Princess Beatrice and Mama before the catwalk

Why does Princess Beatrice always look like a startled bushbaby?

Remember those early post-uni days when Kate Middleton set out to create her own mail order children’s clothing line?

She was said to have spent many hours and much money travelling to Milan, and other centres of fashion, sourcing fabrics and ideas for her merchandise. Not surprisingly perhaps, she ran out of money before the business started up. There were even security fears about the level of personal information needed to set up a company — although nominee directors might have got around that one. The project was eventually dropped.

Now her potential cousin-in-law Princess Beatrice is said to be working on her own clothing line, and has even started to sketch ideas for her first collection.

Of course, if Bea’s idea is to challenge model and now fashion designer Kate Moss for the Top Spot, it may be more difficult than it seems, for Bea lacks Moss’s “edgeiness” and “cool” credentials. So far her fashion sense has been more derided than praised. Her mother, Fergie, Duchess of York, is a well-established fashion disaster zone.

However, friends are rallying round. “It was Beatrice’s idea. She has always loved clothes and has an innate sense of style. She has said she is going to start up her own line of clothing and plans to call it Bobcat. She’s creating the label with one of her girlfriends. She has lots of ideas for her first collection although she hasn’t made a garment yet.”

The friend added, “She is quite reserved with what she wears. But she has a sophisticated sense of style and a knack of knowing how to accessorise her clothes. She’s always up to speed with the latest trends.”

Maybe Kate Middelton and Bea can get together on a joint children and adult clothing line.

Bibcat, perhaps?

Princess Eugenie has an open-access MySpace blog called Daddy’s Little Girl. Some may think that’s a strange title for a 16-year-old to put on her blog. But, she doesn’t attempt to hide her identity in any way and appears openly as a member of the Royal Family.

Here’s her description :

“Hi, my name is Eugenie I am 16, pretty easy going, I like meeting new people and generally mingling! I am really into my music at the moment and spend most of the time with my iPod around my neck, much to the annoyance of the people trying to communicate with me!

“I love playing Hockey, Tennis and football. I also love going skiing with my Family.

“If you haven’t already guessed I am a member of the British Royal Family. The Queen is my Grandmother and My Father is Prince Andrew The Duke of York.

“People think it must be weird being a Princess and that we must live some fantasy lifestyle, but I go to school like anyone else my age and although I am obviously in a very priviledge situation my Mother and Father try and keep us in as normal a family upbringing as possible. My parents divorced when I was 6 but they still get on really well and we go on holidays together so I don’t mind to much.”

Her interests are shown as :

Sport: Football, Hockey , Skiing, Swimming, Riding.
General: Photography, Singing and Computer Games.
Food: Corn on the cob, hotdogs and Donuts .
Colour: Purple.
Item: Mobile Phone (sorry dad! haha)
Music: Stereophonics, The Automatic, Cold Play, Green Day, Gorillaz
Television: Lost, Desperate House Wives.
Heroes: My Grandmother, The Queen, Super Gran!
My Father, The Duke of York, The most supportive father I could wish for
My Mother, The Duchess of York, She is Wonderful!
My Sister, Princess Beatrice, One of my best friends

Very down to earth. Rather Fergieish, I think. Look at those pudgy foods.

According to some reports, Princess Beatrice was seen chatting with convicted criminal Paolo Liuzzo at a restaurant in the trendy Hamptons, near New York, where she is currently holidaying.

However, a spokeswoman for her mother, the Duchess of York, while confirming that the Princess did attend the same party as Liuzzo, denied that there was any relationship between the two. She said: “She may have said hello to him but that would have been all. Any suggestion that their friendship has been re-ignited is completely erroneous.”

The American, 24, had previously faced jail after being accused of the manslaughter of a fellow student in a drunken brawl in 2002. He was given community service after a plea bargain with the judge by confessing to a lesser charge of assault and battery.

Local journalist Joan Jedell, said : “It’s hard to say whether it was a planned meeting or just a coincidence. Beatrice got up several times and walked past him and this bimbo. Then two Royal secret service men quickly got up to go over and stand by them.”

A friend of the Princess commented : “It was never a serious romance but Paolo was Bea’s first big crush and she still has a real soft spot for him, despite the embarrassment he has caused for both herself and her family. She is a very sweet, loyal young girl and would never just drop a friend because they were in trouble — but she really isn’t interested in him in that way any more. She’s now just enjoying a summer of freedom before she gets her head down to studying for her A levels next year.”

Sending Beatrice to an American Ivy League university is asking for trouble though, isn’t it?