SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE: The fizz goes out of Prince Andrew’s 60th birthday as friends shun invites to his party leaving Sarah Ferguson to ask more guests to make up the numbers
Prince Andrew has withdrawn from royal duties ever since his ill-fated Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis.
But nothing quite illustrates the Duke of York’s dizzying fall from grace than the manner in which a number of his friends — or those he thought of as friends — have shunned the chance to join him tomorrow on his 60th birthday.
He is celebrating the day with a private dinner at Royal Lodge, the Windsor residence he shares with his ex-wife, Fergie.
Indeed, I can disclose such has been the number of guests who have discovered they are ‘unavailable’ that additional invitations to the bash have been sent out by Jane Clarke, Fergie’s assistant.
It’s all a far cry from Andrew’s 50th (pictured). By then, his association with Jeffrey Epstein — the disgraced U.S. financier who was found dead in a New York prison cell last August — was well known
‘I have been asked by The Duchess of York and Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie to invite you to a private dinner at Royal Lodge at 7.30 pm on Wednesday, 19th February,’ she alerts recipients, before emphasising that the event is ‘in celebration of the Duke of York’s 60th birthday’.
Lest any of these second-tier guests feel they may lack time to doll themselves up appropriately, Clarke adds: ‘The dress code is suits and cocktail dress.’ Clarke asks them to alert her of ‘any dietary requirements’.
It’s all a far cry from Andrew’s 50th. By then, his association with Jeffrey Epstein — the disgraced U.S. financier who was found dead in a New York prison cell last August — was well known, but it failed to deter a string of glamorous women from attending the Duke’s birthday bash, which was held over a weekend at St James’s Palace.
Prince Andrew has withdrawn from royal duties ever since his ill-fated Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis
Partygoers included Catrina Skepper, the one-time Pretty Polly and Cadbury’s Flake model, as well as socialite Caroline Stanbury, who subsequently appeared on reality TV show Ladies Of London, and Kazakh-born socialite Goga Ashkenazi.
It had been the beguiling Ashkenazi who had introduced Andrew to Kazakhstan oligarch Timur Kulibayev, by whom she now has two sons.
Later, in 2007, Kulibayev generously bought the Duke’s former home, Sunninghill Park, for £3 million more than the £12 million asking price.
Perhaps there’ll be more fruitful introductions tomorrow — between those who’ve stayed loyal to Andrew and those treated to a last-minute invitation.
Perhaps there’ll be more fruitful introductions tomorrow — between those who’ve stayed loyal to Andrew and those treated to a last-minute invitation