Why Princess Beatrice seemed oddly absent from sister Eugenie's side on her wedding day.

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Everyone knows the role of the maid of honour is basically to take all the bride’s sh*t come the big day.

Any time something goes ever-so-slightly awry, the maid of honour sweeps in and quickly diffuses the situation without a word of complaint or drawing too much attention to the bride.

From ensuring a slight smudge of eyeliner never sees the light of day, to swiftly karate chopping that sneaky second glass of “getting ready” champagne out of the bride’s hand, the maid of honour should be on it.

And we imagine in a royal wedding it would be a similar – though much less…common, set of duties.

Well, on Princess Eugenie’s big day, many noticed her maid of honour and sister Princess Beatrice seemed strangely absent from her sister’s side.

In fact, it was her father, Prince Andrew, who adjusted Eugenie’s dress before walking her down the aisle, and 14-year-old Lady Louise Windsor was seen ensuring the adorable bridal party that accompanied them were in formation.

But she wasn’t being a slack sister at all – it turns out Princess Beatrice had one important – and heartwarming – duty to keep her busy throughout the day

As reported by the Daily Mail, Beatrice was tasked with accompanying her mother, Sarah Ferguson, to St George’s Chapel.

One of the royal family’s most controversial figures, Fergie was somewhat ostracised by the royal family after splitting with Prince Andrew and making headlines for numerous scandals over the years.

This is believed to be the reason behind her absence from nephew Prince William’s wedding to Kate Middleton in 2011. And while she did score an invite to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in May of this year, it’s been reported she wasn’t invited to the reception.

Many were also surprised by the fact that she appeared next to Prince Philip in Eugenie’s official wedding photograph on Friday – despite a rumoured long-running feud between the pair.

All things considered, we can imagine emotions would have been running very high for Fergie in addition to those of a doting mother-of-the-bride. Emotions which reportedly moved the Duchess of York to tears during the reception, as her ex-husband Prince Andrew told stories of Eugenie’s childhood.

As the Daily Mail reports, Princess Beatrice was Fergie’s moral support for the day. Instead of fulfilling the expected maid of honour duties, she stood by her mother as she faced a family who infamously hold resentment towards her.

Throughout the ceremony, proud big sis Beatrice watched on from the pews next to Fergie – both beaming as their beloved Eugenie recited her vows.

Later in the ceremony, Beatrice read a passage from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby in which Jay Gatsby’s smile is described – a sentiment which mirrors Eugenie’s thoughts of her husband Jack Brooksbank.