As we discussed, the staging around King Constantine’s Windsor memorial service was pretty bad. No one told Prince Andrew that he had no business striding out in front of the rest of the Windsors, acting as if he was the head of the family. That being said, I do understand why Andrew was there – it was a family service and Andrew made sure everyone knew that the Greek royals invited him. Plus, he was close by – Royal Lodge is not far from St. George’s Chapel. Still, the fact that Andrew sat front row in the church and he looked smug with his chest puffed out, all of it was not a good look for the Windsors. The Windsors don’t care though – they’ve got so many other problems, no one is shutting down Andrew’s latest little comeback campaign.

Prince Andrew’s friends have said that pictures of him leading the royal family into church in London today, accompanied by his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson, show he has been given a “second chance” by King Charles.

A friend of Prince Andrew’s told The Daily Beast: “Today’s photographs show that Andrew is very clearly back in the fold. You have to remember that the king firmly believes two things which favor him: that you’re innocent until proven guilty and that blood is thicker than water. Andrew has always denied ever meeting Virginia Giuffre, and always claimed privately that the picture was a fake. But they wanted him to settle, so he did, and it wasn’t right that was held against him. He has done everything that has been asked of him since. He has been absolutely loyal. He has toed the line. He deserves a second chance and he is getting it.”

Another friend of Andrew’s told The Daily Beast: “Nothing in that family happens by accident when there are photographers around. Andrew is back.”

However, a friend of the king’s told The Daily Beast that “nothing has changed” when it came to Andrew’s position in the family. “The king has always been very clear; Andrew is part of the family but doesn’t represent the Firm. Nothing has changed. He had a personal invite to attend the memorial today from the Greek royal family. I think people are getting rather over-excited because he happens to be a fast walker.”

Sources in Prince William’s camp have refused to be drawn on what the “personal matter” was that kept him away from the memorial to his godfather Tuesday. William was due to read during the service and his absence was announced less than an hour before the service was due to begin, sparking panic. There had been some speculation that he canceled attending the service to avoid being pictured with Andrew.

However, one friend of William’s said, “I don’t know what happened, but William wouldn’t have canceled at the last minute without a good reason, because of the attention it causes. Avoiding Andrew wouldn’t reach that bar.”

[From The Daily Beast]

LMAO, yet another perfectly reasonable explanation for William’s absence and Kensington Palace just refused to take it. William has threatened to not show up for events because of Andrew in previous years, so there is some kind of precedent for that, but not this week. Just so we’re clear, William’s sudden cancellation was not about Andrew or Thomas Kingston’s death or Kate or Charles. Instead of just saying what it was, KP has had to come out several times and say what it was NOT.

As for Andrew… yeah, the whole thing about “Charles is going to punish him, etc” was always bullsh-t. Charles is fine with Andrew. Andrew still lives in Royal Lodge, still has royal protection, still gets his meals from the Windsor Castle kitchen, still gets invited to family events, and still represents the family in public. They are completely fine with all of it, his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, the credible accusations of rape and trafficking, his lies and his sleaze. In fact, he perfectly represents this horrid family.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.