Prince Andrew is said to be facing a lifelong ban from returning to public royal duties. Picture: David Mirzoeff/ Pool via Reuters
Prince Andrew is said to be facing a lifelong ban from returning to public royal duties.
The 63-year-old Duke of York was left disgraced and without any official duties or income after paying a multimillion-dollar settlement to Jeffrey Epstein’s trafficking victim Virginia Giuffre, 39, in February 2022.
Even though senior royals gave him a public show of support – with the Prince and Princess of Wales joining him in car as they were driven to church on the Balmoral estate on Sunday – sources say it is not a signal he is about to be reinstated as a working part of the family.
One insider told The Daily Telegraph: “The King is absolutely resolute that there can be no return to public duties for the Duke of York.
“He has always been clear that the duke is a much-loved member of the family but that does not mean there will be a change in tack when it comes to his royal status.”
Andrew’s appearance on Sunday came after claims he had recruited a string of high-profile figures to lobby on his behalf for the return of his former status, including his armed police protection.
The Telegraph also reported there were “several private meetings” between King Charles, 74, and Andrew in the “latter part of last year as they tried to thrash out some kind of plan that would give the younger sibling some purpose”.
It was claimed Andrew had offered to manage one or more of the royal estates in addition to other proposals, but the Telegraph said both sides concluded his role should not be “played out in public”.
A source also said any charity work or attempts to rebuild his life would be undertaken firmly behind closed doors.
Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, 63, have been living at their Royal Lodge home near Windsor Castle, as she continues to recover from her recent breast cancer surgery.
The duke signed a 74-year lease on the 30-room property but it’s said as part of the king’s cost-cutting measures for the monarchy following the Queen’s death the pair were set to be moved into Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s old home of Frogmore Cottage.
Insiders have said the move is now on the “back burner” while Sarah, who has daughters Princess Beatrice, 35, and Princess Eugenie, 33, with Andrew, recovers from her recent eight-hour mastectomy procedure.