Watchdog opens case into Princess Eugenie’s charity

The UK Charity Commission has opened a formal regulatory compliance case into Princess Eugenie’s Anti-Slavery Collective over concerns about charitable spending. Photo / Getty Images

The Charity Commission has opened a case into Princess Eugenie’s anti-slavery charity.

The watchdog said on Wednesday it had opened a formal compliance case into the Anti-Slavery Collective, which Princess Eugenie, 36, founded with one of her closest friends in 2017.

The charity has come under growing scrutiny since the Princess’ father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was stripped of his titles after revelations of his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

This year, the commission said it was “assessing concerns”.

On Wednesday, a spokesman for the Charity Commission said: “We have opened a regulatory compliance case into Anti-Slavery Collective to continue assessing concerns raised with us about charitable spending. As part of this, we will be engaging further with the charity’s trustees.”

Last year, the BBC reported that the charity had raised £1.5 million ($3.4 million) in donations but had only spent around £200,000.

Much of the money raised came from a gala fundraiser held in London in 2023.

A source told the BBC it was “difficult optically to do anything high profile like that again”.

The Telegraph understands that the watchdog has not opened a statutory inquiry. The body has not yet produced any findings or drawn any conclusions.

In 2019, the charity was forced to scale back its activities after Mountbatten-Windsor, then the Duke of York, became embroiled in the Epstein scandal.

When the Anti-Slavery Collective published a photograph of Princess Eugenie and her mother, Sarah Ferguson, meeting Anuradha Koirala, a Nepalese activist, it attracted a stream of comments.

“You really do not get it do you?” one asked, before questioning why Koirala would want to be associated with someone who “not only knew a man who ran a sex trafficking ring” but was married to someone accused of sleeping with an alleged Epstein victim.

Mountbatten-Windsor has denied any involvement with Epstein’s trafficking activities.

In March 2026, Princess Eugenie stepped down as a patron of a separate charity, Anti-Slavery International. While no reason was given for her departure, it followed the release of the Epstein files.

Princess Beatrice of York and Princess Eugenie of York. Photo / Getty Images

Princess Eugenie was repeatedly mentioned in the emails and documents.

In 2009, Epstein wrote to his ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell: “Ferg and the two girls come [sic] yesterday”.

The day before, Ferguson had written to Epstein: “What address shall we come to. It will be myself, Beatrice and Eugenie. Are we having lunch?”

Being named in the Epstein files is not an indication of wrongdoing.

The Anti-Slavery Collective has been contacted for comment.

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