All eyes on Prince Andrew after alleged Chinese spy controversy
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Royal sources say Charles is still considering whether to ban his brother from family’s Christmas Day walk. The royal family’s Christmas Day walk from Sandringham House to St Mary Magdalene church in Norfolk is a longstanding tradition. But it has also become a barometer of internal pressures.
So, all eyes will be on whether the Duke of York is among family members walking alongside the king and queen this Christmas after the alleged Chinese spy controversy. Royal sources have reportedly revealed Charles is still considering the optics, and whether or not to ban his younger brother from this very public part of the royals’ festivities, which attracts crowds of wellwishers.
After the Jeffrey Epstein scandal broke, though Andrew did not walk with the others to the 11am service in 2019, he was photographed walking side-by-side with Charles to a private 9am service. It was clear acknowledgment of his family’s firm support after his catastrophic Newsnight interview, and that while no longer having a public profile he very much retained his position as a senior member of the family.
He has been included since Charles’s 2022 accession. His exclusion this year, therefore, “would be confirmation that the relationship between the two had soured”, said Craig Prescott, author of Modern Monarchy, out in 2025, and a lecturer at Royal Holloway, University of London. “That would be a clear sign of Charles, at least, wanting to try and diminish the issue.”.
News, released in court documents last week, that an alleged Chinese spy, now banned from the UK, formed links at the heart of the British establishment and previously became close to Andrew, has thrown the spotlight on the duke’s two main vulnerabilities: judgment – or lack of it – and finances.
