Kate Middleton ‘refused to invite Prince Andrew to her Christmas concert & rejected seating him behind a pillar’
PRINCESS Kate hosted her annual Together at Christmas carol concert this month attended by members of the royal family.
However, one royal who was absent from the guest list was Prince Andrew.
The Prince and Princess of Wales are reportedly not keen to have the disgraced Duke of York at their public events, according to the Daily Mail.
Ephraim Hardcastle wrote in his column: “The King has done his best to bring Andrew back into the family fold and insists he is given due status.
“But William and Kate aren’t sharing the love.
“A mole whispers that for the second year running, suggestions that Andrew be invited to Kate’s annual carol service, possibly seated behind a pillar, were rejected.
“Although very much a family affair, with 22 members of the extended tribe present, there was no space for Uncle Andy.”
Royal family members at the concert included Prince William, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis, Zara Tindall, and a pregnant Princess Beatrice.
They attended alongside 1,600 guests at Westminster Abbey who had been recommended by Lord Lieutenants across the country for their community work.
Prince Andrew withdrew from public life after reaching an out-of-court settlement with Virginia Roberts-Giuffre, a victim of his US paedo pal Jeffrey Epstein.
According to the publication, King Charles attended to smooth over the relationship between his brother and Prince William and Princess Kate last year at Balmoral.
He is said to have persuaded the Prince and Princess of Wales to give Andrew a lift to church so they would be photographed together.
Hardcastle added: “The initiative failed.”
Fabulous has contacted Kensington Palace for comment.
Chinese spy links
Prince Andrew has now been urged to “uninvite himself” from the Royal Family’s pre-Christmas bash over his friendship with a Chinese spy, say insiders.
The Chinese spy was invited to the Duke’s 60th birthday party at Royal Lodge and attended events at Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace and St James’s Palace.
The Home Office believed the spy had been engaged in covert activity and his relationship with Andrew, 64, could be used for political interference.
Prince Andrew is due to attend the lunch at Buckingham Palace this Thursday.
His invite to Thursday’s meal at Buckingham Palace for more than 50 members of the extended Royal Family is now said to be untenable, with courtiers urging Andrew not to force King Charles’s hand in barring him.
A source said: “There would inevitably have to be some very awkward conversations and the King would not relish making his brother squirm.
“Andrew has managed the unthinkable and made a complete t*t of himself even before the Christmas party.
“It’s been a hell of a year for The Firm and the last thing they want is this scandal dragging on during a period of celebration.
“The thinking is he’s been foolish, but the more he keeps his head down the sooner everyone can move on.”
One source close to the King said Charles would be reluctant to ban his brother outright.
But he might have to rely on courtiers diplomatically “advising” him.
Another insider said: “Andrew is under pressure to step away.”
Christmas snub?
Shamed Andy is also being urged to avoid being seen in public when the royals walk to church at Sandringham on Christmas Day.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine, said: “Andrew should take it on himself and decline both invites. It would be the gentlemanly thing to do so he isn’t embarrassing the King.
A mole whispers that for the second year running, suggestions that Andrew be invited to Kate’s annual carol service, possibly seated behind a pillar, were rejected
Ephraim Hardcastle
“But Andrew is pretty thick-skinned and maybe we have to rely on the influence of Fergie.
“Christmas Day is different because the walk to church is so public and the pictures go all round the world. He should take a back seat and just not go.”
The scandal comes after Andrew won his battle to stay at his Royal Lodge home in Windsor.
Despite the King axing his annual £3million allowance, the Duke secured mystery funding to pay for his upkeep and security.
Palace officials have been assured the cash is from legitimate sources.
'There is no way back for Prince Andrew', claims PR guru
PRINCE Andrew’s reputation is damaged beyond repair and he will never be able to engineer a return to public life, according to one of Britain’s top PR gurus.
Brand and culture expert Nick Ede, who runs East of Eden PR agency, called the shamed royal “deluded” for thinking he could ever return to royal duties and urged him to give up and ‘enjoy his life’ in exile.
It follows the release of Scoop – a Netflix movie based on the 2019 interview he gave to Newsnight.
Nick said: “There is no way back for him.
“I think you know this perpetual idea that he could still be back. Nobody cares. He hasn’t got fans.
“There’s nobody out there who’s going ‘We want to see Prince Andrew’, not one single person. I think he has to realise that. But I think it’s going to take a long, long time for him to actually understand. It’s very deluded.
“In my opinion, the best thing that he could do is just enjoy his life. He’s got gorgeous daughters. He has a great relationship with Fergie, he has a lovely house.
“Just live a quiet life.”
Reflecting on the interview five years ago – the fallout of which saw Andrew step back from royal duties “for the foreseeable future” – Nick compared the fallout to Frost vs Nixon and said he would have urged him not to do it.
He said: “If I had been advising him, I would say, go quiet, be quiet, just go to ground. You know you’re a prince. Enjoy the life that you lead, but do not open this can of worms, because that’s what it is.
“There was no admission that a relationship with somebody like Epstein was terribly toxic. There was no idea that there were loads of victims of trafficking whose lives were completely ruined by Epstein. He didn’t seem to think that the association he had with that man was anything but positive.
“I think his worst gaffe was obviously being in that interview and agreeing to it in the first place, for not realising that he’s actually going to be interviewed by a very, very good journalist who is going to ask him questions which he might not like.
“But I think what this has done is really shown how archaic Prince Andrew is in his opinions and thoughts.
“Read the room. He’s never read a room at all.”