Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has turned down his brother King Charles’s offer of a holiday at Balmoral Castle in Scotland with the rest of the royal family.
The Sun reports that Andrew feels he would be treated as an “outcast” if he made the trip to the Highlands estate, a friend said.
The invitation to join was a chance for family reconciliation.
It is believed the King has not seen his brother Andrew this year, despite regularly staying only a couple of kilometres away from him.
A friend told The Sun, “Andrew feels he’s been abandoned. He feels like he is no longer part of the family.”
“He was invited but has got no great desire to be at Balmoral as he has nothing to gain and would be treated as an outcast. What’s the point, he feels, of going all the way there for a much-needed holiday and being treated as an elephant in the room?”
Up to 30 family members are expected to join the King there over the next month for a traditional gathering at this time of year.
The British royal family always spends late summer and early autumn at Balmoral to take their annual private holiday away from public scrutiny.
There, they enjoy outdoor activities like deer stalking and grouse shooting before their busy autumn public duties resume.
But Andrew reportedly cut a lonely figure at the estate last year when he spent up to two weeks there.
Since then, the scandal-hit former prince has faced fresh claims relating to his deceased paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein.
Andrew has always denied any and all wrongdoing.
Andrew was last seen mixing with his extended family at the funeral of the Duchess of Kent in September last year.
In November, the King stripped Andrew of his Prince and Duke of York titles and in February of this year, evicted him from the Royal Lodge in Windsor.
The former prince is living in exile on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk.
On the morning of his 66th birthday in February, Andrew was arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office.
His ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and children Beatrice and Eugenie have avoided his new home, Marsh Farm.
Andrew has been described as lonely with only his brother Prince Edward reportedly visiting him.
King Charles has already begun his stay at Balmoral where new British prime minister Andy Burnham is expected to visit.
Last year, the King held an audience with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese.