Why Prince Andrew, Sarah Ferguson and Princess Eugenie missed Christmas at Sandringham
The King and Queen cheerfully led the royals to church on Christmas Day at Sandringham, but there were some notable absentees this year.
While the disgraced Duke of York stepped back from royal duties in 2019 amid his connections to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Prince Andrew's rare public appearances have included the annual festive walk to church.
But just weeks before the royals were set to descend upon Charles's Norfolk residence, his brother Prince Andrew, his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York and their youngest daughter, Princess Eugenie, confirmed they would not be joining the family gathering.
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The Duke of York ended up making headlines again two weeks ago amid his connections to an alleged Chinese spy.
It was revealed in a High Court hearing that alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo, who was banned from the UK, was said to have been a "close" confidant of Andrew.
Mr Yang, who was named after an anonymity order was lifted, has insisted it was "entirely untrue" to claim he was involved in espionage and that he has "done nothing wrong or unlawful".
The businessman, previously referred to only as H6 in the legal case, was the founder-partner of the Chinese arm of the Duke's Pitch@Palace initiative, and gained access to three royal palaces.
In response, the Duke's office said Andrew "ceased all contact" with the businessman when concerns were first raised about him. Andrew met Mr Yang through "official channels" with "nothing of a sensitive nature ever discussed", the statement said.
But last week, the Duke also pulled out of attending the King's pre-Christmas lunch at Buckingham Palace.
Speaking on HELLO!'s Christmas episode of A Right Royal Podcast, The Sun's royal editor Matt Wilkinson highlighted the worrying fact that letters presented in court this month - allegedly exchanged “between him and this spy, or his staff and this spy” - date back only three years, and that more could also emerge about Andrew's finances in 2025.
On Andrew, Sarah and Eugenie's absence from Sandringham, Matt observed: "I was wondering whether this is almost a York boycott of Christmas," adding “If you start thinking about it, this whole family may have fallen out, possibly with the rest of the royals."
Commenting on Sarah's influence, HELLO!'s royal editor Emily Nash said: "Sarah Ferguson is the person who stepped in and told Andrew that this might be the right thing to do to not go and to spare the royal family's blushes.
"But, the Queen is quite close to her. We read just from Sarah herself in the past week that her mother was very close to Camilla. So I like the idea of the royal ladies stepping in here and trying to just smooth things over and make things look a little better."
While Andrew and Sarah remained at Royal Lodge in Windsor for Christmas, Princess Eugenie spent the day with her in-laws for the first time – a decision which was made several months ago. Eugenie shares sons August, three, and Ernest, one, with her husband, Jack Brooksbank.
And while Eugenie's sister, Princess Beatrice, was also meant to spend Christmas with her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi's family abroad, she spent the day at Sandringham with the royals after changing her plans.
Beatrice, who is expecting her second child, received medical advice and was guided not to travel long distances.
The royal baby will be a little brother or sister for the couple's three-year-old daughter Sienna, and Edoardo's son and Beatrice's stepson, eight-year-old Wolfie.
