Last week, much was made of Prince William traveling to Balmoral. King Charles went back to Scotland following the Trump state visit mid-month, and William’s aides were briefing the press about the king and his heir spending time together and discussing the big “problems” facing the monarchy. William has been loudly squealing about how Charles needs to completely cut off the Yorks and the Sussexes. Charles has mostly refused. Incidentally, while William wanted everyone to believe that he spent several days in one-on-one consultation with his father, Tom Sykes pointed out that Charles has been staying at Birkhall, and William has been eight miles away, “shooting grouse with friends.” William’s Scottish trip was less about future-planning and more about killing animals. Still, Charles made one concession to William: the Yorks are being told that they can no longer be visible at family events, nor are they welcome at Sandringham for Christmas.
The King has signalled that Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, will not be welcome at the royal family’s Christmas celebrations this year. Sources close to Charles indicated he will keep the duke and duchess at arm’s length after it emerged that Sarah maintained ties with Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted paedophile, despite publicly denouncing him in 2011. The King has also made clear that he would prefer the pair, who divorced in 1996, to be “invisible” at future gatherings.
A source close to Charles said: “You can’t sack someone from being your brother. But this year, if the duke and duchess were both to be as honourable [as last year], it would be very much for the best and the family would not be disappointed, not least to avoid the King having to make any more difficult decisions.”
Friends of the duchess said she was “devastated for any embarrassment” caused by the latest revelations and “will explain herself to the wider royal family in due course”.
The Yorks spent last Christmas together at Royal Lodge, the home they still share in Windsor. Their daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, did not join them.
Friends of the King have also indicated that he would prefer the Yorks to keep completely out of sight when attending family occasions, by arriving and leaving through discreet entrances where possible. Eyebrows were raised this month when the couple made a public entrance alongside the rest of the royal family at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral at Westminster Cathedral, attended by the King.
A friend said: “The King is not of the mind to banish someone worshipping at church or attending family occasions like a funeral. But he would hope they would find a more discreet way of attending these events. In the Duke of York’s case, he seems to relish the prospect of not being low-key about it.”
After the service, Andrew, 65, was filmed attempting to make light-hearted conversation with the Prince of Wales, 43, who studiously ignored his uncle. Prince William considers his uncle a reputational “risk” and “threat” to the monarchy, and is understood to fully support his father’s firmer stance.
All of this because William didn’t like that his uncle spoke to him at a family funeral… in front of cameras. Anyway, this has needed to happen for a while, and I hate to admit it, but William has actually been right about the Yorks. They shouldn’t have been visible at all at family events OR state events in recent years. There was no reason for Andrew to be included in Charles’s coronation. There was no reason for Fergie and Andrew to walk with the family to church at Christmas in 2022 and 2023. There was no reason for Andrew to still be invited to the Order of the Garter lunch THIS YEAR. It’s actually smart for the palace to announce this stuff now, because Andrew’s name will continue to pop up in all of the Jeffrey Epstein investigations and Congressional hearings. Plus, Virginia Giuffre’s posthumous memoir is coming out in less than a month. Now Charles can point to this and say “see, I already banned him!”
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- Duke of York, Prince Andrew, at The Coronation of King Charles III at London”s Westminster Abbey 06 May 2023,Image: 774252265, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: -, Model Release: no, Credit line: Mark Stewart / Avalon
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- Prince Andrew, Duke of York, and Sarah, Duchess of York, attend Christmas Day service at St Mary Magdalene church, Sandringham, United Kingdom, on 25 December 2023.,Image: 832317034, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Arthur Edwards / Avalon
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- Prince Andrew the Duke of York attends a thanksgiving service for the life of King Constantine of the Hellenes at St George’s Chapel, in Windsor Castle, Berkshire. Picture date: Tuesday February 27, 2024. PA Photo. Constantine II, who died on January 10, 2023 was the last King of Greece, reigning from 1964 to 1974. See PA story ROYAL Constantine. Photo credit should read: Jonathan,Image: 851430269, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jonathan Brady / Avalon
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- Prince Andrew looks round as he leaves after attending the Easter Matins Service at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, England, Sunday, April 20, 2025.,Image: 990282267, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: Pool, *** NO UK USE FOR 48 HRS ***, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kirsty Wigglesworth/Avalon
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- London, UK, 16th Sep 2025. HRH King Charles III, The Prince and Princess of Wales Prince William and Princess Catherine, Anne the Princess Royal, Prince Andrew The Duke and Duchess of York, Prince Michael of Kent and other senior members of the Royal Family all pay their last respects as the coffin is carried to the hearse. They then depart from Westminster Cathedral after the a requiem mass, a Catholic funeral service held for the Duchess of Kent, who passed away on 4 Sep.,Image: 1037876903, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Imageplotter/Avalon
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- The Duke of York arriving ahead of the coronation ceremony of King Charles III and Queen Camilla at Westminster Abbey, central London. Featuring: Prince Andrew, The Duke of York Where: London, United Kingdom When: 06 May 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- The Duke of York departs Westminster Abbey, London, following the Coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Featuring: Prince Andrew, The Duke of York Where: London, United Kingdom When: 06 May 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
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- Easter Mattins Service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle in Berkshire. Featuring: Prince Andrew Where: Windsor, United Kingdom When: 31 Mar 2024 Credit: Cover Images
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- Day Four of Royal Ascot Meeting 2025 Ascot Featuring: King Charles III and Princess Eugenie and Sarah Duchess of York Where: Ascot, United Kingdom When: 20 Jun 2025 Credit: Cover Images
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- The congregation and Members of the Royal Family depart for the Requiem Mass for The Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral, London Featuring: Prince Andrew Where: London, United Kingdom When: 16 Sep 2025 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
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- The congregation and Members of the Royal Family depart for the Requiem Mass for The Duchess of Kent at Westminster Cathedral, London Featuring: Sarah, Duchess of York, Prince Andrew, Duke of York Where: London, United Kingdom When: 16 Sep 2025 Credit: Cover Images **NOT AVAILABLE FOR HELLO MAGAZINE**
Banned from Christmas?! Banned from going to church?! Say it ain’t so, Charles.
So many Epstein men are being protected, but not this one. I wonder if Andrew is regretting not giving William his house, because we know none of these people (including the late Queen) care about abused children and teens.
I’m not sure how you can claim that Andrew isn’t being protected when he still lives in a mansion on the royal estate and has evaded prosecution. Every year or so they say Andrew is banned for something or other only for him to pop up at some random event
They will probably be there for the luncheon but not seen on the Church walk.
He’s still being protected to some extent, but the publishing of the Fergie emails was to punish both of them. Additionally, the British ambassador to the US was also “outted” as being a friend of Epstein, despite his security check presumably already revealing that information.
None of this needed to be made public. One was to attack Starmer, the other Andrew.
When he was previously banned from Christmas, maybe in 2019, Charles just attended church with him earlier in the morning before going on the walk. So not so much of a ban. I expect it to be similar this year. Andrew will be at Sandringham but not the walk. Fergie is expendable to the royals and she should know that by now.
It will be interesting if its just Charles, Camilla, the Waleses and mayybe Peter Phillips on the walk this year. Slimmed down monarchy indeed.
Andrew remains there because he has a legally binding contract.
To me, it seems like the heat is only finally on the Yorks because of Fergie’s recently outed dealings with Epstein. So Andrew had to settle a lawsuit in which he was accused of statutory rape and drug trafficking, but he was still allowed to be publicly connected to the family. But a woman is shown to have been complicit with Epstein, and suddenly there are repercussions.
It’s the Windsors after all! Wouldn’t be a story without a dash of sexism.
Oops I meant to say sex trafficking.
That was my same thought. Fergie’s letter was the breaking point? Not everything that Andrew did??? Sigh. Although, William being seen talking to Andrew might have moved things along too.
I got the impression that William was trying very hard not to laugh at what Andrew said.
Oh I can believe that. He just didn’t like being photographed doing so.
As always with the Windsors, it’s not what Andrew or Fergie did, it’s that they got caught and people are talking about it, so it’s *embarrassing*. I also suspect that the palace knows there may be more to come, so they are attempting to get ahead of criticism. But the Yorks will still be invited to go to church and for Christmas – the courtiers will just have to make sure they aren’t photographed with William.
I don’t believe for one minute that Andrew and Fergie did the honorable thing last year and stayed home for Christmas of their own volition. Unless expressly banned, those two will weasel themselves into anything, no matter what people think. So, it seems to me that the Christmas ban is just making public what had already happened. As for the rest, them having to creep around through back doors and employee entrances, it’s about time.
Weren’t they at Wood Farm, which is ON the property. How would any of us know if they sauntered over for the Xmas Eve gift exchange and the family luncheon. Would we even know if they were there if they hadn’t commandeered the Church walk?
This year will be more of the same, only they won’t be allowed to tread the same path as the rest of the family. They will be “discreetly* driven to a side door of the church, to arrive before the rest of the family.
Last year it was surmised that the York girls were with their husbands’ families, trading off years as a lot of couples do. Wonder what will happen this year? Will they have a “pre-Xmas” gathering at RL as a family? Then go to Sandringham for THE WALK lol? ENQUIRING MINDS WANNA KNOW! LOL
Exactly, Jan. For years it was reported that Kate and William and their children participated in all the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Christmas celebrations at Sandringham. Then suddenly within the last two years it was revealed that they have not done so for many many years and run a rival Christmas with the Middletons at Anmer. They lie like it’s breathing.
They’re not being banned because of their close, knowing relationship with a sexual predator. They’re being banned because they make the rest of this nauseating family look bad.
I wonder what will happen to Beatrice and Eugenie this Christmas. I think many people will be looking to see if they attend. Does William want to put distance between him and the entire York family? I wonder if their presence will draw attention to Andrew’s absence at Sandringham. I’ll definitely be looking at the body language between them and the Wales (are they avoiding each other, are they uncomfortable when talking to each other). Also, will Kate invite them to her televised Christmas Carols service this year? Will their presence be awkward with the Wales in the church and on tv? Lots to look forward to with the royal family soap opera. 🤨
I also don’t see this as credit being due to William? Not sure why it’s being ascribed to him other than to inflate him as usual. He’s spent far more time losing his mind over his brother and sister in law than leaking anything about the Yorks. Also he drove Andrew to church recently and while I don’t think they were laughing together outside the funeral recently as some suggest, it didn’t read to me as William giving the cold shoulder either until after the fact when the tabloids tried to convince everyone that’s what it was. This family is a joke.
Yeah, I don’t think this was KFC acceding to W’s wishes. KFC is all about PR and he knows F&A arriving at Sandringham for Christmas would be disastrous for brand BRF.
Yes the soap opera continues. Banished from Sandringham. Does that just mean the church walk? Do they still get to have dinner with the family? Do they have to sneak in and then out? What lies (explaining) will Fergie do for her contemptible behavior with Epstein? Will the royal family even let her try to explain? Fun times at Christmas.
The language is squishy, isn’t it? A&S will not be “welcome” at Sandringham festivities and the source hopes that A&S stay home like they did last year so Charles doesn’t have to make any more difficult decisions. And Charles would “prefer” that A&S be invisible at future gatherings. Not that they can’t attend the events, but that he “would hope” they come in quietly through the back door.
Now maybe this squishy language is actually “royal speak” – and when the King “hopes” it means “commands,” but A&S are the type to take advantage of any wiggle room.
Seems to be their way of doing things . Never give a straight answer just pussy foot around it.
It was not a good idea for Andrew and Fergie to call attention to themselves by being front and center at the funeral. They should have known better.
It shouldn’t have taken this long to get to this point. It’s the very least that should be done.
I think the reintroduction of F into Windsor fold had to do with her second cancer diagnosis which occurred around the same time as KFC’s and K’s.
Fergie always manages to eff up her rehabilitations. From the front page toe sucking as she visited Balmoral to now. She’d gradually been wheedling her way back in from her invite to the Sussex wedding to semi regular appearances at family events. All blown up again. Likely for good this time.
“He’s a risk to my reputation!” says Peg, who sat on his ass all day while his terminally ill father attended the VJ day service.
That this came about after Fergie’s emails and not Andrew’s actions says all you need to know about this family.
They’ve protected Andrew and part of it was to rebuke the Sussexes. They were brazenly letting him parade around, regardless of how offensive it is. Pdf Andrew is loyal, unlike the Sussexes who wouldn’t let us abuse leak on them in perpetuity. The Yorks will still be there hanging around like the albatrosses they are. Sarah has bo problem groveling to get what she wants and Andrew is an entitled buffoon.
More of this. Let’s make shunning pe^os great again.
It’s probably time to head down to Abu Dhabi a la Juan Carlos.
No longer allowed at Sandringham for Christmas translates to ” when you show up, use the servants entrance and not the front door.” Also Kaiser, you are optimistic that their will be a Virginia memoir published. The Orange marshmallow man will either prevent publication of have it so heavily redacted as to make it worthless. He has teams of lawyers who follow through on their threats.
In an ideal world, Andrew’s disgrace would be so complete that Fergie would be ostracized for continuing to associate with him … not just for her continued relationship with Epstein.
But in the royal world, participating in any way in the sex trafficking of children isn’t grounds for banishment. Only making the royals look bad will get you banished.
It’s a bad look for Charles but Andrew knows too much and he’s willing to use it. Charles accepts shopping bags of cash for various purposes and was besties with known p*dos like Jimmy Savile and his mentor Lord Mountbatten. The monarchy isn’t strong as it is and Andrew wouldn’t mind taking him down.
They absolutely should be banned. While I don’t agree with William on much, this is I do agree with. He doesn’t have the right idea about Harry but I don’t think we can fault William for not wanting Andrew and Sarah around at Christmas. However, knowing the BRF and how slippery they are, are they actually fully banned? Or are they just not meant to be visible at Christmas?
And while it might be sexist to some that it was Sarah’s email to Epstein that pushed the BRF over the edge and not Andrew’s own actions, I think it was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. William has been unhappy about Andrew for a long time but he couldn’t do anything about it while QEII was still around. She mishandled the whole situation spectacularly as expected and Charles has been more firm but not as draconian as he could be. William used Sarah’s email as more ammo as “see they can’t be trusted, this situation keeps embarrassing us.” If William had been king when Andrew’s Epstein interview had aired, I think punishment would have been more swiftly given out and William would absolutely have been more harsh.
Oh yeah?? Willnot was so unhappy about Paedro’s actions with Virginia Dufre that he drove him (in the front seat with Cannot relegated to the back) to church on Christmas morning a few years back. This family is toxic to married-ins and although I have no truck with Fergie’s going’s on, she has a sliver of sympathy from me for her sad need to cling on to this shameful and shameless family.
Meghan has shown how it is possible to flee their clutches and thrive in doing so.
What girl with a modicum of self respect would remain in this cesspit?
Believe it when I see it.
Actually, this reminds me of that other story, where the actor talked about not wanting to be photographed with a guy about to be canceled. He, like the Windsors, are cool with socializing with pedophiles & etc,. they just don’t want to be seen doing that.