The question on everyone’s lips after the Easter Sunday service today is whether Prince Andrew is now back in the fold. Having been banished from Christmas last year, skipping both the private family lunch at Buckingham Palace and the traditional festivities at Sandringham, the disgraced Duke wasn’t expected to be seen in public again aside from weddings and funerals.
His friendship with alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo, which saw Andrew invite the businessman to Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and Windsor Castle, was just one scandal too many. The King already had to help his elderly mother deal with the fallout from his disastrous Newsnight interview about his links with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and accusations of sexual assault, which the Duke vehemently denies.
The public backlash to the interview led to him being stripped of holding any public role or patronage, including his HRH title.
His living arrangements also continue to prove a headache for the King, as Andrew continues to refuse to downsize from his Windsor mansion, Royal Lodge, into smaller Frogmore Cottage.
Charles is said to have told his brother that he will now have to pay his costs for security and the upkeep of the 30-room mansion, hard for the non-working royal in the long term.
Against a backdrop of poor decision-making and scandalous headlines, it was therefore surprising to see him join the Royal Family for the traditional Easter service.
Palace sources shrugged off his attendance and simply stated: “It’s a family event.”
But after Andrew bowed out of Christmas, many in royal circles had assumed his time was up.
His appearance today, which saw him scurry away from the cameras while his ex-wife embraced them, suggests the Duke’s banishment was only temporary.
While he’ll never play an active royal role again, it seems his presence at private gatherings is to be expected in the months and years ahead, and Christmas was just a response to the backlash at the time.
