The King has signalled that Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, will not be welcome at the royal family’s Christmas celebrations this year.
Sources close to Charles indicated he will keep the duke and duchess at arm’s length after it emerged that Sarah maintained ties with Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted paedophile, despite publicly denouncing him in 2011.
The King has also made clear that he would prefer the pair, who divorced in 1996, to be “invisible” at future gatherings.
Andrew, 65, drives out of Royal Lodge on Saturday
PETER MACDIARMID
Last year, Charles enlisted the duchess’s help to persuade Andrew to “do the decent thing” and stay away from the Christmas gathering after it emerged Andrew had developed a close relationship with the alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo.
A source close to Charles said: “You can’t sack someone from being your brother. But this year, if the duke and duchess were both to be as honourable [as last year], it would be very much for the best and the family would not be disappointed, not least to avoid the King having to make any more difficult decisions.”
Friends of the duchess said she was “devastated for any embarrassment” caused by the latest revelations and “will explain herself to the wider royal family in due course”.
The Yorks spent last Christmas together at Royal Lodge, the home they still share in Windsor. Their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, did not join them.
Friends of the King have also indicated that he would prefer the Yorks to keep completely out of sight when attending family occasions, by arriving and leaving through discreet entrances where possible.
Eyebrows were raised this month when the couple made a public entrance alongside the rest of the royal family at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral at Westminster Cathedral, attended by the King.
A friend said: “The King is not of the mind to banish someone worshipping at church or attending family occasions like a funeral. But he would hope they would find a more discreet way of attending these events. In the Duke of York’s case, he seems to relish the prospect of not being low-key about it.”
After the service, Andrew, 65, was filmed attempting to make light-hearted conversation with the Prince of Wales, 43, who studiously ignored his uncle. Prince William considers his uncle a reputational “risk” and “threat” to the monarchy, and is understood to fully support his father’s firmer stance.
Charles and William are currently spending the weekend in Scotland, where they are thought to have discussed the latest unwelcome developments.
The King’s new approach towards the Yorks will come as a particular blow to the duchess, whom Charles had brought in from the cold after his accession in 2022. He invited her to join the royal family’s Christmas gatherings at Sandringham in 2022 and 2023, her first invitations for three decades. In 2023, she also joined the family’s traditional annual walk from Sandringham House to church, alongside Andrew, Beatrice, 37, and Eugenie, 35.
The Duke and Duchess of York were last invited to Sandringham at Christmas in 2023
ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Last year, in an interview with The Sunday Times, she spoke of her “close” relationship with the King and Queen, adding: “I’ve known the King all my life and I absolutely adore him. He’s kind and makes me laugh, and I love that he still calls me Fergie.” She also spoke of her desire to do more public work on behalf of the royal family, saying: “I wish they’d ask me to do more.”
Andrew stepped back from public life in 2019 after the disastrous Newsnight interview about his friendship with Epstein and questions over his relationship with Virginia Giuffre, who claimed to have been trafficked by Epstein and to have been sexually assaulted by Andrew three times when she was 17. Andrew has always denied the allegations. Giuffre took her own life in April aged 41.
Newly released US Congress documents have revealed that, in 2000, Andrew travelled on Epstein’s private jet from New Jersey to Palm Beach, Florida, and appeared to have received massages paid for with $200 cheques.
In an interview in March 2011, the duchess said she had made a “terrible, terrible error of judgment” in accepting £15,000 from Epstein to pay off debts, adding: “I abhor paedophilia.”
But last weekend, it was revealed that the following month, she sent an email to Epstein apologising for publicly criticising him, calling him her “steadfast, generous and supreme friend”. In the email, the duchess wrote: “As you know I did not, absolutely not, say the P [paedophile] word about you … I know you feel hellaciously let down by me. And I must humbly apologise to you and your heart for that. You have always been a steadfast, generous and supreme friend to me and my family.”
Andrew with Jeffrey Epstein and Melania Trump, left, in 2000
DAVIDOFF STUDIOS/GETTY IMAGES
Last week, a spokesman for the duchess said she sent the email because Epstein had said he would “destroy the York family” in a “Hannibal Lecter-style” phone call in which he threatened to take legal action against her. Friends of the duchess said she was “mortified” by the controversy and that she had been advised that taking a “personal” approach to Epstein might end his legal threats.
A string of charities have cut ties with the duchess in recent days, including the Teenage Cancer Trust, the British Heart Foundation, the Children’s Literacy Charity and Prevent Breast Cancer. The move was praised by Giuffre’s family, who said in a statement to The Times: “This decisive action sends a strong message about accountability and the need to confront those who support the horrific child trafficking network established by Epstein and [his girlfriend Ghislaine] Maxwell.”
The duchess was due to publish a second children’s picture book in her Flora & Fern series next month, but publication has been postponed until next year. The actress Natalie Dormer, who plays the duchess in a forthcoming ITV drama, has also pulled out of promoting the show and is donating her fee for the role to charities supporting abused children.
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