Princess Eugenie has been told to quit royal life as her charity faces a probe into its spending. Royal biographer Andrew Lownie, who wrote an explosive book about Eugenie's parents, told Newsweek that it was time Eugenie and her sister, Princess Beatrice, "just retired from public life."

In May, the Charity Commission opened a case into Princess Eugenie's anti-slavery charity, Anti-Slavery Collective, over concerns relating to its spending. Earlier this year, the watchdog said it was "assessing concerns" about the charity that Eugenie co-founded in 2017.

In October, BBC News reported the charity had spent very little of the money it had raised, with accounts showing £1.3million had been carried forward from £1.5million of raised funds, which mainly came from a gala fundraiser in London in 2023.

Mr Lownie told The Royal Report podcast: "Quite large sums of money were raised by the anti-slavery collective, which is the charity of Eugenie. Very little of it has actually been spent when there are huge demands for that sort of charity."

It is understood that the body has not yet made any findings or drawn any conclusions and it does not represent a statutory inquiry.

A Charity Commission spokesperson 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."

Charities are not required by law to spend money by a fixed date, but they must use the funds for charitable purposes and justify why funds are held rather than spent.

Mr Lownie previously said it was "preposterously inappropriate" for the Princess to be involved in a charity that aims to support victims of sex trafficking.

The comments came after allegations connected Eugenie's father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, with the late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and emails appeared to show that Eugenie's mother, Sarah Ferguson, took her daughters to meet Epstein. Andrew has consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Supporters said Eugenie should not be tarred with any allegations surrounding her parents. Earlier this year, Princess Eugenie stepped down as patron of a separate charity, Anti-Slavery International, a role she had held for seven years.