Prince Andrew given no role in coronation, despite reports he’s mounting a royal comeback

Prince Andrew - the eighth in line to the throne - was jeered as he arrived for the coronation of his brother King Charles.

Prince Andrew was booed as he was driven down the Mall to the coronation.

The eighth in line to the throne was invited, but because he is not a working royal, he will not have any duties to perform during the ceremony except sitting and watching.

Nor will he appear in the procession behind the Gold State Coach carrying his newly crowned brother, or on the famous Buckingham Palace following the ceremony.

Ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York, will not be present. But their daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie will attend as ninth and 11th in line to the throne.

Prince Andrew arrived alone with the regular guests, ahead of the senior royals. Picture: AFP

Andrew was forced to step down as a senior royal due to accusations that he had sex with an underage girl procured by his close friend and sex offender, the late Jeffrey Epstein.

The royal consistently denied all the allegations against him in the public. He reached an out-of-court settlement with his accuser without making an admission of liability.

Following the ensuing media storm, the late Queen Elizabeth II stripped him a number of titles. His military appointments were also suspended when he stepped back from public duties and many of the 200 charities and organisations he supported opted to cut ties.

Though he’s been relegated to the royal naughty corner, British tabloids report Andrew is using the opportunity to rehabilitate his image in the hope of launching a comeback.

The coronation service has reportedly been discretely tweaked so that Prince Andrew will not have to play a key role, dispensing with the traditional “Homages of Royal Blood”.

This would have seen dukes of the royal line, such as Andrew, Duke of York, William, Duke of Cambridge, and Harry, Duke of Sussex, kneel before the monarch in turn and each vow to be his “liegeman”, The National reports.

But as part of changes to the coronation ceremony, the royal blood homages have been slimmed down so that Andrew – the Duke of York – will not have to take centre stage.

Instead, only William, who is now the heir apparent, will perform the homage.

Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice are 11th and 9th in line, respectively. Picture: Getty

The changes to the ceremony have been made in close consultation with Buckingham Palace and the British Government.

The coronation would also previously have been a “Homage of Peers”, which would have seen a long line of hereditary aristocrats kneel and make a pledge to the monarch. But this has been stripped out of Charles’s coronation ceremony, replaced by a “Homage of the People”. This is the first time the public has had an active role in a Coronation ceremony, not just in the United Kingdom, but in the wider Commonwealth as well.

The Prince’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, now cares for the late Queen’s corgis. Picture: Instagram

The Archbishop of Canterbury will invite, “all persons of goodwill in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and of the other Realms and the Territories to make their homage, in heart and voice, to their undoubted King, defender of all”.

All who desire will reply by swearing to pay “true allegiance” to the King, his heirs, and successors according to law, “so help me God”.

Originally published as Prince Andrew given no role in coronation, despite reports he’s mounting a royal comeback