EXCLUSIVE: Princess Eugenie and Prince Harry are no longer as close as they used to be and there is a particular reason for that, according to a source.

Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie “drifted apart” after one major incident which changed the course of their once close relationship, a source has claimed.

The Duke of Sussex and the Princess of York used to be very close even after Harry and wife Meghan Markle quit their royal duties and moved to the US in 2020.

Eugenie’s close friendship with the Montecito couple can be tracked all the way back to 2016 when they all attended a Halloween party in Toronto before news broke that Harry and Meghan were officially an item.

The princess even visited the couple at their US home in 2022.

But now it seems like Eugenie, alongside her sister Princess Beatrice, are distancing themselves increasingly more from the Sussex couple and there’s a key reason for that.

A source told Express.co.uk the reason is after their mother, Sarah Ferguson, appeared to cut ties with Meghan when during an interview last year she denied knowing, or meeting her.

The comments came after Meghan claimed Fergie, as she is known to friends and family, “taught her how to curtsey” to the late Queen.

The Duchess of York told The Telegraph: “I don’t really know Meghan. I haven’t really met her.”

But the source told us: “They were neighbours. Royal Lodge is basically next door to Frogmore and the Yorks and Sussexes met quite often.

“Both Harry and Meghan were quite surprised by Sarah’s comments and couldn’t understand why she would distance herself like that. It has caused a bit of distance between the families.”

The source added: “There’s still a friendship there but it’s not like the close family bond they had before Harry moved to America.”