Prince Andrew will join Queen at church on Christmas Day in his first public appearance since BBC Newsnight interview over billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein
- Duke of York is set to join the Queen and other royals at Sandringham this year
- Prince Andrew was forced to step down from his public duties last month
- He denies claims that he had sex three times with one of Epstein’s victims
Prince Andrew is set to make his first public appearance since his catastrophic BBC Newsnight interview alongside the Queen on Christmas Day.
He will join the royal family at church in Sandringham, where the public gathers to watch the royals, to gain an idea of the public’s opinion on him since the disastrous interview about his friendship with billionaire paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.
The Duke of York was forced to step down from his public duties last month as a result of the fallout from ill-judged comments in the interview, such as describing Epstein’s paedophilia as simply ‘unbecoming’ and saying he didn’t regret his friendship with the sex offender.
Prince Andrew is set to make his first public appearance since his catastrophic BBC Newsnight interview alongside the Queen on Christmas Day (pictured at the Christmas service in 2011)
Prince Andrew is set to make his first public appearance since his catastrophic BBC Newsnight interview alongside the Queen on Christmas Day. He will join the royal family at church in Sandringham, where the public gathers to watch the royals
The Duke of York was forced to step down from his public duties last month as a result of the fallout from ill-judged comments in the interview, such as describing Epstein’s paedophilia as simply ‘unbecoming’ and saying he didn’t regret his friendship with the sex offender
He also made no apology or heartfelt message to any of Epstein’s victims when given an opportunity to add a comment at the end of the interview.
He did, however later issue a statement in which he said he ‘deeply sympathised with everyone who has been affected’.
Throughout the interview Andrew claimed he had ‘no recollection’ of meeting Virginia Roberts, now Guiffre, who is one of Epstein’s victims that claims she was forced to have sex with Andrew three times as a teenager.
He also claimed to have no idea of Epstein’s illegal activities with young women.
The Queen traditionally attends the Christmas Day morning service at St Mary Magdalene Church alongside other royals
The Prince has denied her claims.
The Queen traditionally attends the Christmas Day morning service at St Mary Magdalene Church alongside other royals.
Often the family will walk to the church and back again, on the monarch’s Norfolk estate, and interact with members of the public.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman told The Times: ‘The Duke of York is still a part of the royal family and you can expect to see him at family occasions.’