Prince Andrew out in cold for Queen’s family reunion

Duke of York, disgraced by the legal action brought against him by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, will be nowhere to be seen.

Prince Andrew escorts the Queen to a thanksgiving service for the Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey in March. Picture: AFP

The royal family will put aside their differences overnight Thursday when the Duke and Duchess of Sussex join the Duchess of Cambridge and the Duchess of Cornwall to watch the Trooping the Colour ceremony.

The Duke of York, however, who was stripped of his royal patronages and affiliations before settling the legal action brought against him by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, will be nowhere to be seen.

Royal sources have confirmed Prince Andrew, who was colonel of the Grenadier Guards, will not be attending the Queen’s Birthday Parade – as it is officially known – in any capacity.

Harry and Meghan have flown from California to take part in the four days of celebrations marking the Queen’s 70 years on the throne. The couple, who are also expected to attend a service of thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral overnight Friday, came with children Archie, 3, and Lilibet, who turns one on Saturday. Lilibet, who was named in honour of the Queen, has yet to meet her great-grandmother.

This will be Meghan’s first time meeting the rest of the royal family since the notably frosty occasion in March 2020 when she and Harry joined William and Kate for the Commonwealth service at Westminster Abbey.

The Sussexes will watch the ceremony from the Major General’s Office, the former office of the Duke of Wellington, overlooking Horse Guards Parade. It is not yet known whether they will have their children with them. They will be joined by Camilla and Kate, who will have travelled by carriage from Buckingham Palace, as well as other royals, including all the Queen’s grandchildren and their spouses.

The Prince of Wales, who normally takes part in the ceremony on horseback in his role as colonel of the Welsh Guards, will take the salute and inspect the troops of the Household Division on the Queen’s behalf. He will be joined by the Duke of Cambridge, who is colonel of the Irish Guards, and Princess Anne, colonel of the Blues and Royals. The other royals in the carriage procession will be the Earl and Countess of Wessex and their children, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, and Anne’s husband, Vice-Admiral Sir Tim Laurence.

Lord Snowdon and his sister, Lady Sarah Chatto, have also been invited to the event with their families.

The Queen, who has been having mobility problems, will remain at Buckingham Palace and will come on to the balcony with her cousin, the Duke of Kent, colonel of the Scots Guards, to take a salute from the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment.

Later she will be joined on the balcony by working members of the royal family, including the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children — but not the Sussexes.

It is not known whether the Sussexes will return to the palace. A source said members of the royal family traditionally gathered at the palace but there was no “hard and fast rule”. The Queen is expected to have lunch at the palace before returning to Windsor Castle.

Princess Eugenie has paid a personal tribute to her “grannie” in The Spectator magazine. She said she hoped her one-year-old son, August, would grow to have the Queen’s “patience, her calmness and her kindness while always being able to laugh at himself and keep a twinkle in his eye”.

President Emmanuel Macron of France is to give the Queen a horse from his Garde Republicaine, along with a ceremonial saddle and cavalry sabre. Mr Macron is said to have personally chosen the seven-year-old grey Selle Francais sport horse, called Fabuleux de Maucourt.

The Times