The disgraced royal joined his brother King Charles III and the rest of the British royal family for their traditional Christmas Day church outing, and his appearance elicited mixed reactions from social media users.
Queen Elizabeth II’s second son joined the royal family for a holiday service at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Norfolk, England, on Sunday.
Prince Andrew can be seen walking with his brother Prince Edward and Edward’s son James, Viscount Severn, as the royal family made their way to the church in a video shared by The Sun royal editor Matt Wilkinson on Twitter.
They were followed by Princess Beatrice, who was accompanied by her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi, and Princess Eugenie, who was accompanied by her husband Jack Brooksbank.
King Charles, Queen Consort Camilla, Prince William, and Kate Middleton were ahead of them. The Prince and Princess of Wales were accompanied by their three children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis.
During the royals’ post-service walkabout, Prince Andrew joined in greeting members of the public gathered outside the church.
The Duke of York was seen briefly pausing and speaking to a well-wisher in the crowd. The woman laughed before the prince joined the rest of the royals on their walk.
Wilkinson wrote alongside the video of Prince Andrew’s brief conversation with the well-wisher:
“It wasn’t a hostile atmosphere, it has to be said.”
Despite being stripped of his military titles and patronages following Virginia Giuffre’s sexual assault charges, the Duke of York has been seen at family events. She claimed she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein and forced to have sex with the royal when she was 17 years old.
In February, Prince Andrew settled the lawsuit for an undisclosed sum.
Twitter users were divided about Prince Andrew’s appearance during the royals’ Christmas outing.
One wrote:
“I wonder if he prayed for forgiveness for his twisted sins. Probably not.”
Another claimed:
“Siding with Prince Andrew will cause King Charles a lot of problems and lose some good favor with the public.”
A third person opined:
“Andrew is [King Charles’] brother. Families should unite. Nothing has been proven, and Andrew wasn’t convicted. By virtue of his poor taste in ‘friends,’ he’s paid a terrible price already.”
A fourth user wrote:
“Trouble is, it also wouldn’t look good for the head of the church of England to forbid anybody, let alone his heinous brother, from worshipping at a Christian festival in a CoE Church. Sometimes you just have to hold your nose.”
One Twitter user alleged:
“Andrew wasn’t found guilty of anything.”
Meanwhile, Prince Louis, who made his royal Christmas debut on Sunday, stole the show.
The 4-year-old was seen tugging his mother, Kate’s arm as she spoke to well-wishers after the Christmas church service. Prince Louis was also seen on video sprinting to catch up with his parents and siblings after realizing he had been left behind while collecting gifts from the crowd.
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