Prince Andrew is being welcomed back into the royal fold despite his association with late pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, according to a new report.
King Charles lll invited his disgraced younger brother to join senior members of the royal family in Scotland, where Prince William was photographed driving Andrew to a church service on Sunday.
“Andrew won’t ever have the same ceremonial role within the family; he is no longer and never will be a working royal. That is clear,” a source described as a friend of the king told the Daily Beast Monday.
“But he is part of the family. He is the king’s brother. He has not been found guilty of any crime, and I think it’s fair to say that the king is making it clear that he won’t turn his back on his brother.”
Andrew — who has laid low since his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, stripped him of his royal and military titles last year — was in clear view of photographers when he arrived at Balmoral Castle with William and Kate Middleton over the weekend.
The apparent show of support for the Duke of York, 63, marks a dramatic change in fortunes for him, as he was effectively kicked out of the royal family and reportedly lost his $300,000 annual stipend in the final months of the Queen’s life.
Andrew had long been associated with Epstein, who died by suicide in prison in 2019; however, the final nail in the coffin was the royal’s disastrous 2019 interview with the BBC.
During the sit-down, the prince denied having met Virginia Giuffre — a sex-trafficking victim who accused him of rape — and implied that a photograph of him with his arm around her was fake.
He avoided going to trial by paying Giuffre, 40, a multimillion-dollar settlement.
Although Charles, 74, reportedly spearheaded Andrew’s expulsion from the inner circle of royals, he seems to have changed his tune.
Royal historian Andrew Lownie noted that it was especially interesting that William played a role in his uncle’s royal return because the pair’s relationship has “never been good.”
“The family have been using the Prince and Princess of Wales to get them out of trouble a lot lately, and once again, they are doing the heavy lifting here, fixing problems not of their creation,” Lownie told the Daily Beast.
“This was clearly a very important event, and William’s had to put aside his objections to agree to be in a car with him when they knew it was going to be filmed is an extraordinary development,” the biographer went on.
“Until now, the family have been trying to distance themselves from Andrew, but Sunday’s ballet suggests that there’s been a change of strategy.”
Andrew was not the only figure rehabilitating their image at Balmoral: Lady Susan Hussey, who made “unacceptable” comments to a black charity director at Buckingham Palace last year, was also present at church.
