Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson won’t be joining the Royal Family at Sandringham this Christmas…and will remain ‘locked up at Royal Lodge’ after Chinese ‘spy’ friend exposed

Prince Andrew has declined to join the royal family for Christmas at Sandringham, MailOnline revealed today.

The embattled Duke of York agreed not to embarrass the King any further and decided to voluntarily skip the annual celebration in Norfolk with his ex-wife, Sarah, Duchess of York.

It is thought likely that the couple will remain at Royal Lodge.

MailOnline understands that their children Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie had already decided to spend Christmas with their respective in-laws, despite not having had the chance to do so for several years. I am.

The Daily Mail reported today that Her Majesty had no intention of banning his brother from attending, but hoped he would do the “sensible thing” and decide not to attend in light of the growing spying scandal. revealed.

It is understood that the King and Queen were hoping that none other than the Duchess of York would come to their rescue and save their family festivities this Christmas, and it appears she has done just that.

Their Majesties privately said it would be a “blessing” if Sarah, still known as “Fergie”, were able to persuade her ex-husband to “see reason” and successfully withdraw from public gatherings next week. It was revealed that. The storm over dealings with suspected Chinese spies continues to rage.

Although Duchess Kate has found herself at the center of several royal scandals over the years, Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla, like Queen Elizabeth II before her, are very much “in love” with the duchess deep down. .

Rather, they praise her loyalty to both Andrew and the monarchy more generally, despite his repeated public tribulations.

And they are perhaps the only ones who can convince the duke to “step back” from the family’s very public walk to church at Sandringham on Christmas Day, and perhaps to cut back from the Royal Lodge. I believe he was a person.

Remarkably, the pair still live together in the Windsor mansion where Andrew has a long-term lease from the Crown Estate, which has been at the center of recent controversy.

In an interview over the weekend, Sarah compared herself to a “sad man’s caretaker” and also spoke about her love for the king and his kindness towards her.

This comes after Chinese spy suspect Yang Tengbo, who developed a relationship with Andrew and interacted with other British establishment figures, insisted he had “done nothing wrong or illegal”. It’s about.

Mr Yang said claims that he had been involved in espionage were “absolutely false” and that he was a victim of the “political situation” of heightened tensions between the UK and China.

Mr Yang, a businessman, has become a “close” confidant of the Duke and has been photographed with senior politicians including Sir David Cameron and Baroness Theresa May.

In a statement after a High Court judge lifted an order granting him anonymity, he said: “I have asked the defense team to identify themselves as there has been a lot of speculation and misinformation in the media and elsewhere.” said.

“I have done nothing wrong or illegal and the concerns raised against me by the Home Office are unfounded. The widespread description of me as a ‘spy’ is completely false. ”

Last week, Mr Yang lost an appeal against a decision to ban him from entering the UK on national security grounds. He was known only as H6 in the lawsuit until the anonymity order was lifted today.

He is on the board of Hampton Group International, a business consultancy that claims to act as a bridge between China and the world.

The 50-year-old worked as a junior civil servant in China before moving to the UK to study in 2002, but was granted indefinite leave in 2013 to remain.

Mr. Yang, also known as Christopher Yang, was a founding partner of Pitch@Palace China.

The Pitch@Palace initiative was the Duke’s plan to support entrepreneurs.

Mr Yang was first removed from the UK in 2023 by then Home Secretary Suela Braverman, with the Home Office saying he was believed to have carried out “covert and deceptive activities” on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.

The businessman suggested he was a victim of increasingly hawkish views on China under the then Conservative government.

“The political situation has changed, and unfortunately I have become a victim of it,” Yang said.

“If relations are good and Chinese investment is sought, I will be welcomed in the UK. If relations deteriorate, anti-China stance will be taken and I will be excluded.”

Judges at London’s specialist tribunal ruled last week that they were “entitled to conclude” that Mr Braverman “represents a risk to national security” after he launched an appeal against the decision. did.

The businessman had taken his case to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) after his initial exclusion in 2023, but his appeal was dismissed.

In a statement, Mr Yang condemned the process that led to his ban from entering the UK.

“I was unable to see much of the evidence that was used against me under a process widely acknowledged by SIAC practitioners to be inherently unfair. It is procedurally based and is said to be a “blind approach” with hidden targets,” Yang said.

“Based on their own fact-finding, the three judges in this case also said that there was not ‘abundance of evidence’ against me, that their decision was ‘balanced’, and that my activities were ‘innocent’. It was concluded that there is a possible explanation for this.This has not been reported in the media.

As for Andrew, although he has disappeared from public life since retiring from royal duties, he remains a key figure in the royal family’s Christmas attendance.

Last Christmas, Andrew walked from Sandringham to church with other royals. This symbolizes Andrew’s gradual restoration within the monarchy.

And after the service, the duke laughed, threw his hands up and joked, and was joined by Sarah, who has returned to the royal family after decades away from Sandringham.

However, the latest controversy surrounding the duke, involving Mr Jan, who is said to have become a “close entourage” to the duke, appears to have put an end to the duke’s involvement in Christmas at Sandringham.

Andrew withdrew from public life after the uproar over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, but years later he married a woman he claimed he had never met, Virginia. – Paid millions of dollars to settle a civil sexual assault case with Giuffre.

The big development followed days after a disastrous interview on Newsnight in 2019. He said he had “no regrets” for his friendship with Epstein, who trafficked Giuffre, and was heavily criticized for not showing sympathy for the sex offender’s victims.

The duke, who is said to be Queen Elizabeth’s favorite child, announced at the time that he would be stepping back from public life for the time being and disappeared from a series of high-profile state events involving the monarchy.

Andrew’s status as a member of the royal family ended three years later when the Queen stripped him of his honorary military service, stripped him of his status as royal patron, and gave up his royal style in the dramatic aftermath of civil sex proceedings. As a result, his status as a member of the royal family was in tatters.

The royal family’s influence on national life depends not only on what they say, but also when and where they are seen, and the duke has been absent from official events for more than four years.

In past years, Andrew has attended post-Trooping the Color family gatherings and appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with other royals.

But he has not been seen at state celebrations in recent years, including the Remembrance Sunday memorial service at the Cenotaph, the annual Commonwealth Day service and the Garter Day public event at Windsor Castle. Not attending.

The Feast of the Garter is one of the most glamorous events on the royal calendar, when members of the royal family walk the grounds of the castle in rich robes and hold an annual service to celebrate the order, but Andrew was not seen in private. Participate in events.

But this year, Mr Andrew, once second in line to the throne, will not appear with relatives at the King’s private residence in Sandringham, Norfolk, for Christmas.