Prince Andrew raises concerns despite stepping away from Christmas

Prince Andrew has raised concerns as a royal expert pointed out that he is still “hellbent on clinging onto power” despite skipping Royal Christmas.

Speaking on Royal Beat, a royal correspondent pointed out that Andrew did not take the decision of skipping Christmas on his own but on his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson’s urging.

Katie Nicholl bashed Andrew, the Duke of York, over his “very poor judgement” and failing to recognize the need to protect the Royal Family’s reputation, particularly after his Chinese spy scandal.

“I hate to say this but along with very poor judgement on Andrew’s part is, he seems hellbent on clinging onto that power that he had as the Duke of York and as a royal player, whether that is representing the family overseas or simply being there at Christmas,” she said.

“After that disastrous Newsnight interview, he was allowed at Christmas but he attended church with the late Queen before everyone else to avoid being the centre of attention or creating headlines for the wrong reason,” Nicholl added.

“The fact that his ex-wife, who he lives with at Royal Lodge, which is also a bone of contention because Charles wants him out of Royal Lodge, will be spending it quietly together is the right thing to do. But it shouldn’t take Sarah having to flag it to him.

“There should be some element of him just recognising that in order to protect his brother the King, [and] the Royal Family’s reputation at the end of a very difficult year, the dignified and graceful thing for him to have done is for him to have made the choice to sit it out.

“But he never seems to do that and it comes with a cost to the reputation of the Royal Family unfortunately.”