Three reasons why Kate Middleton Reportedly Refused to Invite Prince Andrew to Her Christmas Concert She even rejected the idea of seating him “behind a pillar.”

Three reasons why Kate Middleton Reportedly Refused to Invite Prince Andrew to Her Christmas Concert
She even rejected the idea of seating him “behind a pillar.”

Last week, the royal family gathered at Westminster Abbey to attend Kate Middleton’s annual Christmas carol concert, but one member of the monarchy who was missing from the pews was Prince Andrew. And according to a royal columnist at The Daily Mail, that’s because, he apparently wasn’t invited.

Despite King Charles reportedly offering his brother an olive branch to join the royals for Christmas at Sandringham this year, “William and Kate aren’t sharing the love,” says writer Ephraim Hardcastle. “A mole whispers that for the second year running, suggestions that Andrew be invited to Kate’s annual carol service, possibly seated behind a pillar, were rejected,” he explained.

Kate Middleton 2024 Christmas carol concert
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Hardcastle noted that as many as 22 members of the royal family were in attendance at this year’s carol service—including Andrew’s daughter Princess Beatrice, Zara Tindall, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, and more. “Although very much a family affair… there was no space for Uncle Andy,” he wrote.

Wales family at 2024 Christmas Carol Concert
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This wasn’t the first time Andrew has been iced out by the Prince and Princess of Wales, according to Hardcastle. “Last year, the King tried to get W&K to bury the hatchet during a gathering at Balmoral, where he cajoled them into giving Andrew a lift to church so the trio could be photographed together,” the columnist said, adding, “The initiative failed.”

Andrew has been on the outs with the royal family since 2019 when his controversial friendship with former sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was exposed during a BBC interview. As a result, he was suspended indefinitely from his public duties as a working royal and was stripped of both his military and royal titles.