While The Royal Family gathered beneath the chandeliers of Buckingham Palace for their traditional pre-Christmas luncheon, one familiar figure was conspicuous by his absence. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was seen instead riding through Windsor Great Park, hunched against the rain, a solitary presence far removed from the seasonal warmth on offer in London.
As seen in MailOnline, the former prince, long sidelined following controversies connected to his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, cut a forlorn figure as he exercised his horse in driving weather. The contrast could scarcely have been sharper. Only a short distance away, his daughters, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, arrived smiling at the Palace, where they were welcomed by King Charles alongside the senior working royals.
The King and Queen were joined by the Prince and Princess of Wales, who attended with their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Also present were the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh with their daughter, Lady Louise Windsor, as well as a scattering of the wider family, including the Duke of Kent, Lady Sarah Chatto and Princess Alexandra.
For Eugenie, the occasion offered a carefully judged nod to festive cheer. She wore playful candy-cane earrings, a light-hearted flourish following what has been a bruising year for the York family. Both sisters have, in recent months, kept a notably lower profile, missing the Princess of Wales’s carol service earlier this month. Their reappearance at the Palace lunch, however, suggested a deliberate effort to draw a distinction between the daughters and the disgraced father they have sought to support privately while distancing themselves publicly.
Andrew’s absence was widely interpreted as intentional rather than coincidental. It came shortly after the Metropolitan Police confirmed that they would take no further action over allegations that he had attempted to use a police officer to gather information about Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexual assault – claims he has consistently denied. Though the matter is closed from a policing perspective, the reputational damage lingers.
Sources close to the Palace have previously indicated that the King is determined not to visit the consequences of Andrew’s conduct upon Beatrice and Eugenie. Their inclusion at the lunch reinforced that approach, even as their father remains firmly excluded from royal gatherings of this kind.
The Christmas lunch, held each year before the royal family decamps to Sandringham for the holiday itself, is as much a statement as a social occasion. This year’s guest list underlined a quiet but unmistakable message: reconciliation may be extended to some, but for Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, the cold shoulder endures.
