Prince Andrew has had a rough few years – and he has nobody to blame but himself. The Duke of York has long been on thin ice with the rest of the family and things have been more tense than usual as of late, but it seems like Andrew has finally taken the hint and uninvited himself from the Royal family gathering at Sandringham.
The prince was photographed on a lonely walk near Windsor Castle on Sunday afternoon after he opted to stay away from the upcoming Christmas gathering at Sandringham where the rest of his family will be celebrating together. Instead, Andrew will be spending the day in the royal lodge along with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, who also resides in the £30 million property.
So he’s not completely alone, but it will be a pretty quiet Christmas celebration for Andrew – not even his own two daughters will be coming to visit him. Beatrice is set to join the king and the rest of the family in Norfolk, meanwhile, Andrew’s youngest, Princess Eugenie, is set to spend the holiday period with her husband, Jack Brooksbank, and his family.
It seems like it was Andrew’s decision to not attend Sandringham
Former royal correspondent, Jennie Bond gave her own opinion on the matter, “It seems quite likely Andrew sat down with Fergie, and possibly his daughters, to discuss the best solution.” His presence at the celebration would certainly have caused quite a lot of discomfort between the family. Despite their recent falling out over the royal lodge, King Charles is likely relieved that he won’t have to exclude his own brother from the event, “The King is a kind soul and Andrew is his brother. He would have hated to be put in the position of having to un-invite him or ban him.”
Andrew is known to be somewhat stubborn, his recent disagreement with Charles regarding his residency in the royal lodge shows he won’t back down if he believes himself to be in the right. So it’s pretty significant that he came to the decision to step back for the sake of the rest of the royals.
“Thankfully, wise heads have prevailed and he obviously realised his presence at Sandringham would be an embarrassing distraction on a day which – this year of all years – should be all about the King and Catherine.”
Why is Andrew being ostracized from his family?
The Prince has been labeled a walking PR nightmare after his latest blunder which saw him come under fire due to his connections to businessman, Yang Tengbo, who is an alleged spy for the Chinese government. While the blame can’t be put squarely on Andrew’s shoulders, he has been on thin ice for a long time now. His association with Jeffrey Epstein was front-page news and a PR disaster when the news first came out. While the prince denied any wrongdoing he’s been kept out of the spotlight ever since.
Andrew is fast running out of second chances and it’s even been reported that he’s considering moving to the UAE due to the severe backlash he’s brought upon himself. This would likely come as a relief to many other members of the royal family who view him as a liability.