Royal Signal: Prince Andrew to Skip Princess Beatrice's Wedding?
Does Prince Andrew's absence during Princess Beatrice's engagement party mean that he might also be skipping her wedding ceremony?
Princess Beatrice and her fiancé finally pushed through their engagement party, a star-studded affair attended by celebrities and royal members. However, Prince Andrew's absence overshadowed them all.
To give light to Prince Andrew's non-appearance, a source exclusively told the Daily Mail that the Duke of York did not want to attend his daughter's engagement party since the issues surrounding him are still fresh.
Moreover, the duke also took note that the attendees might face "abuse or embarrassment" if he attends. Though he planned to visit Beatrice's party together with Fergie, things turned more toxic after his ugly BBC interview.
Ties with Epstein
For years, Jeffrey Epstein ran a sex traficking hub fgor years. After his capture, some prominent people got associated with the pedophile and convicted sex offende, including Prince Andrew.
The Duke of York tried to defend his side and clear his name, but the accusations just grew even further.
Prince Andrew appeared in an "ill-judged" interview with BBC months after Epstein took his own life while the trial was still going on. He received plenty of criticisms after he spoke to Emily Maitlis about his friendship with the billionaire and the allegations of sexual impropriety with then-underage Virginia Roberts.
As a result, a lot of Pitch@Palace's corporate sponsors decided not to renew their contracts with him. Aside from losing all his business partners, Prince Andrew also had to step down from his royal duties amid the negative publicity he and the family are receiving.
Moreover, Queen Elizabeth II reportedly decided to remove the duke's office from the palace and cancel his birthday plans due to these controversies surrounding him.
His absence during the royal family's Christmas celebration this year also caught people's attention.
Due to these events, his soon-to-get-married daughter Princess Beatrice canceled her supposed engagement party on Dec. 18 at Chiltern Firehouse in London.
Per US Weekly, rescheduling it was Princess Beatrice's way to protect her father from the paparazzi who are expected to stand around the venue just to get pictures of him.
Though she successfully safeguarded his father, Prince Andrew appeared to be skipping her most important day as well.
No More Walking Down The Aisle?
Since the investigation about the duke's role in Epstein's dealings is still on-going, his presence at Princess Beatrice's wedding is most likely to be not something people should expect about.
Despite recent news stories which stated that Prince Andrew will play a major part in the wedding, it is worth taking note that most royal watchers do not think that it could be a good idea.
Even before the engagement party, Prince Beatrice's father has already been affecting her wedding plans, to the point that even the wedding dress designers she handpicked for her day did not want to work with her.
Whether or not he will be coming to witness his daughter, it will not surprise the people anymore. After all, his non-appearance during the recent family functions seemed to be not affecting anyone from the monarchy at all.
