Duke ‘wept when Charles cut him off’

Those close to Prince Andrew are understood to be concerned for his wellbeing, saying that he has become a virtual recluse.

Prince Andrew was left ‘blindsided’ after his brother, King Charles, told him he was permanently banished from royal duties. Picture: Getty Images

Prince Andrew was left in tears when Charles told him shortly before the Queen died that he was permanently banished from royal duties, it was claimed on Sunday.

The Prince of Wales, as he then was, quelled his brother’s hopes of a return to public life during a face-to-face meeting described as “emotional and fraught”.

Those close to the Duke of York are now understood to be concerned for his wellbeing, saying that he has become a virtual recluse.

The meeting, held at Charles’s Birkhall estate in Aberdeenshire, was said to have left Andrew stunned. He believes that he could “still be of value” as a working member of the royal family despite his association with the convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. A royal source said: “Andrew was totally blindsided. He is utterly bereft. He always believed there was a way back.”

Andrew has also been left more isolated by the death of his mother in September, who was “his chief supporter”.

“Andrew was extremely close to the Queen and tried to raise the issue of his return to public life many times with her,” the source said. “On some occasions she would say mildly conciliatory things but most of the time she would change the subject immediately to avoid talking about it.”

The duke was stripped of his official duties over the Epstein scandal and as a result will not be involved at Sunday’s Remembrance service at the Cenotaph.

Although senior figures in the royal family had thought the matter settled — that there was no way back — this had not been Andrew’s understanding.

“Naive as it may sound, he always had hopes of regaining his position as a senior royal,” the source said. “At the meeting, Charles told him that he can go off and have a good life, a nice life, but that his public life as a royal is at an end. He was told, ‘You have to accept this.’ ”

In January Andrew was divested of his military affiliations and royal patronages after he lost his attempt to quash a civil lawsuit in America brought by Epstein’s former “sex slave” Virginia Roberts Giuffre, who claimed she had been forced to have sex with the duke. She now lives in Australia.

Andrew has become increasingly isolated from his family after the death of the Queen - who was his ‘chief supporter’.

Andrew denied her claims but the Queen removed his titles. He also lost his right to be addressed as His Royal Highness in an official capacity. He settled the civil case in February for a reported £12m without accepting liability. Andrew had believed this would allow him to return to royal duties.

“Until the face-to-face meeting with his brother, Andrew believed that there was a way back, that somehow he could be rehabilitated and play a role in ‘the Firm’ going forward,” the source said. “He came out of the meeting shaken. He is still in shock. He is completely lost and very depressed.”

The Mail on Sunday said it understood that Andrew was later reduced to tears again when, in a separate conversation, he was informed that he would not be allowed to wear military uniform at his mother’s funeral.

The source said: “He cannot comprehend there is no place for him in public life. He has a support system but he is in bad shape. He is finding it hard to process the reality of how life will be from now on.” Andrew has become a “virtual recluse”, according to the source, who adds: “He has no idea what the future holds and has no real plans. He is struggling to accept this is the end of the road for him as a royal. It is all he has ever known.”

Buckingham Palace and a spokeswoman for the Duke of York declined to comment.

The Times