What Christmas will look like for Prince Andrew and Fergie as they are sidelined from royal festivities
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The Duke of York is battling another PR crisis. When King Charles leads the Royal family on their traditional Christmas Day walk to St Mary Magdalene church, one notable absence will draw attention: his embattled younger brother, the Duke of York. It was revealed earlier this week that Prince Andrew had struck up a close friendship with an alleged Chinese spy, who has been banned from the UK.
![[Andrew walks with his brother Charles at the head of the royal family on the way to Church on Christmas Day 2017 (Joe Giddens/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/16/14/d391a41c9b62a315c9b17efa3d1d1d84Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM0NDQyMTEx-2.34253680.jpg)
It is the latest in a string of controversies faced by Andrew in recent years, the most notable being his resignation which came after his links to paedophile financier Jeffery Epstein came to light. As the royals battled yet another PR crisis at the hands of the duke, his ex-wife Sarah, Duchess of York, has convinced him to step away from the family’s Christmas celebrations - saving the King the awkward task of formally uninviting him amid the furore.
![[The Yorks will likely now join Beatrice, her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozz and his parents for Christmas.]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/04/13/11/newFile-1.jpg)
Fergie made a return to the royal fold last December, joining the family for their annual Christmas Day walkabout for the first time in 30 years – a significant moment after her high-profile divorce from Andrew in 1996. But instead of returning to the estate for festivities this year, she and Andrew have been sidelined and will likely remain at their Royal Lodge home on the Windsor grounds instead - missing the high-profile walk to Mary Magdalene church, gift swapping in in Sandringham’s White Room and a Boxing Day shoot.
![[The duke has been drawn into court proceedings surrounding the alleged spy, Yang Tengbo, whose appeal against exclusion from the UK was dismissed by a specialist tribunal last Thursday.]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/12/16/14/hero_yang.jpg)
Though their daughters, Princess Beatrice, 36, and Princess Eugenie, 34, are understood to have already made plans to spend Christmas with their respective in-laws, royal insiders have speculated the arrangements could alter to ensure their divorced parents do not spend the day alone at the Royal Lodge.
