At the beginning of this week, King Charles was confronted with a significant challenge for his family when his younger brother, Prince Andrew, became involved in yet another controversy.
With the news of Prince Andrew's links to the suspected Chinese spy Yang Tengbo breaking only a few days before the royal family was scheduled to be together for Christmas at Sandringham, speculation began to circulate. King Charles was believed to have voiced fear that Prince Andrew's participation at both Sandringham and the Buckingham Palace pre-Christmas meal would detract from the family celebration. This was a conundrum for King Charles, who was said to have expressed alarm about the situation.
Following the continuation of the uproar, it became public knowledge that Prince Andrew had made the choice to abstain from attending both of the royal engagements. It is also reported that his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson was the one who pushed the Prince to spend Christmas at their house, according to The Mirror.
The princesses Beatrice and Eugenie, the couple's children, had apparently previously been asked to spend Christmas with their in-laws. The former couple, who continue to live together, will celebrate the 25th of December on their own at the Royal Lodge in Windsor. The Times was informed by a royal insider that "I know that the King is very grateful to the duchess for her assistance." This statement was made in reference to the fact that the King is believed to be quite grateful to his former sister-in-law for stepping in.
There have been a lot of changes for Prince Andrew and Sarah over the course of the past year. They were invited to Sandringham for the festive events that took place over the previous Christmas season, and they participated in the royal family's customary morning walk to church. They were accompanied by their two children.
In light of the fact that it was the first time she had been invited since 1991, Sarah found the event to be even more emotionally significant. A great number of people saw it as the 65-year-old returning to the royal fold.
In spite of the most recent controversy that has surrounded her ex-husband, Sarah continues to be extremely devoted to Prince Andrew. She gushed about her love for the Prince in a new interview with the Times, which took place "before recent revelations about Prince Andrew" but was published after the incident.
"I was totally and utterly in love with Prince Andrew. I would do it all over again, 100 per cent. He's the best, a great man with a great heart, and kind. Our wedding was the best day of my life. But I gave up my anonymity that day. I was able to because love conquers all. It's still with us today. I won't let him down. He supports me as much as I support him. He's supported me through thick and thin, not just marriage or divorce. We agree on the three Cs communication, compromise, compassion," she said.
The marriage between Prince Andrew and Sarah lasted for 10 years until they separated in 1996.
In the year 2010, Sarah shared her thoughts on their time spent together with Ernie Manouse, a television personality from the United States. She stated, "My deal was that I was marrying my man, who happened to be a Prince and a naval officer." Instead of spending her life with her husband, she ended up mostly alone at the palace. During the time that he was necessary to be at sea, the courtiers instructed her to go to Buckingham Palace. While they were married, they only saw each other forty days out of the year.
In addition, Sarah remarked in 2010 that if they had their time back, they would take a stance against people who had caused them to become estranged from one another. The statement that she made was as follows: "Both Andrew and I both of us say now if we could go back we would definitely play it differently and we should have learnt how to play the chess game differently. And maybe we have still been together because we would have said 'no' to being separated just after our wedding."
Business Times has reached out to Buckingham Palace for comments.
