for Oct. 23 at the Somali Community Cultural Innovation Hub in Seattle.

Agents from Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of Homeland Security’s primary investigative division, served a search warrant at Omar’s home beginning at approximately 6 a.m. Monday.

Fox News Digital reported Monday that the search was connected to an investigation into whether Omar or her late father, Nur Mohamed, provided fraudulent information on citizenship documents decades ago.

Two sources said the investigation could potentially result in the congresswoman’s denaturalization.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that agents seized Omar’s phone, passport and computers during the search.

Omar has described the search as an “outrageous abuse of power” and called it an “unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies.”