This past weekend was full of dumb stories about Prince Andrew. Last week, it was revealed that Andrew had a close association with a guy who turned out to be a Chinese spy. Andrew had provided extensive access to the spy, in exchange for what I can only imagine would be grocery bags full of cash? Whatever the quid pro quo entailed, it was clear that Andrew was once again up to his eyeballs in criminal/tacky shenanigans. Which introduced the plotpoint that many royal insiders fretted over all weekend: would Prince Andrew be welcome at “royal Christmas” at Sandringham? Would King Charles ban Andrew? Would Charles brief against Andrew constantly and hope that Andrew would just take the hint? Well, it happened. Andrew took the hint and someone confirmed that Andrew will not go to Norfolk for Christmas.

Another scandal involving Prince Andrew was the last thing the Royal Family expected to be dealing with as they prepared to gather for Christmas. But as one former member of palace staff put it to me, it now represents “a dichotomy for the King, in that there is only so much tolerance and forgiveness one can exercise even within a familial context”.

Nonetheless, it is still surprising that Prince Andrew and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson have decided not to go to Sandringham. Christmas is the one time of the year when we usually see Prince Andrew in public. We see with our own eyes that his family haven’t entirely forced him out into the cold.

This time it’s not entirely clear if he’s just decided to “do the honourable thing”, as one palace source put it, and realised he would be too much of a distraction if he walked to church with the family, or if they’re not going because their daughters are off to their in-laws for Christmas instead.

But there is still a big question over whether he will attend the annual Royal Family lunch at Buckingham Palace on Sunday. Palace insiders admit it’s a grey area. It’s a family occasion and he’s usually invited to those, but this one is happening inside the most symbolic building of the institution, seen as Monarchy HQ. As it was put to me, “it’s not just how things are, it’s how they look”, and an image of the Duke of York driving through the gates could be seen as deliberately provocative. They are hoping he wouldn’t want to be that level of a distraction.

It’s hard to get a full picture of how much the King is engaged in all of this. Someone who knows the family well told me that our current monarch “doesn’t like confrontation”, just like Queen Elizabeth II. They added there remains “a warm familial feeling between the two brothers”, but one “tempered by the King’s responsibilities as head of state to be entirely separate from the perceived, real or alleged, activities of the Duke of York”. It means that when there are family events the duke is welcome. When his brother is at an event in his role as King, Andrew isn’t to be seen.

And what of Prince Andrew? I’m told “he is robust”, “he is self-contained and always has been”, there is a sense he’s never really needed the affirmation of his family.

[From Sky News]

The most interesting part, to me: “or if they’re not going because their daughters are off to their in-laws for Christmas instead.” Are Eugenie and Beatrice not spending Christmas with Fergie and Andrew? To be fair, both princesses have spent the past two Christmases in Sandringham with the larger family. It would be perfectly reasonable if Eugenie is spending the holiday with Jack Brooksbank’s family, and Beatrice is spending the time with Edo’s family. Anyway, it’s so funny that before this spy story broke, Charles was rushing around, insisting that it was going to be such a huge Christmas gathering and he wasn’t inviting the Sussexes. Now it looks like the Yorks will be missing, and I bet some other people will be too.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.