Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie Attend Royal Christmas Lunch as Dad Prince Andrew Skips amid Scandal

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie are continuing with a Christmas tradition despite fallout around their father Prince Andrew’s speculated connection to an alleged Chinese “spy.”

On Dec. 19, Princess Beatrice, 36, and Princess Eugenie, 34, were seen driving with their husbands to the royal family’s traditional pre-Christmas lunch, hosted by their uncle King Charles at Buckingham Palace. PEOPLE confirmed on Dec. 18 that their father Prince Andrew, 64, and mother Sarah Ferguson wouldn’t be at the festive feast due to scrutiny on the Duke around alleged links to Yang Tengbo, a Chinese businessman and suspected spy who Andrew reportedly grew close to and promised access to the royal family. 

Prince Andrew and Ferguson, who divorced in 1996 but remain close today, are similarly skipping the royal family’s Christmas celebration at Sandringham on Dec. 25, and it’s understood their daughters will as well. However, the harsh spotlight on their father didn’t dissuade the princesses from attending the palace lunch on Dec. 19. 

Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie were both photographed traveling to the private family meal, a holiday tradition King Charles has maintained from his late mother Queen Elizabeth’s reign.

Princess Beatrice, who is pregnant with her second child, smiled as she rode with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and Princess Eugenie also looked out the window as she rode with her husband, Jack Brooksbank.

Other royals spotted driving to the Buckingham Palace Christmas lunch included King Charles, 76, Queen Camilla, Princess Anne and her husband Vice Admiral Sir Timothy Laurence, Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, plus more extended family members and friends. 

The Daily Mail reported that the late Prince Philip’s friend Penny Knatchbull was also a guest, as was Lady Gabriella Windsor, the daughter of Prince and Princess Michael, whose late husband Thomas Kingston’s death at age 45 remains the subject of an ongoing inquest.

Prince William, Kate Middleton and their children surprisingly skipped the luncheon, breaking with precedent from years past. The Prince and Princess of Wales and their kids Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6, were never expected to attend the event, which is an informal way for the extended family to come together before the Christmas holiday.

The Wales family is already in Norfolk, England, over 100 miles away from London, ahead of the royal family’s private Christmas festivities at the Sandringham Estate.

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PEOPLE understands that Prince William and Princess Kate, both 42, are looking forward to catching up with family at Sandringham over Christmas as usual.

Step inside the royals’ holiday traditions with PEOPLE’s Special Edition: Christmas at the Palace: A Royal Family Album.