Kate reportedly ‘rejected’ suggestion to invite Prince Andrew to carol service
The Princess of Wales firmly refused a “suggestion” to invite the disgraced Duke of York to her annual carols service this year, according to a report.
Royals
Don't miss out on the headlines from Royals. Followed categories will be added to My News.
IN LONDON
The Princess of Wales “rejected” a suggestion to invite Prince Andrew to her annual - and high-profile - Together at Christmas carol concert earlier this month, it’s been reported.
Kate hosted her popular event for the fourth time earlier this month, with several members of the royal family on hand to support her, including Zara Tindall, Princess Beatrice, and Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh - as well as Prince William and their three children, Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, 9, and Prince Louis, 6.
But according to the Daily Mail, the Duke of York - who had already fallen out of public favour due to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, and is now facing additional scrutiny over his relationship with an alleged Chinese spy - was deliberately kept off the guest list.
MORE: $57m Queen lodge now a dump under Prince Andrew
“The King has done his best to bring Andrew back into the family fold and insists he is given due status,” it was claimed in the publication’s Ephraim Hardcastle column.
“But William and Kate aren’t sharing the love. A mole whispers that for the second year running, suggestions that Andrew be invited to Kate’s annual carol service, possibly seated behind a pillar, were rejected.
“Although very much a family affair, with 22 members of the extended tribe present, there was no space for Uncle Andy.”
MORE: Prince Williams’ dodgy $1.5b property empire revealed
Andrew withdrew from public life after reaching an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Roberts-Giuffre, a victim of Epstein’s, in early 2022. He has firmly denied any wrongdoing.
TheDaily Mail also reports that the King had attempted to repair the relationship between his disgraced brother and William and Kate last year during their Balmoral family holiday, persuading the Wales’ to give Andrew a lift to church and allowing them to be photographed together.
But the initiative “failed”, according to the Mail.
The duke is now facing pressure to “uninvite himself” from the royal family’s Christmas celebrations, including a party at Buckingham Palace this Thursday after plunging them into yet another scandal.
It emerged last week that Andrew was a “close confidant” of an alleged Chinese spy who has been banned from entering the UK after an MI5 investigation.
The agent, through his links to the King’s brother, had visited Buckingham Palace twice and been to both St James’s Palace and Windsor Castle.
It is not known when alleged spy Yang Tengbo and Andrew first came into contact about business opportunities in China.
Andrew was widely expected to join the royals at Sandringham for their traditional Christmas mass and lunch afterwards, but the scandal has thrown that into doubt.
The King is reportedly furious with his brother and is hoping he will step aside from public appearances in the coming days to avoid him having to force the issue.
“There would inevitably have to be some very awkward conversations and the King would not relish making his brother squirm,” a royal source told The Sun.
Originally published as Kate reportedly ‘rejected’ suggestion to invite Prince Andrew to carol service
Kate stuns at royals’ Christmas service
Kate Middleton glowed as she joined Prince William at a church service with their kids, nearly a year after her cancer diagnosis.
How Meghan’s shocker of a year played out
She is the ultimate survivor, able to bounce back from most reputational disasters. But 2024 could well go down as the year Meghan Markle will want to forget.