Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson will “not be with the Royal Family this Christmas” after having his titles relinquished, a royal author has claimed.
Speaking to GB News, author and journalist Robert Hardman said there is “no question” that the King has made his intentions “clear” over his brother’s future involvement in the monarchy.
Prince Andrew announced this week via a Buckingham Palace statement that he would be relinquishing his Duke of York title and honours, due to “continued accusations”.
He said: “In discussion with The King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me distract from the work of His Majesty and the Royal Family.
“I have decided, as I always have, to put my duty to my family and country first. I stand by my decision five years ago to stand back from public life.”
Delivering his verdict on the future of Prince Andrew’s future involvement in the monarchy, Mr Hardman told GB News: “There’s no question that the King has made it clear that Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, as we now call her, will not be with the Royal Family at Christmas.
“That then moves us forward to, well, when will we next see them? He does like turning up at Easter, it’s one of the family occasions he’s very fond of, striding down through the castle. I suspect he’ll be asked to stay away from that.
“You can’t obviously tell people to stay away from church, it’s a public place, so we’ll see.”
Robert Hardman has told GB News that Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson will ‘not be with the Royal Family’ this Christmas
|
GETTY / GB NEWS
Prince Andrew has announced he is relinquishing his Duke of York title and honours
| PA
Detailing the impact the removal of his titles will have on his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, Mr Hardman claimed that the King would have made sure to “not rip up the birthright” of Andrew’s daughters.
He explained: “Certainly, my understanding is that a very key part of the King’s planning was that this should not somehow involve ripping up the birthright and titles of Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie.
“For whom the King has a great deal of affection and love, and I think actual admiration for what they’ve been through and come out of the other side. So no, I don’t think they’ll be affected.”
Delivering his verdict on Prince Andrew’s recent appearance at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral, Camilla told the author: “That extraordinary footage of him at the Duchess of Kent’s funeral, where he’s trying to talk to Prince William, William’s having none of it.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Mr Hardman told GB News
|
GB NEWS
“I was told on Friday that Prince William’s fingerprints will have been all over this, that he has got no truck with his errant uncle.”
Mr Hardman responded: “He was showing, I think, a remarkable lack of tact, marching around in front of the cameras when, frankly, the best place would have been to stand at the back and not look for air time, as it were.
“But I think that’s just the sort of thing we’re dealing with.”
Concluding that Andrew will most likely uphold his Prince title, he added: “He has had everything he has received in terms of honours since he was born, so I think we have to keep a slight degree of context and nuance here, because however much people might dislike him, to take away the title of Prince, the last time that happened was involving enemies of this country fighting at war. And that he’s not in that category.
“So I think if he could possibly stay away from going for rides around the park on royal horses, that would certainly help in the days ahead.”