REBECCA ENGLISH: Royal insiders tell me the King is desperately hoping Andrew will 'do the right thing' and STAY AWAY this Christmas. But the disgraced duke is an 'obstinate' man...
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As the nation prepares to sit down and break bread with their nearest and, ahem, sometimes not so dearest this season of Goodwill, the King is facing a particularly vexing Christmas conundrum. What on earth to do about his bothersome brother, Prince Andrew, whose issues seem to pop up like a particularly bad bout of the annual festive flu.
For the truth is that the King doesn’t want to have to go so far as to ban Prince Andrew from joining the rest of the Royal Family for the much-loved Sandringham church visit and walkabout. He is, at the end of the day, his blood brother: he can’t divorce him, or indeed prevent him from seeing other family members.
Friends suggest Andrew must know his presence will put Charles in a very awkward position. But he is desperately hoping the Duke of York will ‘do the decent thing’ and ‘recuse’ himself from joining them at Sandringham to spare the rest of the Royal Family further embarrassment following his latest, and potentially highly politically damaging, scandal, having a suspected Chinese spy as a ‘close confidant’ and trusted business adviser.
As it stands, I am told, Andrew is due to join the rest of the family in Norfolk next week for the festive gathering. He and his ever-expanding family – including his ex-wife, the Duchess of York, and daughters Princess Beatrice and Eugenie and their children – had been expected to take over Wood Farm, a large property on the royal estate.