Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson created yet another royal stir as they were spotted leaving Windsor’s Royal Lodge together, just moments before King Charles’ annual Christmas speech aired to the nation. The former royal couple’s conspicuous timing and absence from the traditional royal festivities at Sandringham has inevitably fueled whispers of tension within the royal family.
After the disgraced Duke of York, 64, opted to stay away from the holiday celebrations hosted by his elder brother, King Charles, at the Sandringham estate, he seemingly chose the most questionable time to step out with his ex-wife. Andrew and Sarah were seen departing the property at approximately 2:45 pm on Christmas Day, moments before the King’s annual televised address, according.
This latest move comes as Prince Andrew faces yet another wave of controversy, this time linked to allegations of a long-standing association with Yang Tengbo, a Chinese businessman banned from the U.K. on national security grounds. Court documents described the Duke of York as maintaining an “unusual degree of trust” with Yang, a relationship that allegedly spanned over a decade. Judges cautioned that Prince Andrew’s close ties with Yang made him susceptible to “the misuse of that sort of influence.”
A spokesperson for Prince Andrew attempted damage control, stating: “The Duke of York followed advice from HMG [His Majesty’s Government] and ceased all contact with the individual after concerns were raised. The duke met the individual through official channels, with nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed.”
Still, the optics of the scandal, coupled with Prince Andrew’s continued banishment from senior royal duties following the Jeffrey Epstein debacle, have left little room for redemption. Royal biographer Andrew Lownie recently minced no words while predicting a permanent divide. “I don’t think he’s going to go to Sandringham ever again,” Lownie told The Sun. “[The royal family] need to distance themselves from him” to prevent further embarrassment.
Indeed, Lownie suggested Prince Andrew’s absence from Sandringham wasn’t a matter of personal choice but rather a forced exile. Such developments have only intensified scrutiny of the disgraced royal’s activities and the government’s apparent reluctance to shed light on them.
Lownie, who’s also penning a biography on the embattled prince, has slammed the British government’s handling of Freedom of Information (FoI) requests concerning Prince Andrew’s trade missions. “The government’s covering up for Andrew,” Lownie alleged, likening the process to a game of “whack-a-mole.” Requests for transparency have been met with conflicting responses, ranging from claims that records don’t exist to assertions that retrieval costs are prohibitively high.
Conveniently, the Department for Business and Trade has insisted that documents deemed “historically important” will eventually be transferred to the National Archives, if not destroyed. The National Archives itself has come under fire for retroactively closing previously public records related to Prince Andrew, citing exemptions under the FoI Act.
The allegations against Prince Andrew extend beyond mere royal gossip. Claims of taxpayer-funded trips for private business dealings and associations with questionable individuals pose serious questions about national security and public accountability. Yet, documents that could provide answers remain sealed, potentially for over a century.
As Prince Andrew’s murky past continues to resurface, his role within the royal family seems increasingly untenable. The sight of him and Ferguson making a hasty exit from Royal Lodge on Christmas Day only proves their peripheral position in a monarchy striving to modernize and salvage its image under King Charles’ leadership.
While Buckingham Palace has remained characteristically tight-lipped, the timing of Prince Andrew’s departure from Windsor could hardly have been more telling. For a man at the center of scandals that refuse to fade, skipping Sandringham may have been an act of self-preservation or a subtle snub to a family that has largely turned its back on him.
