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Prince Andrew
Steve Parsons - WPA Pool/Getty Images.

If the British royal family thought that by stripping the former Prince Andrew of his titles and ordering him to vacate his home at Royal Lodge, they were going to avoid being embroiled in more Andrew-centric scandals, they were dead wrong. Because with the recent release of the so-called Epstein Files, even more of Andrew’s close relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein is being brought to light. And none of it is good.

This is particularly true considering the latest image of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to be published shows him alongside Ghislaine Maxwell in the room where the royals will celebrate Christmas at Sandringham. In the picture, Andrew is lying across the laps of five women whose faces have been redacted.

Related: Here’s what each royal inherited from Queen Elizabeth

Let’s remember that Andrew was accused by Virginia Giuffre of rape during a 2021 lawsuit that was later settled out of court. Giuffre died by suicide in April 2025.

Richard Kay, a journalist who was close to Princess Diana before her death, wrote in a column for the Daily Mail: “Could there be a more grotesque postscript to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former royal life than that photograph of him draped over the laps of five young women with a wolfish grin on his face?”

He added, “While the tawdry image taken at Sandringham—where he is no longer welcome—and released as part of the so-called Epstein Files is an indelible reminder of Andrew’s stratospheric fall from grace, for the Royal Family it is not just haunting but sordid. It is an invasion of their cherished privacy, taken in the very room where they will gather this week to mark Christmas.”

Worse of all, it comes as the royal family was attempting to put some distance between themselves and Andrew. “Suddenly, the Andrew saga has intruded upon royal life in the most uncomfortable way yet,” Kay added.

“For those royal adults arriving at the King’s Norfolk estate, no amount of Christmas spirit or lavish decorations will be enough to completely eradicate the sense that this year’s celebration has been somewhat soiled,” particularly considering where the picture was taken.

“The picture of the ex-prince was taken (by whom it is not known) in the baronial drawing room, known as the Saloon, an intimate inner sanctum where the family traditionally gathers for afternoon tea on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day to watch Charles’s televised message to the country and Commonwealth.”

All of this comes as the King has reportedly uninvited Prince Andrew or his ex, Sarah Ferguson, from this year’s Christmas celebrations after the latest scandal. Andrew is set to move to a smaller house at Sandringham, reportedly at the beginning of 2026. Ferguson will also vacate Royal Lodge, but will reportedly not move with Andrew. And the disgraced former prince could still face more repercussions for his actions.

RadarOnline.com recently reported that he could face criminal charges now that he has no titles to protect him. A source told the outlet, “Andrew’s in a very precarious position now. Without the protection his royal titles gave him, he’s more wide open to legal action.”

With so much new stuff coming up, we’ll have to wait and see what happens with Andrew and if the royal family can ever truly separate their own legacy from Andrew’s tarnished one.

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