Speculation is growing over whether Prince Andrew will attend Prince Philip’s funeral following a rare public appearance on his visit to Windsor Castle this afternoon.
Prince Andrew, Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth’s third child, was seen leaving and waving to the mourners outside despite his withdrawal from the public eye after sexual abuse allegations were raised against him seven years ago.
Along with his brother Prince Edward, the Duke of York visited Windsor today to comfort the Queen after the loss of their father and her husband of nearly seven decades.
Andrew was at the centre of a sexual abuse scandal in 2014. The public backlash significantly increased after an interview with him was aired on BBC’s Newsnight on 16 November 2019.
The interview focused on the allegations as well as his ties to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, the deceased American financier and convicted sex offender.
The interview had a significant negative impact on the public opinion of the Prince, who in May of last year permanently resigned from all public roles.
Last September, The Sun reported that Prince Andrew would not be involved with Prince Philip’s 100th birthday celebrations due to the allegations and his relationship with Epstein.
Keeping this in mind, it is not clear whether the Prince will be invited to be part of his father’s funeral service due to its inevitably public nature and the potential backlash it could have on the public opinion of the royal family.
Richard Palmer, Daily Express royal correspondent, tweeted that Prince Edward and his wife Sophie had also visited in order to offer their condolences to Her Majesty the Queen.
Sophie, Countess of Wessex, talked positively of her mother-in-law’s emotional state. She said: “The Queen has been amazing.”
Featured image credit: Titanic Belfast, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
.jpg){kind=link}