Prince Andrew heartbreak: Queen's favourite son loses beloved role to Camilla - 'Rejected'

The Duke of York has been replaced by the Queen Consort Camilla as Colonel of the Grenadier Guards – a title he desperately hoped would be reinstated.

Prince Andrew lost his beloved role in January this year when he was stripped of his honorary military titles and patronages.

He stepped down from public life after the furore over his friendship with paedophile billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, and paid millions to settle a civil sexual assault case to a woman he claimed never to have met.

The Duke was rejected from royal life as he lobbied his mother, Queen Elizabeth II for his colonelcy to be reinstated.

But his efforts were repudiated by his brother, King Charles as well as the new Prince of Wales, leaving him feeling 'rejected' by the Palace.

The Queen Consort is only the second ever female Colonel in the 366-year Grenadier Guards’ history with the first being the late Queen who held the title from 1942 until 1952.

The Palace confirmed a reshuffle of regimental colonelcies for the Household division as it announced the King’s Birthday Parade, Trooping the Colour will go ahead on June, 17 next year.

Earlier in January, the Princess of Wales was widely tipped as the replacement Colonel of the Grenadier Guards but instead became the Colonel of the Irish Guards, a role previously held by her husband, William.

King Charles will remain as Colonel-in-Chief of all regiments and alongside the Prince of Wales will ride on horseback during the Trooping the Colour.

Other members of the Royal family, including the Princess of Wales and the Queen Consort, will watch from carriages and the Buckingham Palace balcony - they are not expected to wear military uniform.

The celebration has marked the Monarch’s official birthday for over 260 years and comes just weeks after the King’s coronation on May 6.

More than 1,400 soldiers will parade from Buckingham Palace down to the Mall, to Horse Guards parade and finishes with a Royal Air Force flypast.