Buckingham Palace cannot yet confirm whether Prince Andrew will attend the King’s pre-Christmas lunch on Thursday.
Unfortunately, the names of the Duke of York and his ex-wife, Sarah, remain on the guest list for the festive party of around 70 members of the royal family at Buckingham Palace, the Mail understands.
Andrew is claimed to have insisted he has every right to attend. He is said to have told his friends “I should be there” and that, as this is a family occasion, “why shouldn’t I go?”
Royal aides could not hide their relief on Monday after it was revealed that the duke had decided to “do the decent thing” and spare his brother’s blushes by pulling out of official festive celebrations and a walk to church in Sandringham next week. in the midst of the fury. for his association with alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.
However, each year the monarch also invites his large family (aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, husbands and wives) who do not make it to Sandringham, to gather for a big festive meal in London.
Sources said today they still have “no idea” whether the embattled royals will turn up, and may not even be sure until they see who stops at the gates.
Meanwhile, senior royal advisers are operating optimistically on the “working assumption” that the duke will “come to his senses” again and decide to “keep his head down.”
They feel his presence at the “monarchy’s headquarters” would send a “contradictory and confusing message”, having adopted what was described as “the gentlemanly option” over Sandringham.
Prince Andrew (pictured, right) with Yang Tengbo (pictured, left), who befriended the Duke of York.
Buckingham Palace cannot yet confirm whether Prince Andrew will attend the King’s pre-Christmas lunch on Thursday.
The Duke of York attended the Christmas Day morning church service at Sandringham in 2022. Royal aides could not hide their relief on Monday after it was revealed the Duke had decided to “do the decent thing” and spare his brother’s blushes when leaving the walk
The lunch is private, but guests are usually photographed entering and exiting the palace doors.
Andrew could try to sneak in undetected, but sources have told the Mail he should enter through the front door or not at all, “preferably the latter”.
Privately, there are serious concerns about the depth of Andrew’s involvement with Yang, who reportedly referred to himself as “Prince Andrew’s special envoy” and was appointed by the royals as head of his Pitch@Palace. China, to Dragons’. Lair-style initiative from which the Duke took advantage.
Andrew insists he has done nothing wrong, despite a judge raising questions about how the alleged spy could have become such a “close confidant”.
It follows the Jeffrey Epstein scandal and concerns over the Duke’s role as the UK’s official “trade ambassador”.
But the most damning revelation in recent days was the emergence in 2021 of correspondence from his “senior adviser”, Dominic Hampshire, found by security services on Yang’s phone.
Hampshire emphasized the “strength” of the relationship with the duke and his family, adding: “Outside of his closest internal confidants, you sit at the top of a tree that many, many people would like to be up.”
Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson at Ascot in 2019. Interestingly, the Duke of York and Sarah’s names remain on the guest list for the festive party of around 70 members of the extended royal family at Buckingham Palace.
Most worryingly for palace officials, Hampshire wrote that after a meeting with Andrew, “we have wisely navigated former private secretaries and have found a way to carefully weed out those people we do not fully trust.”
Under his direction, we found a way to get relevant people in and out of the Windsor house without being noticed, a reference to Royal Lodge, Andrew’s home in Berkshire.
There is no idea who these individuals are, nor why they would be so interested in bypassing security to smuggle people into your home.
Investigations continue into what access Yang had when he visited royal residences several times at Andrew’s invitation.