Prince Andrew is innocent in the eyes of the Queen, according to royal expert

Britain's Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, attends a service of thanksgiving for late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, attends a service of thanksgiving for late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London.
POOL
Max Parry

By Max Parry


Published: 01/04/2022

- 18:08

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 11:56

The Duke of York walked the Queen through the memorial for the late Prince Philip

Prince Andrew is innocent in the eyes of the Queen, as she allowed him to escort her to Prince Philip's memorial service, a royal expert has claimed.

Katie Nicholl, Royal Editor of Vanity Fair, said on True Royalty TV it demonstrates she "believes he is innocent" and will continue to "make her own decisions."


This comes as she held virtual audiences at Windsor as she kept busy with official engagements despite being only three weeks away from her 96th birthday.

She welcomed the Ambassador of Ecuador and the Ambassador of Nepal via video link.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, attends a service of thanksgiving for late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth, accompanied by Prince Andrew, Duke of York, attends a service of thanksgiving for late Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London.
POOL

The same day, she issued a message of thanks to those across the country who have planted more than a million trees for her Jubilee, saying she was “deeply touched” by the support for the Queen’s Green Canopy.

The monarch has had a run of duties this week, attending the memorial service for her late husband the Duke of Edinburgh on Tuesday.

The poignant service saw the Queen, walking slowly with a stick, on her first official engagement outside of a royal residence in nearly six months.

Royal commentator Dickie Arbiter told GB News on Wednesday that he doesn't expect to see the Duke of York attend public Royal events again, after he accompanied the Queen at the memorial service for the Duke of Edinburgh.

Mr Arbiter told Colin Brazier: "I doubt we will see him again."

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Mr Arbiter went on to defend the decision to allow the Duke of York to escort the Queen to the service, saying: "None of the family acknowledged him, I think quite frankly we’ve got to move on.

"The guy was there because it was his Dad's thanksgiving service.

"The fact that he accompanied his mother kind of makes sense because the Queen is frail…"

The disgraced royal just weeks ago paid millions out of court to settle a civil sexual assault case with a woman he said he had never met.

Andrew had been banished from royal life, first bowing out of royal duties in 2019 after his disastrous Newsnight appearance over his friendship with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

This January, he was stripped of his honorary military titles and patronages by the Queen, and forced to relinquish using his HRH style amid his legal battle.

Virginia Giuffre was suing him for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 after being trafficked by Epstein.

At the time, Buckingham Palace said: "The Duke of York will continue not to undertake any public duties and is defending this case as a private citizen."

Royal expert Katie Nicholl said allowing Andrew to walk her to the memorial was the "Queen's way of showing two things; one, that the buck stops with her, and she makes the decisions, and secondly that she believes he's innocent. She made the point very, very clearly."

"But Charles and William were very aware of the perspective, of the optics of this.

She went on: "Unfortunately, this picture [of the Duke of York escorting the Queen] has overtaken what should have been a memorial to a great man."

Katie added that Prince William and Prince Charles were totally against Prince Andrew escorting the Queen to the service. saying: "They knew the result of this…"

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