Prince Andrew won't join Royal Family at Sandringham Christmas amid Chinese ‘spy’ scandal
16 December 2024, 17:07 | Updated: 16 December 2024, 17:51
Both Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson are set to miss this year’s festivities in Norfolk, and will instead spend Christmas at Royal Lodge.
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Prince Andrew will miss the Royal Family’s Christmas do at Sandringham Estate this year, as he has once again found himself in hot water after being linked to an alleged Chinese spy.
The Duke of York has disappeared from public life since stepping down from official duties, but remains at the heart of the royal family's Christmas Day appearance.
Last Christmas, Andrew walked from Sandringham to church with the other royals - symbolic of his gradual rehabilitation within the monarchy.
But this year, Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York, will reportedly miss the celebrations after being linked to a Chinese ‘spy’ who was his ‘close confidant’, staying at his home Royal Lodge instead.
According to MailOnline, King Charles’ brother has voluntarily decided not to attend the celebrations so as not to embarrass the King any further.
Both Andrew and Fergie’s daughters Beatrice and Eugenie had already excused themselves, opting instead to spend Christmas with their respective in-laws.
Read more: 'Chinese spy' linked to Prince Andrew named as he insists claims are 'entirely untrue'
The King and Queen were reportedly holding out hope that the Duchess of York would persuade Andrew to ‘see sense’ and miss the celebrations as the scandal surrounding his connection to an alleged Chinese spy unfolds.
The Duke is still expected to attend a lunch at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, but won’t be attending the Christmas day celebrations with the Royal Family at Sandringham.
The spy, who has identified himself today as Yang Tengbo, was banned from Britain by the Government on national security grounds, having visited Buckingham Palace twice during his stint in the UK.
In a statement following his request to lift the anonymity order, Mr Tengbo insisted he has done "nothing wrong or unlawful".
He added that the "widespread description of me as a 'spy' is entirely untrue". Andrew has attempted to distance himself from Mr Tengbo after the ties emerged, with the 'spy' said to have become a "close confidant" of the disgraced Duke.
He is also said to have entered St James's Palace and Windsor Castle at the invitation of Prince Andrew, as previously reported by The Times.Andrew initially stepped down from public life after the furore over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein - and a few years later paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case with Virginia Giuffre, a woman he claimed never to have met.
The major development followed a few days after his disastrous Newsnight interview in 2019 when he said he "did not regret" his friendship with Epstein, who had trafficked Ms Giuffre, and was heavily criticised for failing to show sympathy with the sex offender's victims.
The duke, reputedly Queen Elizabeth II favourite child, announced at the time he would be "stepping back from public duties for the foreseeable future" and disappeared from a string of high-profile national events involving the monarchy.
Andrew's status as a member of the royal family was left in tatters three years later when the Queen stripped him of his honorary military roles and remaining royal patronage.
The royal family's influence on national life is as much about where and when they are seen as what they say, and the duke has been absent for more than four years from official events.
After attending last year’s Christmas celebrations, it appears his status as a Royal has suffered yet another blow.
