Why Prince Andrew Joined Royals on Easter Regardless of Controversy

Regardless of “stepping again” from royal duties in 2019 amid backlash surrounding his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew joined his brother King Charles and members of the royal household for his or her Easter church outing on April 20.

The Duke of York, 65, arrived on the mass in a automobile along with his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, in addition to sister Princess Anne and her husband, Sir Timothy Laurence. His two daughters, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, additionally joined the vacation outing with their husbands.

Prince Andrew stepped again from his public duties in 2019 following his bombshell interview with the BBC about his ties to Epstein. He was stripped of his army titles and patronages by his mom, Queen Elizabeth, in January 2022 after trying to have Virginia Giuffre’s sexual assault lawsuit in opposition to him dismissed.

The Duke of York has denied any wrongdoing and settled with Giuffre out of courtroom for an undisclosed quantity in February 2022.

Whereas Prince Andrew now not undertakes duties on behalf of the monarchy, he has continued to hitch the royals at household occasions resembling their annual Christmas church stroll or funeral companies. Easter is taken into account a household occasion, and he additionally attended final 12 months.

Nevertheless, Queen Elizabeth’s second son didn’t publicly attend Christmas occasions with the royal household in 2024 amid backlash round his suspected connection to an alleged Chinese language “spy.” He skipped the standard Christmas luncheon on Dec. 19 in addition to their church outing on Christmas Day.

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Buckingham Palace launched a uncommon assertion relating to Prince Andrew earlier this month, clarifying non-public conferences between Andrew, Andrew’s former aide Dominic Hampshire and King Charles. Testimony by Hampshire alleged the brothers mentioned the Eurasia Fund, a mission of Prince Andrew’s that geared toward linking Chinese language funding with renewable power initiatives in Africa that got here below scrutiny for ties to an alleged Chinese language spy. Yang Tengbo was mentioned to be an in depth confidant of Andrew’s earlier than being barred from getting into the U.Okay. in December 2024 over issues of nationwide safety.

The palace mentioned, “Whereas His Majesty met with the Duke and his adviser to listen to define proposals for unbiased funding over the previous 12 months, the person often known as H6 was not talked about at any time or in any means as a part of these discussions.”