Prince Andrew shares a joke with a female groom as he goes horse riding

Wedding anniversaries can be a bittersweet occasion when you’re divorced, but Prince Andrew looked in good spirits this morning as he was spotted out horse riding at Windsor. 

The Queen’s son, 61, who retired from royal duties amid scandal over his friendship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, would have marked his 35th wedding anniversary with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson today. 

Fergie and Andrew separated in 1992 after six years of marriage and divorced four years later but their continued closeness has often prompted speculation that they would rekindle their relationship.

While his brother Prince Charles found happiness with his second wife, the Duchess of Cornwall, Prince Andrew has never remarried. 

The Queen’s son, 61, (pictured centre) would have marked his 35th wedding anniversary with ex-wife Sarah Ferguson today

Andrew looked in great spirits as he took an early morning ride with a female groom in the grounds of Windsor this morning. 

The Duke of York donned a purple and red striped polo shirt and added a helmet and riding slacks for the outing, after driving himself to the stables from his home at the nearby Royal Lodge.

Horse riding has become an interest for the Duke since 2018 when he took riding lessons ahead of riding on horseback behind The Queen’s carriage for the first time at Trooping The Colour. 

Today it certainly seemed to prove a fun distraction on the day he would have marked 35 years of marriage with Fergie. 

The couple have been divorced for more than two decades but remain famously close and share a home at the Royal Lodge. 

In an interview with the Kyle and Jackie O show in Australia in 2016, Fergie was asked by the hosts if they would ever reunite. 

Fergie and Andrew (pictured on their wedding day) separated in 1992 after six years of marriage and divorced four years later but their continued closeness has often prompted speculation that they would rekindle their relationship

Andrew (pictured centre) looked in great spirits as he took an early morning ride with a female groom in the grounds of Windsor this morning

Fergie enigmatically replied: ‘I always think, “have we really?”. We’re divorced to each other right now. We’ve never really left each other.’ 

It comes as Andrew’s ex-girlfriend Lady Victoria Hervey said the abuse claims levelled against Ghislaine Maxwell in connection to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein were ‘very shocking’. 

Prince Andrew stepped down from royal duties in November 2019 following a disastrous interview with Newsnight and scrutiny over his friendship with the convicted paedophile.

The Duke of York donned a purple and red striped polo shirt and added a helmet and riding slacks for the outing, after driving himself (pictured) to the stables from his home at the nearby Royal Lodge

Speaking in a new documentary about Ghislaine, Lady Victoria said: ‘She was always the centre of every fun party and she was a vibrant character that a lot of people wanted to be around. It was very shocking when I first heard everything about her because that was not the Ghislaine I knew.

‘I think there’s a lot of people in his position that like to be surrounded by young models – it didn’t look that different to what I’d seen before. I was very young and very naive and didn’t realise what was happening.

‘[Epstein] gave her that stability of what she needed and she gave him what he needed to meet all these powerful people. 

‘Everybody knew Ghislaine Maxwell but no one knew him. It was a partnership they had. I think she got in way too deep and just couldn’t leave.’

The Queen’s second son recently became a grandfather for the first time when Princess Eugenie welcomed son August Brooksbank in February.

He’ll soon welcome his second grandchild as Princess Beatrice is expecting.