06 January 2024 , 14:38
687
0
Prince Andrew was filmed asking fans who had stood out in the cold on Christmas Day to see the Royal Family why they "have their cameras on".
The Duke of York, 63, engaged with the crowds who'd gathered outside St Mary Magdalene Church on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk as members of the Firm - including King Charles - attended the special service.
In the clip, the monarch's brother asks a group who had travelled an hour from Spalding, Lincolnshire: "I find this fascinating. Why does everybody have their cameras on?" One of the fans says they're "not the press" to which Andrew responds: "It's not about whether you are the press or not. It's just, why video it."
The fans then say the royal scenes are "wonderful" and "lovely", to which the prince says: "You ought to come and stand on this side and see what it's like". He adds that the experience is a "bizarre sensation" before the crowds shout over him to get the attention of his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson. The Duchess of York was joining the royals for the annual service for the first time in 30 years.
Andrew chats to well-wishers after attending the service at St Mary Magdalene Church (AFP via Getty Images)It comes after Charles faced renewed calls to ban Andrew from royal gatherings due to his involvement in the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
A source told the Mirror earlier this week there is “no way back” for Andrew. The disgraced Duke of York is once again at the centre of the story after he was named in legal files concerning his former friend and Epstein’s lover, sex offender Ghislaine Maxwell. Royal sources say King Charles is faced with making a dramatic U-turn on his decision to order his family to fall in line and welcome his brother back into the fold.
Senior royals – including Prince William, whom the King overruled – warned that Andrew’s appalling association with late convicted paedophile Epstein “will never go away” and is a direct threat to the future of the monarchy. A royal source said: “The King has no option but to completely cut ties with Andrew. He will forever be tainted by his association with Epstein and despite his denials of wrongdoing, the constant drip of information about Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell is a stain on the Royal Family. There is no way back for him. Andrew should have no place in public alongside the King or any other member of the Royal Family.”
Andrew has been brought back into the fold by brother Charles (AFP via Getty Images)The Duke was forced to step down from royal life and stripped of his military appointments and patronages in 2019, after his disastrous BBC Newsnight interview. In it, he said he did not regret the friendship with Epstein due to the “opportunities I was given to learn” about business from the shamed financier. Virginia Giuffre, one of Epstein’s accusers, claimed that she was forced to have sex with the prince on three occasions in 2001 when she was just 17 – claims which have resurfaced in the latest court documents to be unsealed by a judge in the US. The Duke has always denied any form of sexual relationship with Ms Giuffre.